The new Vogue Knitting is in my hands, and I'm flipping through it, getting a feel, to do the review. Right. Situation normal. But then I see this... hat.
I know from talking to (and being ranted at) that VK dictates quite a lot to designers. Like, nearly everything in some cases, from the sounds of it. In this case, the designer is Deborah Newton, who has been working as a knitwear designer for decades, and written a kickass book on the subject. How is it that someone as excellent as Newton winds up with this hat?
Newton submits a proposal for a hat. I can't imagine it was this hat, so VK says "no, it's not fucked up enough, put random flaps on there blah blah blah". Newton figures, what the hell, it's a pay check and she likes to eat, so she makes it. They get it in the mail and... what? Did they really think this was awesome? Was it "Perfect, just what we asked for" or was it "Oh shit, what do we do with this"?
Then, whatever the response was, they hand it off to the stylist who has it photographed in the most stupid, awkward way possible. "Yes, yes, let's put it on the model's head so the button and flap stick straight up off her forehead. THAT WILL LOOK SUPER SOPHISTICATED."
Do they do this shit on PURPOSE? Do they seriously think this is fashion?
I know to push the envelope on style there are going to be hits and misses, but this is out of the ballpark. I'm just sitting here going "HUH?"
(Again, please note this isn't really about the designer, who wanted to earn a pay check. I'm wondering why VK dictates this stuff. Even if Newton randomly did turn in something weird - which I can't imagine, given her long history - VK was not required to publish it. So they must think it's acceptable... HUH?)
I don't get it.
16 comments:
Well, it's certainly edgy and ummmmm. Nope. Can't defend it. That's just embarassing.
Wow. Uhm. Wow. Yeah. Don't know--I can understand most process stuff, but this one? Eludes me...
it almost looks like a hat that was meant to be felted... and someone saw an un-blocked sample and decided to just go with that instead....
It does look rather as if the designer made lots of samples for a hat, and someone at Vogue then just sewed them all together...
Is this from the weird alphabetical Holiday issue?
It might fly if it was beside WTF?????????????????
If you go to Vogue Knitting's website and click on this link http://www.vogueknitting.com/vk360.aspx you can enjoy a 360 degree view of this horror with some ridiculous audio that seems to try to justify why someone would want to knit this mess.
Carolyn
Maybe it's a weird hybrid SwissArmy sort of hat that folds out into a tent and a sleeping bag with a hot pad that's also a sock puppet.
Maybe it's a weird hybrid SwissArmy sort of hat that folds out into a tent and a sleeping bag with a hot pad that's also a sock puppet.
I like the color....
I burst out laughing as soon as I saw that picture; I didn't even get down to your remarks. But I do like the idea that it conceals a tent or a parachute or a deadly weapon or something. (No, wait; a parachute is silk & folds up far too small.)
I was just looking at the new designs at the VK website yesterday - this hat and that horrific cabled mess of a sweater by Vladimir Teriokhin just made my jaw drop. My response when I saw the sweater was almost exactly the same as the narrator's, and at exactly the same time, too: Oh. My. God.
I don't know anyone who would be caught dead in that hat. It's really ugly.
Looks like it would be a bitch to knit, too.
Perhaps it can be explained by the disclaimer (in every issue) that "We are not responsible for any human or typographical errors"?
Terrible hat. But I think what's worse is that Vogueknitting has been churning out the same oversaturated, badly styled pages for years now. WTF is with the stylist, the photographer? VK badly needs a Grace Coddington, or a even her most junior intern!
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