on reviewing fashion

In late 2013 the press announcement read.. The New York Times lost one of its most recognized and dishy style reporters this year when ….. Announced his decampment to InStyle/ fashionista.com .. where he'll become the magazine's first-ever fashion news director

Her bio reads… Executive Editor …. was so clothes-obsessed in high school she kept a calendar of her outfits and refused to repeat a look more than once a month.
 

art by Bil Donovan 

One might think that these 2 who are quite accomplished at their jobs, or are supposedly so and would refrain from “borrowing” specific verbiage from other writers who are so called less accomplished and less well read. Firstly, I would like to say that it must be difficult for HER to write about fashion given her so called bio reads like a  high school groupie obsessed with clothes and secondly, I guess HE is not so dishy or bitchy as the world might think . Between the 2 one really has to question HER credentials.

Having penned more than 1000 fashion related articles, close to 200 fashion based book reviews and countless fashion based freelance articles and interviews, one develops one’s own lexicon of fashion terminology. For me, some of it is laced with humor and some if is laced with acerbic wit or just downright bitchiness. The important issue is that I have made these words instantly recognizable to my readers as being distinctly related to me.

Let’s take, for example, my use of the “blah blah blah of fashion” which is used to describe those designers and their output who seem to think that their arcane inspirations and esoteric knowledge matter when it comes to selling clothes (Raffie, Nicky G,Miuccia)… does that sound about right Eric? Then there is this minor little word that doesn’t appear in spell check unless you have included it in your“dictionary” and that would be “monastic” as it apparently is a word that I coined when describing various and mostly Valentino collections ... isn’t that right Nicky? She seems to use my phrases more often than he , generally excerpted directly from my pieces. So my question is .. if your job is too difficult and you feel the need to “borrow” ..  and you think no would mind … yes .. well… SOMEONE does and someone will notice! And BTW readers report these types of transgressions

It’s bad enough that writing reviews usually evokes a great amount of emotion on the part of the reader especially when he or she doesn’t agree with the writer, but to have one’s (author’s) words literally taken out of their mouths ... Literally! …is beyond the pale! I am not a ventriloquist or ghost writer!

PS maybe you would like to help yourself to Donatellamommamia, Pradapuss, Ricky Ticky, Raffie or Nicky G…..