h&m Conscious Collection 2014

Our beloved h&m came out with their third conscious collection, and it doesn't disappoint. It is very stunning.

This piece is definitely my favorite. I love white, lacy clothing. 

This piece reminds me of a particular Dolce & Gabbanna dress Lily Allen wore back in 09', I believe.

Which is great, because that was one of my aesthetically favorite collections of all time. 

This jacket, too. So much goodness on one blazer. 

Some of the items are a little pricey, overall ranging from $17-$600. But, when we buy cheap clothing that is poorly made and harmful to the environment, we really should be paying much more for them considering how much damage that clothing does to the world around us. Hopefully, this type of clothing becomes the norm and the prices will begin to go down.

I read an article that said the drive behind the creation of this collection was because celebrities were asking for more environmentally-friendly clothing. I don't know how true that is, and as happy as I am to hear that anyone is possibly interested in more sustainable clothing, are more everyday consumers asking for environmentally-friendly clothing? 

Sure some of the pieces are still made from leather and silk, but kudos to h&m for continuing the sustainable trend. 

Let's hope this soon becomes h&m's conventional way of making clothing.

Average Barbie killing culture?

In my sociology class today we spoke about the new Barbie, average Barbie. To my surprise, a lot of people in my class opposed the doll saying that Barbie, the product itself, is not responsible for the immense pressure on women to be this ideal looking woman, so why the fuss over a bland looking doll, made by a bland looking guy? My professor concluded by saying "if everything is beautiful, then nothing is beautiful, and there is no culture."

So, if the idealistic image of a woman is changed, or is broadened, or simply doesn't exist, culture doesn't exist? So is that all culture is? Ridiculously distorted physical standards that not everyone can achieve, let alone want to achieve? If so, perhaps culture needs a little adjusting. I don't think that if we begin to celebrate the different array of beautiful women in the mainstream media, that culture will be dead. I think it will open up an entirely new chapter in culture, especially in the fashion world. 

And I do think Barbie, although is not to take all the blame, does play a role in why millions of women are suffering from body image diseases. Along with advertisements in magazines, television, etc.

For the people who prefer regular barbie, prefer Caucasian fashion models in advertisements, etc, that's fine, they can continue to do so. But I think it's important for people to have that option: the option to pick up a magazine that displays a different kind of beauty, that option for mothers to pick up a doll they think is more suitable for their children to play with. I think that this average barbie is a step in the right direction. I'm not saying that this should take away from the fabulous standards that many women love to live up to (because that's what they genuinely want), I'm saying that for the millions of women who do not wish to look or live like that, that that's okay too, and that it shouldn't be considered not art or an end to culture. 

Here's the average Barbie video:

After-all, there is a lot of great mainstream art in pop-culture that opposes the idealistic views of how women should behave and look:

Also, how cool is Pink wearing a "die hipster scum" shirt back in 2009?