fuck yeah lisa frank

 

  

Diva Starz, Lisa Frank, Barbie

One thing that I'm really interested in terms of fashion is stuff that's really girly/childish/stereotypically feminine, because all these things are all heavily commodified and our ideas about them are cemented as a part of our social mindset. If we look at the commodification of youth (like, for example, this) we see patterns about what certain groups (girls, children, etc.) should be/desire/buy, so I think that to extract the aesthetic of this type of stuff (which I love, and no, it's not bad feminism to be feminine) and to subvert it as a means of rejecting this type of socially imposed boundary is interesting and takes part in a necessary discourse about the value of these kinds of standards.

Like, this type of taking imagery that can be restrictive or demeaning and reclaiming it as a means of empowerment is really cool! I mean, I feel like Babes in Toyland/Courtney Love's kinderwhore thing was so great because it used the stereotypically ultra-feminine, unthreatening-girl child concept and subverted it with expressions of sexuality, elements of masculinity, as well as an I-don't-care attitude that kind of acted like a big fuck-you to the way that this aesthetic was usually used to reduce the identities of girls to simple concepts.

Anyway here are a selection of images that, while not entirely cohesive, kind of illustrate this idea.

(Buffy is here at the top because I just love how she is so unapologetically feminine whilst at once also being strong and tenacious and committed to getting what she wants - in short, she demonstrates a multiplicity that much of society denies girls of being capable of.) (She is also the queen of everything.)

 

 

 

Buffy screencap, Jeremy Scott F/W 2012 (which I love, despite the somewhat questionable bindi-wearing), "Sweet Lulu" by Julia Baylis for The Ardorous, Liv Tyler, Tavi by Petra for Oyster #99, and Miles Aldridge for Vogue Italia Beauty

For more cool stuff refer to this Polyvore set (it's awesome and you will want everything!)