What’s often less evident in such fashion nit-picking is the message behind the message. And when it comes to the real focus of this article, my money is on Versace, not the Senator from New York.
After all, Ms. Versace was not well known except in the land of the rich and famous until she cast dispersions on Hillary’s signature look during an interview with a relatively obscure German weekly newspaper.
In less than 24 hours every news service in the Western world was running the story, and Ms. Versace was on her way to becoming a household name.
Case in point is Mr. Blackwell. After trying and failing as an actor back in the 1950’s, he turned to designing for stars such as Jane Russell, Dorothy Lamour, and Jayne Mansfield. But he found his niche in “dissing,” not dressing Tinsel Town royalty.
Since 1960 his annual 10 worst-dressed list never fails to bring him into the limelight. Other than those like Paris Hilton, whose only claim to fame is claiming fame and must milk being on the list for everything its worth, few to none of the recipients of Mr. Blackwell’s barbs cause a ripple in the media. Year in and year out the center stage belongs to him.
Perhaps it’s not too far off the mark to find those, like Versace and Blackwell who are involved in the business of fashion, cobbling a name for themselves by commenting on the wardrobes of Hollywood’s and Washington’s A-lists. But who turned Joan and Melissa Rivers into fashion police? Yet, what would be Academy Awards be without the mother-daughter duo?
No doubt, Joan Rivers made a name for herself as a comedienne some decades back, but she’s never received kudos for her sense of style. Nonetheless, nothing she has done of late matches the world-wide attention she commands every February because of her acid comments about the runway gowns. And were it not for her part in the annual commentary, Melissa would be virtually unknown. Bottom line, both mother and daughter gain far more from their yearly hour of fashion snips and quips than do the women they critique.
What undergirds the attention and fame these critics of fashion reap? In one word: Marketing.
Over the years, marketers have increasingly stood up and taken notice of the consuming public’s insatiable appetite for news of people in the spotlight. We simply can’t get too much information about those at the top.
While our interest has been whetted since the early days of mass media, it’s a sad fact today that if someone can take a celebrity down a notch or two, so much the better. Mr. Blackwell also publishes a 10 best-dressed list, but who takes notice? Trashing of celebrities sells millions of magazines and newspapers and hours of airtime and makes celebrities of the critics themselves.
Which brings us back to the Versace article. By the end, Versace had all but forgotten about Hillary Clinton and was congratulating herself on having perfected Christian Aguilera’s image some years back. One is left to wonder what she might have in mind for the Senator. Fortunately, there’s no indication in any of the 542 websites that have been posted on the article since it appeared that Hillary Clinton is the least bit interested in morphing into a pop star.
Copyright 2007 Karen Kaigler-Walker All Rights Reserved
