thank you, gawker

Consider this post a warning.  I'm sure a bunch of you read all sorts of fashion blogs, including the fashion blog, The Sartorialist. Normally, I really like the pictures Scott posts.  I loved the ones of the Jazz-Age Dance Party on Governor's Island and I even loved the ones of the Mennonite girls in Woodward, PA (I have actually been there...picking my brother up from skateboarding summer camp.)

And while, on their own, I don't necessarily dislike the following outfits...I'm just not really sure how I feel about them.

(both images via)

Now, I must indulge in a brief disclaimer: I by no means consider myself knowledgeable about fashion. I have never posted about it before.  But there was just something a bit off-putting about the two outfits pictured above that I couldn't quite pinpoint, until I read this article from Gawker  and this one (the original) from the New York Times.  And then when that light bulb went off, well, I needed to share. In a sentence, the articles say that fashion tends to recycle itself every 20 years and that means we're reaching 1990 again and that means....Elaine. 

There have been so many other Elaine-esque fashion images out there recently that I can't find at the moment.  Their disappearance is driving me nuts.  New conspiracy theory: the girls in the pictures read these articles and immediately deleted all proof of them wearing Elaine outfits from cyber space.  Now, I love Elaine as much as the next guy (or gal), but I think we all know her style left a little something to be desired.  I mean, to each his own, but still.

Clearly the two girls pictured on the Sartorialist have better style than Elaine and are pulling off their looks.  But, you can see the resemblance, right? So, I'm just trying to say, as Gawker and the New York Times so aptly pointed out, that I (and my slight lack of fashion savvy) need to be careful that my attempt at new trends doesn't leave me looking like this (no offense, Elaine/Julia):