Now I know it is Monday- but catching up with all these fashion shows got me behind a day! There is so much great stuff out there this year for Spring 2011! It’s ahhhmazing! Fashion Week aside at the moment because I wanted to add this weeks most stylish woman! Today I wanted to represent a fashion designer whom I have adored, well since forever, Betsey Johnson. As of present day I don’t rock her style as much as I used to, but I respect her deeply. She was the woman who inspired me to become a fashion designer and showed me that you can take as many risks as you want, as long as you believe in it.
And she has been taking those risks since 1964. Betsey “officially” entered the New York fashion scene by winning Mademoiselle magazine’s “Guest Editor Contest.” After that Betsey designed eclectic street wear for New York’s clothing boutique Paraphernalia.
In those days her design were worn by style setters such as Brigitte Bardot, Twiggy & Edie Sedgwick (Above: Edie with her latest styles from Paraphernalia). I also wanted to add one of my favorite shots from 1966. A model wearing a “Sharp, white fluorescent jacket with silver buttons all the way” down the front.
If you look at this jacket and the trends that are going on today you can really see how they are inspired by her designs. Especially now if you look at the Spring 2011 Collections, there is a lot of inspiration that I would get out of just this picture that translates into today’s fashion. Especially with sunglasses being such a huge “go-to” item, designers had amazing, bold sunglasses for Spring.
Betsey and I grew up in the same state, she lived one town over from mine, which also sparked my imagination that if someone from a small town in Connecticut can be at where she is today, then so can I.
Betsey is always thinking out of the box and that is what I love about her. She does follow trends but not to the extremes as many other designer do. She has very obnoxious clothing in her shows, but at the same time very wear-able, which is obviously the main concern today with this economy. People love looking at works of art in fashion, but what they really are going to buy depends on price and wear-ability. And that’s where Betsey steps in. She has a great price-point. Her clothes are not overtly expensive as other designers, but you still get the same quality. I remember in high school looking at her shows on style.com and dreaming of wearing one of her dresses to the many proms I was honored to attend. However, in a small town where you going to school with maybe 100 people in your grade, it’s hard to be different and Betsey’s dresses are very different from what was expected at prom. If I was in high school today and going to prom, I would definitely pick one of the following with the “Ride Me” necklace and all:
A girl can only dream….
