Sex Sells. YAWN.

I have been thinking a lot recently about who exactly fashion is for. I live with six girls this year, and nine for the two years before that, so we have many in depth conversations about seemingly shallow things like clothes, boys, sex and food. The one thing which we always talk about and notice is that we check out girls a lot more than we do boys. This is obviously affected by the distinct lack of hot guys in birmingham but the truth still stands- girls are more interested in impressing and gaining the approval of other girls than the opposite sex. When we have lost weight, when we get a new haircut, when we buy a new dress we are hoping for a compliment from our female peers- after all, would a (straight) guy even notice?
This concept seems to have carried through into high fashion and the world of celebrities too. If you look at advertising campaigns there is a general trend for brands selling staple goods like denim, or casual street wear, to use sex as the main tool for capturing the audience's attention. You only have to look at the notorious Calvin Klein underwear, jeans and perfume ads to see that this is true, while more innovative and original designers have more intriguing conceptual shoots, like the Marc Jacobs shots by Juergen Teller.




In the world of celebrities there also seems to be a sharp divide between those truly interested in fashion and forging for themselves a distinctive style, and those who just put on like a hanger the clothes handed them by stylists or the styles and designers which they know are experiencing a popular surge. Nothing epitomises this distinction more so than the girls of Girls Aloud. I will not deny that I used to be a big fan of Cheryl Cole- during her first season as judge on Xfactor I found her sympathetic approach to the contestants quite touching, she actually seemed fairly genuine, and her outfit choices at first seemed quite young and cool. But come 2009's run of the talent contest Cheryl's look got tired. How much longer were we to endure her identikit look of massive hair extensions, huge false eyelashes, deep tan and increasingly tiny physique styled with ever more boring flesh baring, short or tight dresses. In short Cheryl was dressing for the men, not the ladies of high fashion. And as her private life was exposed in the tabloids it appeared that Cheryl was committing the ultimate girls sin- sticking with a man who has proved to be a first class jerk. You only have to read her interview in Glamour to see that she is a girl blind in 'love'- when asked what Ashley had done for her recently she replied that he had made her a cup of tea. RIGHT. WHAT A HERO.




The absolute anti-Cheryl is the increasingly chic Nicola Roberts. Once labelled the 'ugly one' of Girls Aloud for her pale skin and red hair, Nicola is fast becoming a full fledged fashionista. Her hair and skin colour may be a contrast to the stereotype which the media enforces of 'sexy', but she is unique and interesting which to me are far better traits than having a tan and big hair. Nicola has been spotted on the front row of many a fashion show in an array of vintage and traditionally British designs which have gained the seal of approval from the online and published fashion community.




If it came down to being 'sexy' or 'fashionable' I know which label I would rather choose. Let's hope this new decade is the dawn of some more interesting celebrity styling.