Fashion Connoisseur or Label Whore? Take the quiz! Back to columns list
Nicole BeckettDecember 9, 2004
I've been in the fashion industry for some time now, and I can honestly say my biggest pet peeve is seeing women wear unflattering clothes just for the sake of fashion trends and even worse, just for the sake of a designer label slapped on every pocket, zipper and lapel.
Just because a piece of clothing is in a store doesn't make it flattering. In fact, every designer makes mistakes. That doesn't mean you have to blindly follow him or her into every fashion faux pas. You know what looks good on you, and honey, it ain't always a high-end label that enables a skirt to make your backside bootylicious, it's the actual design of the garment. To test your distinction between design and designer, I have created a (very scientific) quiz to see what you wear like a badge of honor: stylish design draping your body or a rhinestone label on the front of your chest.
1.) You spot a pair of your fave designer jeans on sale. After you try them on, you notice the cut makes your butt look flat and wide. What do you do?
a.) You buy them anyway. Who looks at your butt when the stitched logo is right on the pockets?
b.) You put the designer jeans back but look frantically for another pair with the same labela different cut might look better.
c.) After ditching the designer jeans, you try on a different label and they look amazing. Unsure, you put them back. What will your friends think if they can't recognize the brand of jeans you are wearing?
d.) You move on to discover jeans with an unrecognizable label. They make you look amazing so you buy them instead of your designer jeans.
2.) You bought a pair of super trendy Uggs last year. Remember, that's when the style only was made by Uggs? This year, every major chain has a knock-off version, including Mervyns. You do the following:
a.) Wear your Uggs everyday. The fact that they are becoming mass produced just means they are still totally in style.
b.) You stuff them in your closet. Once such a unique style hits the likes of Target, the coolness factor has totally worn off.
c.) You couldn't afford the original last year but love the Eskimo look. You buy a knock-off at Foleys and rock them. Who cares if no one would be caught dead in a pair on the coasts?
3.) Girly t-shirts are a staple of your wardrobe. You've been looking high and low for a baby pink t-shirt by Dolce & Gabana. You spot a pink t-shirt at an independent boutique and rush in. Is that Dolce? you ask breathlessly. The answer is no. You:
a.) try it on, you never know, it could be perfect.
b.) huff out. As if you would buy a no-name tee. I mean, D&G t-shirts are sewn with gold thread, or something.
c.) buy it now. It's exactly what you've been looking for.
4.) You see Sarah Jessica Parker wearing a pair of couture denim capris with ribbons around the bottom hems. These are a must-have but you are short on cash. What do you do?
a.) You locate an old pair of jeans, scissors, ribbon and your roommate's emergency sewing kit. It's time to channel your old Home Ec teacher and make your own couture.
b.) You get on the internet to figure out who designed those capris. Once you find them, Daddy's credit card is getting accidentally charged.
c.) You keep an eye out for a similar pair and get on with your life.
To find out where you stand on the fashion scale add up your answers with the key below:
1. A-0, B-2, C-3, D-1
2. A-0, B-3, C-1
3. A-2, B-0, C-3
4. A-3, B-1, C-2
8-12 Fashion Connoisseur
A true fashion connoisseur is a risk taker, and that you are. You embrace the unknown and delve deep into a rack of sweaters and skirts with reckless abandonment, searching out the perfect reflection of you. And if you pair a bebe skirt with shoes from the flea market, so be it. It's bound to be an original fashion concoction.
4-7 Style Maven
As a style maven, you run the gamut between classic and trendy and do so with grace. You have a healthy appreciation of the art of design, yet harbor a weak spot for designer dudsbut only if they look fab on you!
0-3 Label Whore
Yes, it's true, you are a label whore. You play it safe and let mass marketing call all of the fashion shots. You sport your D&G like a badge of honor, literally, on your chest, your butt, your feet, your... But I digress. It's time to look in the mirror, and I say this literally. Take a look at your butt in the mirror, and if the designer jeans make your butt look fat and you legs look short, be brave and throw them out. No label is worth looking hideous.