Breaking All the Rules

I watched the movie Legends of the Fall the other day. It basically chronicles the life of three brothers living in the west in the early 1900s. Towards the end of the movie, the eldest brother Alfred observes to the middle brother Tristan that Alfred lived his life following all the rules known to man and God. Tristan followed none of them, yet everyone loved Tristan more than Alfred. It's ironic, since we set up these rules as a sort of ideal, yet who do we tend to worship but those that defy them. In the movie, Alfred is a nice guy, nicer and more responsible than Tristan, but Tristan's just so much more exciting, even if he is a total jerk sometimes. Tristan also happens to be played by Brad Pitt; more injustice for poor Alfred. Those who follow the rules kind of fall into the cracks; they blend in but don't stand out. This is true in fashion as well. You've got to break some rules if you want to be more than just a nice guy. To find out how, click the Read More! link.

Fashion has rules too, rules you'll be familiar with if you watch What Not to Wear or pick up fashion magazines. Following these rules will lead you to a nice outfit, and that's it. Your outfit will be nice. Sometimes. If you really want an outfit that will knock everyone dead, you've got to break a rule or two. Now, breaking rules does not guarentee a good wow! factor. The people we hate the most are the people who can't seem to follow the rules. The key is balance. You've got to know which rules to follow and which to break and when. To help us out, I've found two ladies who chronicle their wears on the net. Both of them have taken items that would traditionally be used in insults on other items and turned them into covetable things.

First up, we have the lovely Nadine over at Strawberry Kitten. Her magic with diffucult to wear items has been mentioned here before. But today, or rather a few days ago, she managed to wear an actual garbage bag and made it look good. Granted, it was for a school event, but when it looks that good, do we care? That little tie detail on the skirt is what takes it from trash to high fashion. Also note how she keeps the outfit simple, allowing the garbage bag to shine. And the bag is also monochrome black/grey, which is the safest color to experiment with crazy details. It's a fairly boring color, so it can handle a little jazzing up.


And now, making her debut on this blog, I''d like to present the lovely Double-Speak, from The Life and Times of Archy and Mehitabel. She also has her own website here, and her own etsy here. We'll talk more about her etsy in a future post; she has some fubulously cheeky slips. For now, take a look at her shoes. Closely. Do you know what those are?


Why they're crocs of course. One of the most hated enemies of the fashion world. When you consider such things as the open-toe shoe boot, you do wonder why crocs and uggs are so rejected by the fashion set. Perhaps shoes such as these, which don't even have comfort going for them, are more well loved because at least they have a sort of cool factor to them. Crocs and uggs do not. Yet Double-Speak has managed to make these atrocities of human manufacturing, look, well, good. While she is working with the less offensive mary jane version of the shoe in black-- the best color to refine a crazy design-- she makes me want to run out a grab a pair, especially when she couples them with dark socks. Then I pinch myself and come to my senses.

While in the first two looks, she downplays the crocs with monochromality, here she manages to rock them with color, but she sticks to classic pieces and silhouette.

And finally, for the guys; I have not forgotton about you. May I present Frank Sinatra in Guys and Dolls?


While Guys and Dolls was not the best movie ever, I'm still orgasming over this stripes and dots combo. Stripes and dots are traditionally clashing patterns that will make an outfit "too busy". There's a lot of movement with all the lines in the coat, Sinatra--or should I say Nathan-- manages to keep his outfit cool by using the nuetral black and white. The proportion of the black and white in each pattern is also similar, making the patterns go together and not against each other. You really can't comprehend this combos assumness from the tiny bit visible in this picture. I reccomend seeing the movie for this and other outfits.

Once again, Ivy Frozen encourages you to break the rules and form your own. An outfit works if it accomplishes the goal YOU set for it. Go crazy, experiment. I feel like my style is settling down now that I've done a lot of experimenting to figure out what exactly my style is. That doesn't mean I don't still experiment a bit though.

Oush the Limits!
Ivy Frozen