In my recent post “Confessions of a Fashion Week Neophyte” I attempted to make FWN (Fashion Week Neophyte) happen by describing myself as a deer in the headlights at MBFW. I’m not sure that it was clear (something got lost in editing) but I decided that this was a good opportunity to talk about the acronyms that exist in fashion and maybe some that don’t, but should.
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| VPL |
We’re all familiar with the LBD and its spring/summer corollary the LWD. One must be careful when sporting the LWD not to have VPL (visible panty line) and/or VBS (visible bra strap), although it’s tricky as that trend seemed to have a moment there for a while. I’m not sure what the status on VBS is right now but I own a device available just about anywhere now (CVS for example, another acronym), that attaches to the straps like a glorified plastic paper clip and totally takes care of that problem .
If you’re a high boots wearer those boots are OTK but if you’re dressed like a blogger at Fashion Week you could be OTT. BTW, you could also be an AW (Attention Whore). Check out my past article: LTH (leather thigh highs) speaking of attention getting trends.
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| OTK |
There are fabrics such as CDC (no, not the Center for Disease Control, it’s crepe de chine, obviously) and PDS (not sure if they use that for Peau de Soie as it’s more often referred to as Duchess Satin these days). There’s also PU (polyurethane), PL (Polyethlylene) and PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride or plastic) which is used as a coating on several designer handbags including Burberry and Louis Vuitton.
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| Paris Hilton is OTT |
Of course, there are plenty of abbreviated fashion organizations: CFDA, FGI, FIT, FFANY…the list is too long to mention but you get the idea. In the interest of not only creativity but also secrecy, my daughter and I had created an acronym more about the sorry state of affairs or lack of fashion which we called the WU (sorry Jason). In our parlance WU stood for Westchester Uniform and referred to my daughter’s observation that everyone in her pre-college days in the ‘burbs where we spent our weekends, tended to rock the sweatpants/college sweatshirt/Ugg boots or flip flops as footwear (depending on the season) combo to SAT prep. She was the only one who would actually make the effort to wear “real” clothing such as skinny jeans and a sweater. Even the mothers would show up in some variety of this look, less about Lululemon and more about “I just threw this on to get a quart of milk and make a PBJ but somehow ended up in it all day.”
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| Vanessa Hudgens wears the WU |
What my daughter and I could never understand is that it takes the same effort to put on a pair of stylish jeans as it does to look like the walking equivalent of an unmade bed so why go with the latter? I think it may have to do with the suburban car culture where you are “protected” in your vehicle from the rest of the world and shielded from having to present yourself apart from your metal status symbol. If the FP (Fashion Police) try to ticket you, just use the BMW defense.
