Fish finger fashion
Gok's Clothes Roadshow is currently showing on Channel 4 with a variation called Get the Look for Less and we must say we are disappointed. With his unashamed promotion of mass produced cheap tat, he has gone right off the boil, as far as we are concerned, having headed down the frozen fish finger aisle for an instantly gratifying, but ultimately unsatisfying, fast fashion fix. Yes, there may be a recession on, but dressing for less doesn't have to involve scraping the bottom end of the fashion barrel. We should know! As frugal frockers, we have been banging on about it for years and started our Fifty Quid Fashion Challenge back in 2007.
Not so long ago, Gok's affordable high street looks regularly used to trounce the overpriced designer outfits salivated over by his blonde sidekick (you know, the one with the dogs) in his famous fashion 'face-offs'. Yet fast forward to the current series and the high street is being dissed in favour of what we can only describe as fish finger fashion. So it's Brix no more, high end no more, independent designers no more; mid-price high street is no longer hip, and cheap supermarket 'chic' is where it's at. That's really going to help the retail sector, struggling as it is to pay the bills, with many more well known high street names looking vulnerable as quarterly rents fall due.
Regardless of Gok's seeming enthusiasm for low budget clone wear, we doubt he'd be seen dead in a pair of George jeans or a Primark T-shirt himself. What's more, buying cheap means that producers and suppliers down the fast fashion food chain are being shafted. Ethical policies developed in corporate board rooms and PR'd ad nauseam by faux-caring, designer-wearing, profit-loving professionals don't mean much to exploited child labourers on the other side of the world who are hand sewing sequins on to your landfill leggings.
There are perfectly acceptable alternatives to fast fashion, which are every bit as affordable to those on tight budgets, such as charity shops, second hand stores, affordable vintage outlets, even the back of your own wardrobe (we found a Marcel Fenez 60s dress in ours last week that we hadn't seen for years!) While you're at it, why not dust off that old sewing machine, look out some knitting needles or crochet hooks and create something original as well as ethical? Students are past masters at dressing for less and can probably teach the rest of us a thing or two about saving money and slowing down to achieve style without sacrificing sustainability.
Please remember you don't have to abandon principle and become a fish finger fashionista or Tesco trolley dolly just because some stylist said it was cool on the telly. Despite being big fans in the past, we reckon Gok's latest menu is lacking in greens and more cheek than chic. The acronym BOGOF springs to mind.
Not so long ago, Gok's affordable high street looks regularly used to trounce the overpriced designer outfits salivated over by his blonde sidekick (you know, the one with the dogs) in his famous fashion 'face-offs'. Yet fast forward to the current series and the high street is being dissed in favour of what we can only describe as fish finger fashion. So it's Brix no more, high end no more, independent designers no more; mid-price high street is no longer hip, and cheap supermarket 'chic' is where it's at. That's really going to help the retail sector, struggling as it is to pay the bills, with many more well known high street names looking vulnerable as quarterly rents fall due.
Regardless of Gok's seeming enthusiasm for low budget clone wear, we doubt he'd be seen dead in a pair of George jeans or a Primark T-shirt himself. What's more, buying cheap means that producers and suppliers down the fast fashion food chain are being shafted. Ethical policies developed in corporate board rooms and PR'd ad nauseam by faux-caring, designer-wearing, profit-loving professionals don't mean much to exploited child labourers on the other side of the world who are hand sewing sequins on to your landfill leggings.
There are perfectly acceptable alternatives to fast fashion, which are every bit as affordable to those on tight budgets, such as charity shops, second hand stores, affordable vintage outlets, even the back of your own wardrobe (we found a Marcel Fenez 60s dress in ours last week that we hadn't seen for years!) While you're at it, why not dust off that old sewing machine, look out some knitting needles or crochet hooks and create something original as well as ethical? Students are past masters at dressing for less and can probably teach the rest of us a thing or two about saving money and slowing down to achieve style without sacrificing sustainability.
Please remember you don't have to abandon principle and become a fish finger fashionista or Tesco trolley dolly just because some stylist said it was cool on the telly. Despite being big fans in the past, we reckon Gok's latest menu is lacking in greens and more cheek than chic. The acronym BOGOF springs to mind.