Style in Sweden

I watched the Victoria’s Secret fashion show last weekend when it was aired on Swedish television. I actually saw the world’s biggest fashion show for the first time. Lingerie is not really my cup of tea and the show is not that hyped in Europe. Of course, people talk about it and you can find the pictures and prices of the glamorous bras in fashion magazines but it is not broadcasted live during primetime (at least not in the countries where I have lived).

Photo: Beyrouth

Anyway, I was actually quite shocked when I saw the often-called world’s sexiest models. Most of them looked so skinny, plastic and fake that even my male friends thought that they looked disgusting. I mean it’s a lingerie fashion show! Isn’t lingerie supposed to underline female curves?

Usually I don’t like the never-ending discussions about skinny models because I think it is almost more important that children and teenagers learn and realise that TV is an illusion instead of just blaming the media for every problem in this society. However, when I saw the Victoria’s Secret models I was really shocked about this beauty ideal.

Of course, models are also skinny in other fashion shows but they don’t look like Barbies. I lost interest in Barbies long time ago. Today I prefer humans…

Click here to see more pictures of the show.

Report abuse »

After Top Model and Project Runway the new US fashion reality show, Stylista, started on Swedish TV last week. Now ten fashion journalists compete for a one-year contract at ELLE magazine in New York. Or in other words, “The Devil wears Prada” as reality show.

Fashion? Journalism? New York? Sounds great, I thought. Unfortunately, I was totally disappointed. In particular the judge and fashion news director of ELLE magazine, Anne Slowey, is so ridiculous that I’m getting angry when I write this text. Apart from her desperate imitation of Meryl Streep’s role in “The Devil wears Prada” (she even flops her coat onto the assistant’s desk just like in the movie) she perfectly performs the cliché of a real fashion bitch. 

After two episodes I’m already annoyed about her standard assessment “You have a low taste level”. What the hell is that? Is she from the fashion police? I think especially fashion is an area that really needs people who think differently. Even Coco Chanel was sharply criticised for her miniskirts in the 1950s.

Of course, this person makes me so angry that I will continue watching the show (that’s probably her concept). It’s entertaining and if you have watched all the similar forgone fashion reality shows you will also stick to Stylista.

Particularly from my perspective as a German, I find Stylista and many other US shows really fascinating and funny. US reality and talk shows are quite rare and unknown in Germany (I didn’t even know Oprah Winfrey when I moved to Sweden…yes, you are allowed to laugh now!!!) and I find they are very different. I think Germans in such TV competitions are for instance much shier and more boring compared to Americans. 

People in such US reality are always so extremely self-confident. Often they claim that they are best and definitely will win the competition. If somebody said something like that on German TV (and I think on Swedish, too) people would think that he or she was arrogant. Is it a part of American culture to show this extreme self-confidence or are just these extremely self-confident people in US TV shows?

However, it’s really entertaining and funny! 

The participants of Stylista with wanna-be fashion devil, Anne Slowey, in the front.

Report abuse »