Sale, Art and Fashion!

Exciting bop news! Shoppers will get twenty percent off of all non-sale items until Sunday, July 6 (the store is closed July 4). The promotion is in-store only.
Shop away!
bop, 222 W. Gorham St. 255-2570. shopbop.com

It’s almost Art Fair on the Square time. This year, shoppers can “pre shop” artists’ wares at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art’s website (MMoCA puts on Art Fair). This is the first year for this neat feature, according to Terry Boehner, marketing assistant with MMoCA. Items include paintings, photography, sculpture, jewelry, glass, fiber/leather and more. Although people can’t buy the items directly from the site, shoppers can get a preview of what to look at and click on links that will take them to the artists’ websites.
“People can start looking at things to get an idea of what artists’ booths they want to visit and map out a strategy,” says Boehner.
This year is Art Fair’s fiftieth anniversary.
Art Fair on the Square, July 12-13. Sat 9a-6p, Sun 10a-5p. 200 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. mmoca.org

A while back I wrote about Madison Fashion Week. Now Milwaukee is hosting its first-ever Fashion Week, October 3-6. The entire weekend sounds quite ambitious, with appearances from designers Gilles Montezin and Lawrence Zarian; fashion writer Tia Williams and stylist Jean Vouté Pratt. Events include VIP receptions, runway shows, modeling tutorials, dinners, a riverboat cruise and meet-and-greet events. I hope that I can attend some of these rather exciting events! The weekend really sounds as if it will be a lot of fun and a fashionista’s dream come true—right in our own backyard!
New designers can even break into the biz by applying to an open call event. The juried event will be held during Fashion Week at the Pfister Hotel. If you know anyone locally that should apply, encourage them to do so!
I’ll be writing more about Milwaukee Fashion Week as the events get closer.
Also look for another Madison Fashion Week this fall!
Milwaukee Fashion Week, October 3-6. fashionbythelake.com

Is Fashion Frivolous?

On the heels (no pun intended) of New York Fashion Week (Sept. 5–12), I wanted to include a tidbit from The New York Times (subscription required) on an article discussing the differing opinions of what fashion means in our society.
“There is a suggestion that fashion is not an art form or cultural form, but a form of vanity and consumerism,” says Elaine Showalter, the feminist literary critic and a professor emeritus at Princeton, who’s cited in the article. Those are, she adds, dimensions of culture that “intelligent and serious” people are expected to scorn.
Although I think that there is more to life than fashion, what you wear is an expression of who you are. Fashion is also a vital piece of society’s cultural puzzle that includes arts and entertainment, politics, business and so forth that’s fortunately or unfortunately (however you look at it) becoming more and more prevalent. I think what’s most important in navigating the world of fashion is understanding that everyone has a different style and attitude and we should respect that.
I think retailers (Madison retailers included) are addressing the individualism of shopper’s tastes more these days by carrying smaller and more niche designers and opening boutiques that cater to particular tastes (urban/streetwear, upscale prep, college/juniors wear) and so forth.
What do you think?