The Bias Cut

This week’s hot topic: animal prints.
I was getting pretty close to my deadline this week, and not feeling very passionate about any particular topic until I saw one sad soul wearing a shirt so frightening that it sparked a whole article’s worth of concern. Hopefully the old saying “less is more” and the notion to “keep it simple, stupid” are messages that have come across clearly at this point in the semester. Well, not surprisingly, both are never more important to keep in mind than when incorporating animal prints into one’s outfit.
This trend of wearing animal prints outside of the zoo started a few years ago in Europe. For some individuals, wearing such prints helps them to identify with a particular animal. It has been said that men wear animal prints to feel macho and “one with the outdoors,” while women sometimes wear them to identify themselves as attractive, hard to get and passionate.
So although these points are pretty well conveyed through use of these prints, the emotions leading you to wear them may also be clouding your fashion sense and letting yourself become a walking target for The Bias Cut banter.
If you are going to be as bold as to wear animal prints at all, PLEASE remember to try to keep it to a minimum. Accent outfits with these prints, but try not to make them the entire outfit. Unless you’re very careful, you’ll likely look like you showed up a month late as a Flintstone to a campus Halloween mixer. If you simply MUST make it the whole outfit — as Jessica Simpson did fairly well (go look at the superficial.com pictures; she fell on the way in!) a couple of weeks ago in a dress by Michael Kors — minimize it to the major piece and match it with solids! My favorite dress in leopard was a very fitted above the knee dress by Dolce & Gabbana from a couple of years back.
When buying animal prints in the apparel sector, please try to choose one with rich color. When these prints start to fade and you continue to wear them, it looks rather cheap and takes away from the statement you are trying to make, as well as the attractiveness you think you might be projecting.
Animal prints can be used in many ways to spice up any outfit. Such prints include leopard, cow and zebra. Some amazing accessories that I have seen in animal prints are Tory Burch’s leopard print flat, the Miu Miu bag in cow, Salvatore Ferragamo’s animal print pony hair clutch, and Yves Saint Laurent’s shoe collection.
Let’s just say animal prints are hard to pull off, and are not exactly my thing. But when done right, I am always astonished and (sometimes) a little jealous. Let’s be honest, I attempt to wear jeans that are leggings and more bracelets than my mother, but you will not, at least in the near future, see me try to pull off anything leopard or zebra. So if hesitant like myself, stay away, but if you think you can do it properly, then go confidently in the direction of your dreams, but do not wait for me to tell you “I told you so.”
Don’t forget, since I won’t be ranting and raving on Thursday next week! Eat up that turkey, but when it starts feeling like you’re going to vomit and/or need maternity jeans to get yourself over to Calculus class — well, good heavens, STOP!
Also, have fun this holiday season in any way you choose, but remember — if he/she wasn’t that cute in high school … well, just because it’s the blurry night before Thanksgiving, doesn’t mean they are now. Celebrate responsibly!