Fashion Week is a tornado of relentless scrutiny of what you are wearing. For our final two Second Skins with Look TV, we plot our girls to enter this frenzy while in the clothes of a complete stranger.
First up, I force two girls who know all too well that in your body is a great place to be, fashion blogger Nadia Aboulhson and fashion designer Amy Cakes Danky Dank (you may recall seeing her in Lindsay and Maad's Second Skin) to embrace each other's styles for an entire day.
Anxious about facing her devoted followers during an organized "meet-up," the curves-accentuating Nadia wasn't too thrilled about encountering the fans who are inspired by her body image positivity while bedecked in Amy's skater-punk motor cross shields, Willy Wonka platforms, and spiky chokers. I brought my mom along for reinforcement (a la Grace Lee). But the girl who once got kicked out of a restaurant for wearing a leopard bra and high-waisted pencil skirt wasn't having it (4:40). With the Fashion Week appearance being such a crucial moment in her career, there was no way that she was going to go through with the experiment as I originally intended. "I can't wear something that doesn't reflect who I am," Nadia told us.
I got it. Nadia has made a name for herself by proving to voluptuous girls like myself that we can be just as sexy and sleek as the tortuously thin models who walk the runways. Her sex-kitten heels and tantalizing bling are a part of her identity, and I just didn't have the heart to push her to change that (though now, looking back, I wish I did).
Thus, we ended up comprising -- Nadia dipped her toe into Amy's look by wearing her black spiky top (which everyone at Lincoln loved) but keeping her signature all-black (12:30). After the meet up, Nadia did immerse herself in Amy's anime uniform -- sporting a velvety shark dress, a spiky purple collar, an equally spiky turquoise backpack, and yellow platforms (15:30). Finally, fully absorbed by the day-glo fashion designer's closet, Nadia realized that she did have the power to make it her own.
As for Amy, she literally could not spend a day in Nadia's shoes. Like Lindsey Feinberg before her, the girl whose dream is to design Barbie clothes found walking in heels to be an unendurable task (9:10). At a friend's house (we cabbed it), she was commended as "classy" and "chic" in Nadia's gold earrings, Marlene Dietrich smoking jacket, and form-flaunting skirt (12:10).
Amy, who was forced into Weight Watchers by her mother when just a freshman in high school, was able to get into Nadia's vampish character for a moment, but when she hit the video game arcade with her friends that night, Nadia's slinky things turned race car games and DDR from awesomeness to awkwardness (19:05).
Amy realized that she could put on Nadia's femme fatale persona when just with one or two friends, but, in order to be at one with her environment (i.e. the video game arcade), her Timmy tees and towering sneakers are required. With Nadia, she discovered just how deep her stubbornness runs. Yet she also found that, if she put her mind to it, she can take Amy's Hello Kitty acid trip and turn it into a journey that she herself fashioned.
Stay tuned for our Second Skin finale on Friday!
xo,
Lily
Video edited by Maximiliano Gaston Longo
Music by Draemings & Kenyon Phillips