The Blah All-Over's

I should be running to the newsagents with joy after the X'MAS blank break without any new issues of fash mags to keep me happy. However, I run out and buy the latest issues of UK Vogue and Elle to find something most joyless indeed. Perhaps the more discerning insiders can enlighten me as to why both issues have insisted on running two editorials that I have termed the 'Blah All-Over'. Meaning, we have Daria Werbowy in Vogue on each individual page decked out in an ENTIRE ensemble from one designer and then as if it weren't obvious that you were staring at a Balenciaga or a Dolce & Gabanna outfit, the page is then helpfully labelled. The same goes for Elle, with a different selection of designers and the model is Caroline Winberg.

At this point, I'm expecting someone to step up and say something along the lines of 'But at the beginning of every season, mags are obligated to showcase THE designers of the season...'. Too bad, it makes for very dull page flicking indeed as you see catwalk looks re-assembled before your very eyes in the manner of an advertisement with little imagination and thus, inspiring little from me. If being decked head to toe in designer gear is an unlikely reality, then being decked head to toe in the SAME designer is even more improbably, not that mags are meant to reflect reality but at least throw us something to ponder and chew upon! The magic of editorials for me is well...the editing... the mix and match and the ability to see individual garments out of their intended context and in unexpected environments too.

So, as a complete fashion numpty, I ask the insiders to explain these pages of drabness...

Elle UK Feb 2008 - 'The New Trends', photographed by Matthias Vriens, styled byAnne-Marie Curtis