Some Freeman Words

If I’m honest, Hadley Freeman was probably the one fashion journalist that I recognisably teen-ed out with (i.e. spent my 16-present years reading) due to the sole existence of Guardian in our house (she’s deputy fashion editor there) and her articles in Vogue which always caught my attention and held it.  Later on, it was her in-depth writing in 10 magazine which once again confirmed my opinion that this is a woman that can laugh at fashion and all it’s ridiculous notions but also not be too overly-gobby about it at the same time.  Her book ‘The Meaning of Sunglasses’ does just that in even greater detail.  Its basic structure is an A-Z of fashion, A guide to (almost) all things fashionable, which of course is not meant to be taken literally.

The target readership of this book really sort of dictates why the book was written in the first place.  Freeman tries to explain the myths and the oddities about fashion, defending it from the very beginning with a conclusion that despite all the ridiculous elements of fashion, it is essentially still fabulous and somewhat of a necessity.  Meaning, this isn’t a book for those who are in love with fashion but for those who wish to be enlightened and can then make their own opinion about all things fash. 

On the subject of drugs in fashion (a fair amount of home truths but this might seem shocking to some…):

‘Cocaine may well have been created for moments such as these, helping to keep one’s chin up, if nose down, when you see Anna Wintour clocking that you are in the eighth row.’ 

On the point of (or there lack of) Couture:

‘Couture is the fashion world writ large, with its silly shows, its pretentious inspirations and its hilarious price tags.  Thus, it demonstrates more clearly than anywhere else that the only point of fashion itself is to have fun.’

Getting a wee bit defensive here about the notion that fashion magazines make people feel bad about themselves…

‘Fashion magazines are decidedly upbeat affairs due to an inability to criticise anything because of the looming black cloud of advertisers…. certainly far more cheerful than the weekly gossip magazines that have sprouted like fungi in the past five years.’ 

This isn’t to say that people who already love fashion or work in fashion won’t get enjoyment out of it because as a fan of her writing, I laughed openly and excitedly pointed out excerpts to my boyfriend saying ‘That’s SO true!’. 

Her section on Fashion Shows aka Darwin in Motion especially cracked me up. 

‘The real reason fashion shows exist is to teach everyone in the business their place.’  ‘Worst of all is if you see the dreaded ST on your ticket.  This means standing, as in, that’s what you’ll be doing at the back, as in, you’re not even worthy of a chair….You have absolutely no choice at this point but to leave the show and pretend you have been urgently called into the office.’

However, the A-Z also comprises mostly of certain do’s and don’ts subjects which I can’t really rave about.  Positivity is not abound as Freeman casts a critical opinion on coloured tights, the colour pink and vintage rummaging, all things that I love dearly to different degrees.  Of course, it’s all a subjective thing as she is equally menacing about wearing fur, logos and exercise clothes as daywear, all things that I personally am not keen on either.  So of course, nobody is going to agree with Ms. Freeman all the way and I doubt her point is to enforce her musings upon you.  It’s only when she lectures on the do’s and don’ts of how to wear ruffles, what jeans to pick and what sort of party dress you should be investing in is when I start snoozing off.  Trinny and Susannah, she is not, and because the ultimate conclusion of the book is that fashion should not be taken uber seriously, it seems somewhat incongruous when I have to read about what is a ballet shoe toe should be exactly shaped like.  Her mild obsession with Prada, Marc Jacobs, Chanel and Chloe (four designers she mentions constantly throughout the book with little other designer references) can also be a little irritating. 

That was a long ‘However…’ paragraph which I hope is not a determent to people buying the book because it is when all is said and done a REALLY entertaining read that may educate a little but most of all, make you laught out loud because Freeman’s writing is so intensely jovial and sarcastic all at the same time.  She works in fashion but she is truthful about everything and doesn’t hold anything back and the book I think might make some people who in the industry lower their heads and blush a little.  In any case, it took up half a week’s worth of commuting for me which means it is a bit of an addictive read and you end up taking away little quotes that make you chuckle silently.  Always good to scare people whilst laughing quietly to yourself about something only known to you.