Fashion TV, especially reality TV, is the number one essay procrastination technique. As a result of extreme overdoses of Project Runway and America's Next Top Model I feel (and act) like Heidi Klum and Tyra Banks - or TyTy as I like to call her - are my best friends.
Thanks to certain illegal online TV channels I have watched all of the past seasons of said programs, and have persuaded many friends (and perhaps even my boyfriend) to indulge in my favourite in-lieu of essay activity. One even called me almost hyperventilating when Tim Gunn appeared on How I Met Your Mother. This distraction/ addiction is the most catching I have devised.
But this activity does have a down side. Namely, one's self esteem. Stuffing your face with copious amounts of cheese and crackers and swiss chocolates throughout a marathon ANTM session watching the size zeros strutting around really has guilt-filled repercussions. And the creations devised on Project Runway make me overcome with self-doubt and pointlessness as I consider that I will never be able to work a sewing machine, let alone have Heidi Klum wear my design on the front of Marie Claire (I LOVE YOU ANTHONY).
Less pressingly, such fashionable television also presents me with the overwhelming problem of clothes-envy. There are many examples I could use but I feel that one perfectly demonstrates this feeling so strongly that it must be a universal emotion. Gossip Girl. At the fore of this green-eyed viewing pleasure is Little Jenny Humphrey aka Taylor Momsen. At only 16 she's the only member of the GG cast to style herself. Shocking, as she always looks by far the best, yet not surprising as there is little distinction between her on-screen and off screen looks. Both of which I desire to the extent of tears. She could almost make me go blonde!
But the best thing about Gossip Girl fashion is not simply the prodigal princess bitch but the diversity within the characters. I don't always want Upper East schoolgirl Grunge, sometimes I feel like a strangely Brooklyn based LA take on noughties Boho (cue Vanessa), or some strangely classy sex appeal (hello Serena). But more often than this, if I don't want to obsess over the teen rock star look then what I probably want to do is stare at Blair Waldorf the modern New York definition of a Lady. I'm drawn magnetically to her headbands and not a hair out of place, her perfectly fitted dresses and most of all her beautiful, dapper gentleman of a lover.
Yes, Gossip Girl is the perfect procrastination for us to want the girls' clothes and their men. And even if you are happily settled and can't bear the thought of perving on innocent actors then we are offered a hearty dose of men's fashion to focus on. Chuck Bass works the suit like no other, and Dan Humphrey is the new Seth Cohen (thanks Josh Schwartz for your fine-tuned imagination) and the definition of what all socially sidelined indie males should aspire to be. But Rufus, the aged rockstar and Lily's trophy hubs, catches my eye in the fashion stakes. The sexy older man with a cheeky extra button left temptingly open and that leather choker. It's so fashionably awful yet so so so aesthetically pleasing.
Jessica Wilde - @littlemisswilde
Thanks to certain illegal online TV channels I have watched all of the past seasons of said programs, and have persuaded many friends (and perhaps even my boyfriend) to indulge in my favourite in-lieu of essay activity. One even called me almost hyperventilating when Tim Gunn appeared on How I Met Your Mother. This distraction/ addiction is the most catching I have devised.
But this activity does have a down side. Namely, one's self esteem. Stuffing your face with copious amounts of cheese and crackers and swiss chocolates throughout a marathon ANTM session watching the size zeros strutting around really has guilt-filled repercussions. And the creations devised on Project Runway make me overcome with self-doubt and pointlessness as I consider that I will never be able to work a sewing machine, let alone have Heidi Klum wear my design on the front of Marie Claire (I LOVE YOU ANTHONY).
Less pressingly, such fashionable television also presents me with the overwhelming problem of clothes-envy. There are many examples I could use but I feel that one perfectly demonstrates this feeling so strongly that it must be a universal emotion. Gossip Girl. At the fore of this green-eyed viewing pleasure is Little Jenny Humphrey aka Taylor Momsen. At only 16 she's the only member of the GG cast to style herself. Shocking, as she always looks by far the best, yet not surprising as there is little distinction between her on-screen and off screen looks. Both of which I desire to the extent of tears. She could almost make me go blonde!
But the best thing about Gossip Girl fashion is not simply the prodigal princess bitch but the diversity within the characters. I don't always want Upper East schoolgirl Grunge, sometimes I feel like a strangely Brooklyn based LA take on noughties Boho (cue Vanessa), or some strangely classy sex appeal (hello Serena). But more often than this, if I don't want to obsess over the teen rock star look then what I probably want to do is stare at Blair Waldorf the modern New York definition of a Lady. I'm drawn magnetically to her headbands and not a hair out of place, her perfectly fitted dresses and most of all her beautiful, dapper gentleman of a lover.
Yes, Gossip Girl is the perfect procrastination for us to want the girls' clothes and their men. And even if you are happily settled and can't bear the thought of perving on innocent actors then we are offered a hearty dose of men's fashion to focus on. Chuck Bass works the suit like no other, and Dan Humphrey is the new Seth Cohen (thanks Josh Schwartz for your fine-tuned imagination) and the definition of what all socially sidelined indie males should aspire to be. But Rufus, the aged rockstar and Lily's trophy hubs, catches my eye in the fashion stakes. The sexy older man with a cheeky extra button left temptingly open and that leather choker. It's so fashionably awful yet so so so aesthetically pleasing.
Jessica Wilde - @littlemisswilde
