There have been many times when I am speaking to someone who is not into fashion and I catch myself using a word or a name of a designer as if it is common knowledge. As soon as it comes out of my mouth, I realize that they have no idea what I am talking about.
Example – I was at a cocktail party recently and someone casually asked me how work was going. I had just gotten back from Pre Fall market where I worked for Lanvin so I said something to the affect of, “I was just in New York freelancing for Lanvin. The collection was beautiful. I just love Alber Elbaz.” The poor man clearly did not know who Alber Elbaz is and had never heard of Lanvin. Judging by his suit, he probably would have had a heart attack right in front of me if I told him how much a dress cost!
This all came to mind this morning when I opened up my email from Net-A- Porter. Visually it was great. They selected some cool shoes and styled everything very well. However, I was a bit surprised by some of the text. You have to be a real fashionista to understand it. They threw out words like macrame, neoprine, and fluoro detailing. I am not even familiar with fluoro detailing. I googled the term and am still not 100% sure what it is! My best assessment is that it is a plastic appliqué. (If you are reading and didn’t know macramé is knotted fabric and neoprene is a type of rubber) Anyway, I can’t imagine everyone who receives emails from Net-A-Porter is in the fashion industry. It is my favorite online shopping site, so I appreciate them maintaining such high style and quality. I just wonder if everyone understands all that fashion talk.
Ha! I know exactly what you mean. My boyfriend always looks at me like I’m a crazy person when I start talking designers. Fashion is its own language.