I´m sorry Alexandra Shulman, but your apology to Helena Christensen does not count!
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| Source: Helena Christensen Instagram |
I´m sorry Alexandra Shulman, but your apology to Helena Christensen does not count- an open letter to Alexandra Shulman!
If you don´t know what I am talking about, I will quickly sum up what I am referring to!
BTW: kudos to Gina for letting me know about this story! Check out her Instagram for beauty inspiration (a beautiful 59 year old California girl! Love her!)
Anyway- back to what has happened: recently Alexandra Shulman, a former Vogue editor, wrote an entire article shaming Helena Christensen (yes the Supermodel) with the title:
"I´m sorry Helene Christensen, you ARE too old to wear that" (read the full article here) referring to the bustier she is wearing on the pic above.
And even though Shulman writes in her article:
"There isn’t a guidebook on how brazenly women can dress as the years pass. And neither should there be. Prescriptive rules and formulaic dressing for your age are dull."
"When women’s bodies no longer serve any child-bearing purpose, we find flaunting them disturbing and slightly tragic."
"... it’s more likely that she (Helena Christensen) did it to show she’s not past it."
"No matter how pert your breasts, how great your legs, how invisible your bingo wings, our clothes simply don’t look the same as we age because they are about the person wearing them, not the items themselves."
"As a society, we are frightened of sexuality that doesn’t come accompanied by fertility."
My response to Alexandra Shulman:
Dear Alexandra,
I think you got that all wrong! I find your whole article very depressing. Claiming that flaunting our bodies would be disturbing and slightly tragic, if we can´t bear a child anymore? What? Old-fashioned much? We are only here to produce children and after that is done we have no use anymore in this world? What?
Because of you I had to google "bingo wings"- now thanks to you I know now that I own those things too! Very depressing indeed!
I thought you are a former Vogue editor and not just a cheap yellow journalist? Or did you switch over to make a quick buck? And yes! Your Instagram profile reveals it: you are now a "Mail on Sunday columnist" (Daily Mail)- so I am assuming you just needed to write something catchy with a good headline?
But Alexandra, Helena does really not need to proof anything. And she certainly is NOT PAST it.
You are suggesting, that even if our bodies are perfect, we are not allowed to wear certain clothes- simply because of our age! And you throw us all under the bus by the statement that society is frightened of sexuality of women that can´t reproduce anymore. But I think it is not society (as the big backlash you received for your article proofed)- it is you Alexandra, who is frightened!
I found it very interesting and ironic that you end your article with a little story that your degree in social anthropology has been of little use. You seem so full of regrets. Your article is so depressing (coming at such a wrong time too in which us women are trying to empower each other- not to pull each other down).
Is this how we should dress (pic below), if we are 50, Alexandra? How sad! :-(
And then: Alexandra Shulman apologizes... "kinda"
However, a couple days ago Alexandra Shulman "kinda" apologized for her article, stating that "It wasn't my finest hour... but it's anodyne to be supportive of everything".She literally takes away from her own apology immediately. And she did not understand at all! All the backlash she received, and she still did not get the point, saying that:
"In other art forms, it’s accepted that you review completely impartially, whether you think an exhibition’s good, a play’s good, a film’s good. In fashion, the idea is that your criticism would be to ignore, but not to actually review and put your point of view. I think it’s an interesting question, how commentary is not really a part of the fashion business."
But here you are wrong again! It wasn´t about you not liking an outfit! It was you, Alexandra, making the rules and deciding that Helena is TOO OLD TO WEAR A BUSTIER!
It is not about you saying that the bustier is ugly or pretty. It is about you telling Helena she can not wear it- despite her perfect figure- only because she is 50 years old. Just that!
So, if Helena would be 26- she would be OK wearing the bustier? If she would be 38 too? What about 45? Yes? 49? So, the line you draw is 50?
That is what it was about! You being judgmental of a gorgeous women with a perfect body that wears a bustier but does not have the right age!
So, a women that does not have the perfect body but is 25 CAN actually wear it?
You said yourself, that there isn´t a guidebook and that there shouldn´t be for women on how to dress when the years pass...yet that is exactly what you are doing!
And that is why sadly your apology does NOT COUNT! You are arguing that it isn´t fair that you can´t criticize fashion- while you can criticize other forms of art like a movie or an art gallery. However, you got that wrong! Yes, you can have an opinion, you can like or dislike fashion. No, you don´t have to like everything. Either you like the bustier or you don´t and that is OK. But don´t tell Helena (or anyone) to not wear something because of their age.
Everybody should wear whatever they please, if it makes them happy.
Just my 2 cents. ;-)
