Spring/Summer 2017 by SMU Look

LLOOK

Spring/Summer 2017

SMU

BLOCK PARTY

SUMMER TRENDS TAKE THE STREETS

HILLTOP FASHION AND STYLE

LLOOKL SMU

HILLTOP FASHION AND ST YLE INDIA POUGHER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

CREATIVE DIRECTOR SABRINA ABBAS MANAGING EDITOR SAMANTHA KLAASSEN FEATURES EDITOR ADDISON ANTHONY ART DIRECTOR GABRIELLA BRADLEY ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR SANIHA AZIZ PHOTO EDITOR ALEXA SLENDERS ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR ALI BLOOM PHOTO DIRECTOR AT LARGE KRISTIN WERTZ PHOTO ADVISER ROBERT HART STAFF WRITERS ADDIE AUDETTE, EILEEN BARRETT, HANNAH BLAKE, JASMINE JOHNSTON, LEINA KING, CHLOE MARCIANO, JOHN MCCARTHY, MEREDITH MCBEE, KRYSTAL SARNA, GIANNA SCIORTINO, KENNEDY WOLFSBERGER SMULOOK.COM DIGITAL DIRECTOR KATIE BUTLER BRAND MANAGER RACHEL GORGOL ADVERTISING PRODUCTION MANAGER RANI VESTAL ADVERTISING/OPERATIONS MANAGER CANDACE BARNHILL SALES REPRESENTATIVES MADISON BONIFACE, MACKENZIE HARPER CONTRIBUTORS

Writers SAMUEL CANGAS, SARA WORTH MULLALLY Editor MARK VAMOS Makeup Artist KAYLA COMBS Photographers DORIAN DRISLANE,

ABIGAIL SAVOPOULOS, CHRISTINA SITTER

EXECUTIVE EDITORIAL ADVISER CAMILLE KRAEPLIN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/EDITORIAL ADVISER JAY MILLER Special thanks to Tony Pederson, Belo Distinguished Chair in Journalism SMU Look, a student-run magazine at Southern Methodist University, is published by Student Media Company, Inc. in collaboration with the Division of Journalism in Meadows School of the Arts. SMU Look is dedicated to providing a youthful take on Dallas fashion and living. We strive to inspire and cultivate the standard of style on campus and beyond. Hughes-Trigg Student Center 3140 Dyer Street, Suite 315, Dallas, TX 75275 ENTIRE CONTENTS © SMU LOOK

Spring/Summer 2017 • 1

Contents

4 Style file Meet three fashionable bloggers taking on the industry.

8 london fashion week Our

photo director-at-large’s view from the FROW.

11 northpark Art and fashion merge for the ultimate retail experience.

12 Consignment The future of shopping. 18 The manual A beauty workbook for boys.

20 STomping Ground Exploring the neighborhood.

24 REDEFINING SEXY Are millenials looking for less exposure?

26 Profile: Arienne lepetre Meet the SMU alumna who’s shaking up the art world.

28 Time Warp A historic Dallas haunt inspires a 70s revival.

On the cover: Photograph by Abigail Savopoulos. Art direction and styling by Sabrina Abbas and Alexa Slenders. Model Maya Muralidhar, class of 2019, for Wallflower Management. Makeup by Kayla Combs. Hair by Sabrina Abbas.

Stomping Ground

No. 21 Jacket, $1065. Available at Stanley Korshak. Acne Studios shirt, $120. Available at TTH FORTY FIVE TEN.

c o n t r i b ut o r s on summer travel essentials...

Le Specs Aviator Sunglasses

SunnyLife Luxe Swan Float (gold)

MAC Travel Size Prep + Prime Fix+

Maui Babe Browning Lotion

DryBar DETOX Dry Shampoo

Skinny & Co. Coconut Oil (only raw and alkaline coconut oil in the world)

Shiseido Sun Protection Lip Treatment

MAC ‘Lightful C’ Tinted Cream SPF 30 With Radiance Booster

UE Boom Portable Bluetooth Speaker: Waterproof and Shockproof

doriAN DRISLANE Photographer

2 • SMU LOOK

Too Faced Better Than Sex Waterproof Mascara

MAC Extended Play Lash Mascara

Abigail

KAYLA

Photographer

Makeup Artist

SAvOPOULOS

combs

Photograph by Abigail Savopoulos. Below: Photographs courtesy of Dorian Drislane, Abigail Savopoulos and Kayla Combs. Goldoni font by Dennis Ludlow/Sharkshock.

Volume 1, issue 2

editoR's letter

Photograph by Katie Butler. Below: Photograph by Sara Worth Mullally. Dorian, Remy and a 1976 Datsun 280Z on the set of “Retrograde.” #acloserlook

Moving forward

f you’re looking to brush up on your fashion history, now seems like the time to do it. With legendary publications celebrating milestone anniversaries this year (125 years at Vogue and 150 years at Harper’s BAZAAR), comes many a fashion survey. You could say we’re doing some of those ourselves here at SMU Look. On a recent visit to the SMU archives (which are discretely tucked away on the third floor of DeGolyer Library), I pored over old copies of SMU’s former student-run magazines (there have been a lot). I left with a camera roll full of inspirational quips, cartoons and chic vintage photographs to choose from for this season’s Look Back (p. 36). We settled on Smart magazine from the 1940s, an era characterized by the post-war return of veterans to classes. This included a certain exalted football player (my grandmother, who was living on campus at the time, still says things like, “We wanted Doak Walker for president”). The late ‘40s also brought about changes in fashion including the revolutionary debut of Christian Dior’s “New Look.” Today, Dior has some other revolutions in mind (p. 6). In this issue we also take a retrospective peek at the style of the 1970s (p. 28) — harkening back to when my parents were on campus — and we explore advancements in shopping (p. 12), beauty (p. 17) and even love (p. 34). This issue is special to me for the reasons noted above, but as it is also my final edition of SMU Look, a thank you is in order to everyone who has supported us so far. Graduating seniors Sabrina Abbas, Addison Anthony, Ali Bloom, Gabriella Bradley, Katie Butler, Rachel Gorgol, Alexa Slenders and I know we are leaving this magazine in good hands, and we are excited for the turning of a new page. I hope you’re looking forward to Volume Two. I know I am.

India Pougher Editor-in-Chief

Spring/Summer 2017 • 3

LOOKING OUT

style file Checking in with three influencers as they take on the blogosphere.

By Gabriella Bradley and Meredith McBee

Krystal Schlegel (‘12) took the first-ever fashion journalism class offered at SMU. Now she’s a full-time blogger for her eponymous site, which she launched in 2010. How did you get started blogging? KS: I never knew that my blog could be a full-time job. After my sophomore year, I did a flowering course in Paris and I had all of these cool photos and I had always dressed up for school and I had a lot of people asking where I had gotten things. So that is how I decided to start the blog is with these pretty photos and telling people about where I was shopping. That’s when it started and it was just for fun. Then [Amber Venz Box] (‘08) started rewardStyle and came to me and said, “I am starting this business.” I think I was one of the first people to try it and now it is this huge company. What goes into a blog post? KS: I try to plan out all my posts two weeks in advance. I have been adding in my lifestyle and fitness content because I think that readers are not just interested in what you are wearing everyday. Also, I do a lot of how-to-wear-it or other-ways-to-wear-it, just to make it interesting as opposed to just looking at photos. How would you describe your style? KS: Simple. Classic. Black and white. Neutrals. I like to mix high-and low-point items. I am all about investing in classics and then not spending as much on the things that are more trendy. How would you describe Dallas style versus the style that you find in other major cities? KS: In Dallas you get to see a little bit of everything. In some cities, everyone just wears black, like New York. It’s kind of goofy, but I like to say, “Dallas women like to get dressed up with a smile.” If your house was burning down, what would you grab? KS: I would grab my Kelly Hermès bag. A leather jacket — I know I keep saying that, but I just love them. Also, a watch that I got for graduation from SMU that I wear every single day. What are some of the less glamorous sides of being a blogger? KS: It does sound very glamorous and it is really fun, and I never mean to sound ungrateful for my job, but not being able to turn it off can be hard. So like I was on a trip with my family two weeks ago and I was working 75 percent of the trip. What do you see in the future for your blog? KS: I was always so nervous that my career wouldn’t last, but I think now that I have gotten the following that is around my age we are kind of all growing up together and are going to be on the same page. So, once I get married and have kids, my followers will be doing the same things and they will be interested in that. 4 • SMU LOOK

KRYSTAL SCHLEGEL the veteran

looking out Brooke Hayley Reagan (‘14) began her fashion, beauty and lifestyle blog, Brooke du jour, in August 2012, while she was a student at SMU. After working at rewardStyle for more than two years, she moved from Dallas to Los Angeles and plunged into the world of full-time blogging. When did you first become interested in fashion? BR: I went to an all-girls school where you had your boring, ugly uniform. Especially in 7th through 12th grade, a really ugly uniform with unfortunate skirts and all that. Whenever it was the weekend, I always wanted to dress up and focus on that. I always knew I wanted to pursue it. It’s been kind of cool to forge exactly what I want to do in that field. What inspired the move to LA and blogging full-time? BR: I’m from LA and I’m really close to my family so I knew I always wanted to eventually come back. It was always a question of when is the right time. I felt like for my blog to be at a level I wanted it to be at, I really, really needed to put all of myself into it. I don’t think you’re ever really ready for big, scary changes, but it was an exciting one and I think it was as right of a time as it could be. What is your take on sponsored posts? BR: It is a really great way to supplement your income. I think you need to be so careful because audiences are really turned off when you are promoting a product you don’t love and I think that is the the easiest way to lose your audience because they don’t trust you. What advice do you have for people who want to start a blog? BR: Go for it. Start with a plan. Make sure you have a great site design, great photography, great writing. I really love the blogs where I feel like I know them when I read their writing and I want to send their post to my mom or one of my best friends because I feel like they’ll connect with it. Make sure you are consistently creating really beautiful content.

BROOKE HAYLEY REAGAN

Photographs courtesy of Krystal Schlegel, Brooke Hayley Reagan and Emma Clayton.

the independent During the week, Emma Clayton (‘18) is a typical SMU junior completing classes to finish her degrees in digital media advertising, fashion media and graphic design. But, on the weekends, she dresses up to take photos for her fashion blog, Dash of Serendipity, and Instagram, on which she currently has over 7,500 followers. Why did you begin blogging? EC: I started on Tumblr, the first day of high school, like so long ago, just posting and re-blogging things and then slowly started posting my own outfits on there. I made a BlogSpot to expand on that, where I could do more in-depth posts and write on that and pretty much anything. Walk us through the creation of a post. EC: If I wear an outfit one day that I really like, I’ll keep it in the back of my mind or write it down. Usually on the weekends I’ll have time to go shoot an outfit. My brother is actually a freshman here, so I usually recruit him to take photos for me. After that, I’ll write up a little bit about the outfit and then put some links in and I’m pretty much ready to go.

EMMA CLAYTON the rookie

How is Instagram affecting your blog? EC: Instagram now is where I get most of my readers from. I think it is a great way to find people that delve into different areas — especially with hashtags. I almost think that people follow me on Instagram and don’t read the blog. Spring/Summer 2017 • 5

@thewriting on Instagram.

LOOKING OUT

TEXT ME I

MAKE A SPLASH W

Rave Suits, $39.99

ith the triumphant return of the eternally flattering one-piece— a trend well worth the praise hands emoji—comes a ready-made style tailored for the “caption this photo” generation. Online retailers like Rave Suits and Private Party offer fun, flirty subtitles for your next OOTD (outfit of the darty). Options include everything from originals like “bae watch,” “champagne campaign,” “squad” and “mermaid” to 2017 favorites like “add me on Snapchat” and “bad and boujee.” Private Party even makes a “Texas” suit and a customizable option. So blow up your Gray Malin swan floaty and tell everyone how you really feel. Ravesuits.com, $39.99. Shopprivateparty. com, $99. — India Pougher

IN THE LIMELIGHT

pring is in bloom with this season’s Pantone color report. The semiannual announcement of the top 10 colors for spring was released in accordance with New York Fashion Week this past September. Drawing inspiration from nature, Pantone’s color of the year, Greenery, is a bright verdant hue reminiscent of lush fields. Not to mention the nine other efflorescent colors, Primrose Yellow, Lapis Blue, Flame, Island Paradise, Pale Dogwood, Pink Yarrow, Kale and Hazelnut, which are vibrant additions to any wardrobe. — Chloe Marciano

KREWE, $295

6 • SMU LOOK

Runway and products courtesy of Prabal Gurung, Christian Dior, RAVESUITS and KREWE.

G N I D N E #TR

Dior

Prabal Gurung

n the streets and on the runways, words are dominating the style scene and high-fashion designers are getting in on the action (or should we say activism). Maria Grazia Chiuri’s debut collection for Dior during spring 2017 Paris Fashion Week featured a “we should all be feminists” T-shirt that has since been worn by everyone from Rihanna to Natalie Portman. Prabal Gurung followed suit with a series of emblazoned, empowering T-shirts featuring phrases like “love is love,” “girls just want to have fundamental rights” and “I Am An Immigrant.” Meanwhile powerhouse brands like Yves Saint Laurent Beauty, Estée Lauder, Kit and Ace, and Vogue Korea recently commissioned Tania Debono (@thewriting), an artist known for her word-based art ranging from brand messaging to tangible typography. In our digitally saturated environment — and politically charged world — it seems fashion is having a love affair with the written word. By directly expressing what you stand for, what you’re against, who you identify as and the movements you support, these letters pay homage to the old while cementing us in the present. — Krystal Sarna

SHEER WONDER Leaving little to the imagination in 2017.

veryone from Dior to Calvin Klein is feeding the sheer-on-top trend so beloved by models and celebrities. Dare we say it’s the naked dress’ more casual sister? For this look to work IRL, you need a perfect balance of class and style. Mix them up and an outfit can completely unravel. “A runway look is one thing, but in real life you have to adjust,” says Kristie Ramirez, editorin-chief of Modern Luxury Dallas. “I think that for a night out with friends or a date, a sheer top with a bralette or tank underneath worn with some highwaisted jeans is fun. If it’s a more formal event, say a sit-down dinner, pair it with a knee-length skirt and throw a blazer over it for more coverage.” Consider material and choice of undergarments as paramount when styling these pieces. A sheer black top with a tasteful bralette can have the perfect amount of sex appeal and style while still maintaining modesty. But a push-up bra with a completely sheer top may be a little too revealing. And, at the very end of the spectrum, we have Bella Hadid going full frontal a-la Dior. — Addie Audette

Photographs copyright Stefano Tinti/123rf.com.

@bellahadid/Instagram.

Milan Fashion Week, Fall 2016.

DISPATCHES from the

FRONT ROW What happens when your fashion class receives an assignment requiring you to fight your way into shows and presentations at London Fashion Week by any means possible? SMU junior Kristin Wertz reports from her study abroad course at Central Saint Martins. morning I’m not in the first row but it’s OK because I’m still at London Fashion Week! (Insert “eek!” face emoji.) 9 a.m. The show does not start on time. Sit. Wait. Snapchat. Wait. Instagram. Wait. 9:15 a.m. Antonio Berardi show starts. I’m impressed; great tailoring and unique cuts. I give it an “A.” 9:35 a.m. It’s over. I grab more free coffee. 9:50 a.m. I decide I’m going to try and get into Erdem at 11 a.m. because, why not? 10:40 a.m. People are queuing. The woman with the clipboard asks to see my ticket. I don’t have one. I tell her I’m a student from Central Saint Martins looking to see the show. She allows it. 11 a.m. I’m standing at the back this time, but wow! I can’t believe that worked. 11:05 a.m. The Erdem show starts, not too late this time. The collection is full of unique prints and garments inspired by traditional attire from various cultures. It’s definitely distinctive, but a bit repetitive. B+. 11:20 a.m. The show ends. Next on the agenda is a presentation at 1 p.m. And now, I wait.

Photographs by Kristin Wertz.

6 a.m. Wake up call. Hit snooze three times. 6:30 a.m. Wash face, shower and try to find an outfit that makes me look like I was born for the “frow” (front row); a hard task since London Fashion Week is notorious for its eclectic and eccentric street style. 8 a.m. Catch a cab to The Strand for the first show at 9 a.m. so I’m not late. Being the first show of the day, it might actually start on time. 8:35 a.m. Arrive early and wait in the queue. It’s freezing. I look at the name on my ticket (the one given to me by a kind soul who was leaving town and didn’t need it). I think: Remember your name is Sarah Baker*, from Temporary Showroom. 8:45 a.m. I’m in! I grab some free coffee from the baristas stationed in the reception area; of course, the doors aren’t open yet. It’s a perfect opportunity to mingle with some people in the industry. I make conversation with the gentleman behind me in the queue who happens to run an up-and-coming publication. We exchange contacts. 8:55 a.m. The doors open. I walk into the show space and take my seat in the second row. Damn,

Above: Antonio Berardi Far Left: Shrimps Left: Central Saint Martins MA Show

8 • SMU LOOK

looking out

MIDDAY 12:50 p.m. Another queue. I’m Sarah Baker again. The invitation says, “no stiletto heels please.” 1:10 p.m. Doors open for the Dilara Findikoglu presentation. I should have known this was going to be a weird show by the iridescent red invitation. It’s in a small room with models dressed as demons. The garments are more creative than the earlier shows, but I can’t get over the devil horns. C+. 1:25 p.m. I head back to The Strand for the Shrimps presentation and run into my classmates trying to get in. Luckily I have tickets, but I’ll try to see if I can bring them along. I can’t. 1:30 p.m. A paparazzo asks to take my picture. More paparazzi follow suit. Pose. Pose. “Smeyes.” Smirk. I’ll take it. 1:40 p.m. The Shrimps presentation starts at 1:30 p.m. Ooh, they’re giving out free Guinness. The models are on a stage this time, much more professional than before. The clothes are dainty and girly with lots of pearls. They have a press release. This will be helpful in writing a review. B+/A-. 2 p.m. I leave Shrimps. There are more photographers. They want more posing. I’m not opposed. 2:15 p.m. I meet up with classmates and decide to try and get into Christopher Kane at the Tate Britain at 3 p.m. 3 p.m. No luck. The security guards aren’t very nice. 3:05 p.m. Waiting time. Grab some more coffee. No food.

EVENING 5:50 p.m. I get into the Ashish show with ease. My classmates try to get in. Apparently, the security guard asks for back up. Yikes. 5:55 p.m. I’M IN THE FRONT ROW! 5:56 p.m. Wait. Snapchat. Wait. Snapchat. I eavesdrop on the interview going on next to me. Wait. Instagram. 6 p.m. The Ashish show starts perfectly on time. The show is as great as I expected: lots of glitter, controversy, glitter and a good sound track. A++. 6:30 p.m. It’s over. I head to my last hurdle of the day: Burberry.

Above: Shrimps Right: Antonio Berardi *Name has been changed.

7:10 p.m. My classmate has a wristband from helping at a show a few days before, and I use this to pass the first security checkpoint. I tell the scary guard that I’m on the guest list. My classmate, excuse me, colleague, is escorting me through. 7:12 p.m. I get yelled at by one of the women with the clipboards for not having a ticket. I’m told to get out of the area. I don’t. I stay next to the door with a few photographers pretending to be press. I would say writing this makes that true… 7:14 p.m. I see Naomi Campbell and can almost touch her. I don’t. I play it cool. 7:20 p.m. Jourdan Dunn walks within inches of me. Fans are screaming. 7:30 p.m. The music plays and I can hear it from right outside the door. 7:31 p.m. I ask the security guard I befriended over the past 20 minutes if there is any way to get in. He apologizes, but the answer is “No.” I still rate Burberry. I give it a “B” since I got further than I thought I would. 9 p.m. I pass out from exhaustion and prepare to do it all again tomorrow. Spring/Summer 2017 • 9

LOOKING OUT Photographs courtesy of Northpark Center. From left: Leo Villareal’s Buckyball, 2015; Anish Kapoor’s The World Turned Outside In, 2003; Mark di Suvero’s Ad Astra, 2005.

fashion

Museum

How Dallas’ favorite shopping spot is moving up the luxury ladder.

ust over 50 years ago, the space that is now home to one of the largest high-end retail centers in the country was a 97-acre cotton field on the outskirts of Dallas. When it opened July 22, 1965, NorthPark Center had four anchors: Neiman Marcus, Woolworths, Titche-Goettinger and the largest JCPenney in the Southwest. Today, its anchors are Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Macy ’s and Dillard’s. Nordstrom, which was added in 2005, has a luxury-meets-casual aesthetic, with a price point slightly lower than Neiman Marcus, but appeals to the same targeted luxuryloving audience. Macy’s and Dillard’s, on the other hand, target the American middle class, with brands such as Polo Ralph Lauren, DKNY, Calvin Klein and Coach. Bloomberg reports that a low cost of living and an influx of jobs have driven citizens to move to Dallas at a rapid rate. Additionally, with the Metroplex housing 21 Fortune 500 companies, Dallas has sealed its reputation as an economic stronghold. So how does this translate to the fashion scene? A booming economic state sets the stage for a posh lifestyle—including fashion, of which NorthPark has been a prime catalyst. While remaining traditional in its malllike design, NorthPark has experimented with its aesthetic. In 2006, it added Barneys New York, an edgy, envelope-pushing highfashion luxury department store based in New York. Although the retailer didn’t resonate with the Dallas customer, the store’s six-year run again proved NorthPark was

heading down a palatial path. The center recently added many more upscale stores – and removed the lower-end ones. Even the recent turnover of Forever 21’s massive two-story space to Zara elevated NorthPark’s status by adding a higherquality, more fashion-forward brand, while still maintaining an affordable price point. But Forever 21 wasn’t the only store filtered out. Aéropostale, Claire’s, Hollister Co. and Abercrombie & Fitch have also recently made way for higher-end tenants, including Longchamp, UGG Australia, Club Monaco, Diptyque, All Saints, NARS Cosmetics, Sam Edelman and Tory Sport, just to name a few. “I’m really in favor of NorthPark becoming more high-end,” says Nordstrom sales associate Juan Mendoza. “Dallas is growing so much in terms of fashion and in almost all aspects, so it was a great move to introduce more designer stores.” What does this mean for the future of NorthPark? The center is staying focused on maintaining a state-of-the-art experience for customers. Public relations manager Shelby Foster sees its mission as providing the crème de la crème for all customers. “Our goal is to provide the best shopping experience possible for our visitors,” she says. “A big part of that is curating our mix of retailers to feature the most innovative and cutting-edge brands at every price point. Refreshing NorthPark’s retail collection is crucial to maintaining its spot in the top five shopping centers in the United States.” — Jasmine Johnston

Field Trip NorthPark marketing and PR intern John McCarthy takes us on a tour of the center’s extraordinary 200-piece art collection. NorthPark Center was originally chosen to house the Nasher family’s art collection — the built-in elements meant to display masterpieces can be seen in the 1965 OMNIPLAN design. Over 50 years later, NorthPark’s “art meets fashion” mindset still impresses its clientele. My favorite piece is Leo Villareal’s Buckyball (2015). Nancy Nasher, the daughter of Raymond and Patsy Nasher, and her husband, David Haemisegger, specifically commissioned the piece to permanently live in the CenterPark Garden. It features 4,500 LED nodes that can create more than 16 million distinct colors. “Nancy Nasher is truly the mastermind behind the curatorial decisions,” says Taylor Zakarin, the center’s manager of arts programming. “She has such a keen eye, and an innate sense of what will look good and succeed at NorthPark.”

Spring/Summer 2017 • 11

Photographs courtesy of Luxury Garage Sale.

The New

treasure hunting

rainbow of coveted Hermès Birkin bags, gleaming Cartier and Chanel jewelry, racks of lust-worthy clothing from the most in-demand designers; this is not Neiman Marcus or Forty Five Ten. This is a consignment store, but not the kind that you’re used to. Gone are the days when consignment was associated with rows of strangers’ well-worn, dirty, closet rejects. Now, high-end designer items are finding second lives as more luxury consignment stores emerge across the country. The trend of reselling luxury items started several years ago on eBay. As the online selling platform became increasingly popular, users started selling not only their gently loved items but others’ as well. Once demand outgrew the eBay website, these users translated their success to separate luxury consignment e-commerce sites. What has emerged are powerhouse websites like The Real Real and Vestiaire Collective. The metamorphosis of the luxury consignment industry does not stop there. While many stores are shuttering locations to move their businesses online, these websites are doing the opposite by building brick-andmortar stores to mirror their online success. For Dallas local Ken Weber, his eBay business took off so quickly that opening a storefront was the only way to keep up with demand. After selling online for eight years, he and co-owner Greg Kelly opened a Vintage Martini storefront in 2008 in downtown Carrollton before moving the store to trendy Knox-Henderson a few years later. Today, Vintage Martini is joined by a number of luxury consignment boutiques in the Dallas area. While Weber’s business has always been located in Texas, companies that are looking to add more storefronts are foregoing the usual expansion to Los Angeles or New York and opting for Dallas instead. 12 • SMU LOOK

A wave of contemporary boutiques shakes up the age-old consignment store model.

Luxury Garage Sale and To Be Continued are she says. “We are all into dressing more high two such boutiques, hailing from Chicago and and low and mixing your Zara shirt with Scottsdale, Ariz., respectively. The fact that the your $2,000 bag. I don’t think it’s that she coasts are often oversaturated markets is only [the shopper] has price restrictions. She is one of the reasons that stores are flocking to just more savvy and more into getting a deal.” Dallas, says Andra Chapman, Luxury Garage We b e r a g r e e s t h a t c o n s i g n m e n t Sale’s store manager and personal shopper. s h o p p i n g i s b e c o m i n g l e s s a b o u t “Dallas is obviously a very fashionable city monetary limitations. For his clients, it is the and is getting more recognized for our fash- one-of-a-kind, luxury pieces that draw customers. ion and trendsetting every year,” she says. “It is creating your own style instead of just “And it’s just crazy how wealthy the people pulling what is on the mannequins in the store,” are here and how much they love to shop Weber says. “It is a matter of putting things and how much they enjoy spending money.” together and looking great and having people The wealthy and trendy population of Dallas stop them on the street wondering what they makes the consigning process are wearing and not being a tear especially easy for these boutiques. sheet from a fashion magazine.” While items are often sourced from “We are all into As Dallas continues to add acoss the country, Dallas offers dressing more high more of these boutiques to its a multitude of wealthy women cityscape, each store is looking looking to rid their closets of last and low and mixing to better serve its customers and season’s designer goods and make your Zara shirt with gain new clients. To Be Continued room for this season’s influx. This your $2,000 bag.” offers consignors an additional 10 keeps the consignment boutiques’ percent in trade-in value if they shelves lined with pieces from opt to receive a Highland Park past and recent collections, sometimes even Village gift card instead of cash, encouraging items that are still on department store hangers. them to not only buy more items that might later The Dallas locals who consign also often repre- be consigned, but also to keep their money in sent the metroplex’s array of eclectic personalities, Dallas and support the local luxury economy. which show in the boutiques’ variety of offerings. Luxury Garage Sale, inspired by Trunk Club, “We have so many different styles here. We offers a service called Luxe Box, which ships a have really relaxed, really glamorous, really over box of carefully curated items to a client to try the top,” says Islam Obeidat, To Be Continued’s on for free and then pay for only what she keeps. intake professional. “I think that shows in our These luxury consignment boutiques have clothes, our shoes and everything that we carry.” broken out of the outdated consignment shop mold It is not just the shopping habits of the consign- and have found a happy home in Dallas along the ors, however, that keeps these boutiques in way. Even in the face of the ever-changing fashbusiness, but also those of the buyers. Chapman ionscape that we live in today, they continue to thinks that her customers who buy consign- bring life to the saying, “sooner or later, everyment do not do so simply to pinch pennies. thing old is new again.” — Gabriella Bradley “In 2017 we are all a little bit more savvy,”

good looks

On model: Mix of MAC Cosmetics Acyrlic Paints in High-Def Cyan and Marine Ultra. Makeup by Kayla Combs. Katerina Makriyianni earrings, $175. Available at net-a-porter.com.

prism Break Photograph by Abigail Savopoulos. Model Taylor Hintze, class of 2018, for The Clutts Agency.

Incorporating bright hues and wild pigments will give any look a straight-from-the-runway flair.

MAC Cosmetics Eye Shadow in How Royal, $16. Available at MAC Cosmetics at NorthPark Center.

t fall’s spring/summer 2017 shows, dramatic hues were focused on one area of the face while the rest of the look remained natural and bare. Kenzo featured patches of a bright poppy color carefully blended out from the cheekbones to the temples. Louis Vuitton played with vibrant purples on the eyes, while Thom Browne showed a creamy baby blue on the lips. Apart from the pop of color, the rest of the face went for a “no-makeup makeup” look, with no visible sign of other products. If there were bright swatches across the eyelids, only a touch of clear gloss was applied to the lips. If a designer chose a shocking lip color, the eyes and cheeks were left completely bare. Despite the minimal use of makeup, this trend packs a punch with its radical use of every color in the rainbow. This unique look may not be for everyone, but for those daring enough to try it, there are certain brands that are known for their vibrant hues and high pigmentation. For lips that pop, Make Up For Ever’s Artist Rouge Crème in the color “Mauve Violet,” a lavender shade, or “Peacock Green,” a creamy mint, will definitely do the trick. MAC’s highly pigmented eye shadows in “Chrome Yellow,” a bright canary shade, and “How Royal,” a beautiful cerulean blue, are great colors to use across the entire eyelid. While this style definitely makes a statement, it might seem hard to pull off. However, SMU sophomore Mariella Norona has a tip for those who prefer a subtler look. “I don’t like my makeup to be too dramatic, but sometimes I like to add some color,” she says. “So instead of using color over a large area, I just take bright eyeliner and use it on my lower lash line.” The best part about this beauty look is its simple application. The vibrant makeup acts like an accessory and adds the perfect pop to any outfit. Choose one feature to blast with a bold use of color and leave the rest bare. — Chloe Marciano Spring/Summer 2017 • 13

My Chemical breakup Ali Bloom shares the beauty of going all natural. Though I hate to admit it, I’ve never been the most health-conscious. When my mom told me she was going gluten-free, I think I might have even laughed at her. But now, as the chemical-free trend has developed in the past few years, they have gained my respect through the people I know and love. So, I’ve given in, and much to my surprise, I’ve been able to find some of my favorite beauty products of all time. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you don’t need chemicals to make you beautiful.

1. Honest Beauty Truly Lush Mascara + Primer My lashes are definitely my thing. Thus mascara is something you’ll never see me without. Giving up my precious, thick designer mascara was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done, but I promise all of you lash ladies, you don’t have to sacrifice length or volume with this primer/mascara duo. If anything, my lashes look better, even without the parabens, paraffins and silicones found in most mascara formulas. Ulta, $22. 2. Youngblood Mineral Radiance Face Bronzer Along with my mascara, I rarely leave the house without a bit of bronzer. It adds that little dimension and glow every girl wants. Until recently, I had been using the same formula for almost five years, so you can imagine how hard it was to try something new. The colors in this compact complement each other perfectly;leaving you with a sun-kissed, dewy look and a formula free of fillers, allowing your skin to breathe. Ybskin. com, $43.

3. Sun Bum Premium Browning Lotion This is just one of the many Sun Bum products I swear by. I might be trying to be more chemically-conscious with my beauty, but one thing I’ll never be able to give up is that good old Vitamin D. I have olive-y skin that tans easily, but I’ve always hated using messy oils to get that glow. This lotion is oil and paraben-free and rubs into skin easily, giving you an instant bronze. Best part: it smells like chocolate! Bask Boutique, $15.99. 4. Nemat International Amber Oil It pains me to give away my favorite secret, but this stuff is my everything. I used to spend hundreds of dollars on perfume, until I discovered the sweet smell of this essential oil during Miami Swim Week this past summer. Rubbing a bit behind your ears in the morning will leave everyone asking, “Who smells so good?” Whole Foods, $19. 5. È’Clair Naturals Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner with Shea Butter and Oatmeal What’s a man to do when his wife eliminates gluten from her diet due to an allergy, but continues to have the same reactions? Look at her shampoo and create a new one for her, duh. The founder of È’clair Naturals created a pure and natural, nonGMO, gluten free, soy free, vegan shampoo for his boo after discovering her hair care contained gluten and other harsh chemicals. He developed an all-natural formula that’s safe for color and chemically treated hair, and still leaves it glossy and smooth. Eclairnaturals.com, $8.99 each.

14 • SMU LOOK

5 4

good looks

MIX& mask Shake up your skin care routine with these recipes for DI Y face masks. The ingredients for these at-home remedies — including honey, avocado and apple cider vinegar — can be bought at any grocery store. Fort Worth-based dermatologist Betty Rajan says benefits range from calming inflammation and moisturizing the epidermis to exfoliating skin and promoting healing. — Eileen Barrett

CLARIFY

BRIGHTEN

Step 1: Mix together: 1 egg yolk 1 tablespoon honey 1 tablespoon baking soda

Step 1: Mix together: 1 tablespoon honey 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 1 tablespoon plain Greek yogurt

Step 2: Apply to face, avoiding the eyes. Leave on for 15 minutes.

Step 2: Apply to face, avoiding the eyes. Leave on for 10 minutes.

Step 3: Rinse with warm water.

HYDRATE Step 1: Mix together: 1/2 ripe avocado 2 tablespoons honey 1/2 teaspoon coconut oil Step 2: Apply to face, avoiding the eyes. Leave on for 10 minutes. Step 3: Rinse with warm water.

Step 3: Rinse with warm water. Step 4: Moisturize with coconut oil.

Photograph by Christina Sitter. Opposite: Photographs courtesy of Sun Bum and È’Clair Naturals. Photographs by Sabrina Abbas.

Power Product Three ways to use coconut oil.

Skin

The lauric acid in coconut oil is naturally antimicrobial, antibacterial and antiviral. “A plant based diet with good fats like coconut oil will lead to radiant skin,” says Dallas-based aesthetician Judy Cole. “It is antiaging as it improves antioxidant levels and can slow aging. Coconut oil can be used as a body lotion, hair conditioner, face wash, face moisturizer, facial masks and in salt scrubs.” Coconut oil’s antimicrobial properties balance out the candida (fungal sources) that can cause many skin conditions like eczema, dandruff, dermatitis and psoriasis.

Diet

Dietary benefits of coconut oil range from promoting heart health, feeding your brain and aiding in weight loss. Coconut oil also has many powerful medicinal properties that have proven to lower cholesterol and boost brain activity in Alzheimer’s patients. “Coconut oil differs from other oils in that it is high in saturated fat, which is actually healthy for your heart,” says former nutritionist Wendy Poston. Almost anything you use vegetable oil in, you can also use coconut oil for. It makes excellent scrambled eggs, popcorn and even coffee!

Hair

Trader Joe’s Organic Virgin Coconut Oil, $5.99.

“I use coconut oil-based hair masks on almost all my clients,” says Darlene Duran, a cosmetologist at Era Salon. “The mask helps to strengthen hair, condition the scalp and regrow damaged hair.” Coconut oil also helps tame frizz, leaving your hair shiny and soft, and helps prevent hair breakage and split ends, contributing to hair length. — Kennedy Wolfsberger

Spring/Summer 2017 • 15

The beverage with beauty benefits.

he road to clear skin is a bumpy one. Blessed with the strong genes of the women in my family and an adolescence ingrained with the importance of taking care of my skin, I made it through puberty with only a pimple or two per month. Fast forward to spring finals of my freshman year at SMU; what I thought was just a week of stressed-out skin turned out to be my new normal. After hundreds (possibly thousands) of dollars wasted in search of a smooth, radiant complexion, I decided to change my approach: I stopped treating the symptoms on the surface and went straight to the inner source. Once only discussed in doctors offices, probiotics have made their mark in the health and wellness spheres in recent years. The National Institutes of Health reports that 70 percent of our immune system is located in the gut. Since the immune system responds to inflammation, it makes sense that a strong, healthy gut would eventually give way to healthier skin. Diamond Physicians in Dallas offers a personalized approach to healthcare through concierge medicine, allowing for a proactive rather than reactive healthcare model. Dr. Anthony Lyssy, medical director of Diamond Physicians, weighed in on the new phenomenon and addressed where probiotics actually work their magic: the microbiome. “The microbiome, or delicate ecosystem of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bacteria in our digestive tracts, determines the health of many of our body systems including our skin, brain, cardiovascular system and certainly our digestion,” says Lyssy. While dozens of options line the shelves of pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS, homegrown

companies have created a market for a natural approach to probiotics as well. Focused on fermented fare and probiotic-rich foods and beverages, Hatcreek Provisions, located just outside Austin, and Farmhouse Culture, based in Santa Cruz, Calif., permeate an entire section of Whole Foods dedicated to gut health. Research overwhelmingly confirms the link between probiotics and strong gut health. However, with so many new options on the market, more research is needed to verify other health claims in independent studies not fueled by pharmaceutical companies’ interests, suggests Kimberly Persley, gastroenterologist at Texas Digestive Disease Consultants. Whether taken in pill form, or consumed through foods like kefir, kimchi and kombucha, probiotics are generally agreed to have an influence in maintaining overall digestive health. Lyssy breaks it down plain and simple: “When the bad bacteria become too abundant due to improper diets including sugars, processed foods and high-carb diets, the good bacteria that aid our digestion and help keep our inflammation low can't thrive,” Lyssy says. It all comes down to balance. A concept perpetually sought after in all areas of life, balance especially influences both beauty and diet. Fullcontour makeup is offset by fresh-faced days. Superfood salads and juice cleanses compensate for pizza and wine nights. Our overall health and lifestyle choices are reflected through our skin, whether we like it or not. — Krystal Sarna

what is KOMBUCHA? It’s a probiotic beverage made from a sweet tea that ferments with the help of a symbiotic colony of bacteria yeast (SCOBY). The strands of bacteria throughout the drink are similar to the sediment you find in wine. The precise origins of the tea are slightly vague, but the most commonly accepted story begins with the Chinese, who have long been known for their natural medicine and pursuit of youthfulness and longevity. According to this story, the “-cha” of kombucha translates to the Chinese word for tea. In turn, “kombu” is attributed to a Korean physician, named Kombu, who helped spread the drink to other Asian cultures. Originally touted as an immortality tea, the drink’s proven benefits include detoxifying the system, alleviating inflammation, aiding digestion and gut health, and boosting the immune system. Commercial brewers of the drink have also begun incorporating supplemental ingredients with benefits of their own: ginger, lemon, cayenne pepper, algae and others. You can purchase the drink at most grocery stores and some local restaurants, including Buzzbrews, Mudhen Meat and Greens, Bird Bakery and Hopdoddy. While a few places even carry it on tap (Mudsmith Coffee, Drugstore Cowboy and Company Café) there’s also a small, artisanal community of Texas-based commercial brewers: wholly owner-operated from brewing to bottling to design. — Leina King

Local Brews: Holy Kombucha, Fort Worth Buddha’s Brew, Austin LIVE Beverages, Austin Kosmic Kombucha, Austin Kickin’ Kombucha, Houston

Farmhouse Culture Gut Shots, $5.99. Available at Whole Foods.

16 • SMU LOOK

Photograph by Abigail Savopoulos and Christina Sitter. Opposite page: Photograph by Sabrina Abbas.

Going pro

I tried it:

Neutrogena Light Therapy Acne Mask, $34.99.

AT-Home Light Therapy

or more than 10 years, dermatologists have used laser therapies to treat a range of skin problems like wrinkles, dark spots, blemishes and unwanted hair. Laser therapy has become one of the fastest-growing trends amongst the millennial generation, particularly for treating acne. Dermatologists frequently prescribe blue light, which kills acne-causing bacteria and drastically decreases the inflammation accompanying a breakout. “The blue light is amazing, I use it for acne all the time,” according to San Francisco-based dermatologist, SMU alumna Dr. Kelly Hood.” I also use the red light to reduce inflammation.” When I mention the upsurge of at-home light therapy, she notes, “In terms of clinical results, they’re just as effective. It just depends on your grade of acne.” While local treatments at North Dallas Dermatology Center have a price tag of around $100, Neutrogena’s at-home Light Therapy Mask launched in October for $35. So I began my test at my local drug store. Despite its rather complex and futuristic appearance, the mask is as straightforward as it gets and, more importantly, it didn’t interrupt my detailed skincare regimen. After thoroughly washing my face, I put on the mask as I would a pair of glasses and relaxed while it worked its magic. According to Neutrogena’s website, it’s not realistic to see results until around week 12. However, I definitely noticed a difference in both the texture and redness levels of my skin after one week. While I loved the affordability of Neutrogena’s mask, there are other options suitable for individuals with more disposable income. Florida-based Quasar Bio-Tech, Inc. makes the Rolls Royce of at-home light therapy for $399. This product can be found at high-end department stores, including Neiman Marcus and Barneys. According to various satisfied customers, it works miracles within the first two weeks. If you find yourself interested in experimenting with this modern solution for eradicating acne, go for it. It works, and, most importantly, it makes for an epic Snapchat. — Hannah Blake

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HIS LOOK

The Manual

The modern millennial man understands the importance of a good image and the amount of work it takes to preserve it. In the female-dominated beauty industry, you might not know where to begin when it comes to spending some extra time in front of the mirror. But with the meteoric rise of male YouTube stars, like Manny Gutierrez and James Charles, turned industry spokesmen for major brands like Maybelline and CoverGirl, boys’ beauty is becoming undeniably mainstream. SMU senior and Louis Vuitton merchandising intern Samuel Cangas writes the rulebook for test-driving makeup for men. Step 1: Start by washing your face. If you don’t have a cleanser, warm water will do (according to my dermatologist). Step 2: After you shave, apply moisturizer. If you’re like me, you’ll stick to a gel formula because creams take way too long to dry and are an overall hassle. I use the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel.

2 1

Step 4: Now that you’ve realized you have the courage to use concealer, another product that will work wonders is brow gel. All it does is comb the hairs of your eyebrows and make you look like you actually care whom you are talking to. I use Marc Jacobs Brow Tamer and comb in the natural direction of my brow hairs. Tap the excess product out with your fingers, and you’re set.

Step 5: You’re almost done. The next step is moisturizing your lips, which is a fancy way of telling you to put on lip balm. No one wants to talk to a chapped mess. This is the area where splurging can get you the best result. I recommend Marc Jacobs Lip Lock moisture balm. I apply it in the morning, and my lips are presentable all day long. (Big plus: it’s not shiny so you won’t look like you’re wearing lip-gloss and it has SPF 18). Step 6: Lastly, and this is something I get the best feedback on: put on cologne. Do you really think your B.O. will attract anyone? I know looking and acting like you don’t care about anything is an attractive trait to some, but smelling good is an act of courtesy. Spritz a little in the morning and you’ll thank me later. 18 • SMU LOOK

Photographs by Sabrina Abbas.

Step 3: Now I’m about to test your fragile masculinity. Since few of us are blessed with immaculate skin and the luxury of sleeping eight continuous hours each night, using a concealer is perfectly fine. When I pitched this story to my editor, her first response was, “Wait, you’re wearing concealer?” Let this be a testament to my self-proclaimed expertise on men’s grooming. I’ve tried it all, and frankly most products don’t do a great job. Avoid anything that says highlight and contour. These will either crease or sit on top of your skin. Luckily I stumbled upon the Holy Grail of natural-looking products that quite literally melts into your skin – the Diorskin Star Concealer. When choosing a shade, swatch each one on your wrist and blend. If one disappears into your skin tone, you’ve struck gold. When applying it to your face, your fingers are the best tool. Tap the product under your eyes with your fingertips. Do not be fooled by the salesperson telling you to buy a brush or a BeautyBlender — trust me. This concealer will change your life, especially if your skin hates you and you have to live with blemishes and dark under-eyes.

1. Dolce & Gabbana The One For Men Eau de Parfum, $92. 2. Marc Jacobs Lip Lock, $24. 3. Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel, $18 . 4. Dior Diorskin Star Concealer, $36. 5. Marc Jacobs Brow Tamer, $24. 6. L’Occitane Cedrat Pure Cleanser, $22. Available at Ulta Beauty.

Spring/Summer 2017 â&#x20AC;¢ 19

Stomping Ground Cool-girl street style takes a walk around the block.

Photographs by Abigail Savopoulos Art direction and styling by Sabrina Abbas and Alexa Slenders. Assistant photo editor Ali Bloom. Photo director at large Kristin Wertz. Model Maya Muralidhar, class of 2019, for Wallflower Management. Makeup by Kayla Combs. Hair by Sabrina Abbas. 20 â&#x20AC;˘ SMU LOOK

At Your Convenience Victoria Victoria Beckham shirt, $495. Alexander Wang top (worn over), $325. Alexander Wang jeans, $375. All available at TTH Forty Five Ten. Page 2: shoes, stylist’s owhn. Opposite page: Caroline Constas dress, $685. Available at Stanley Korshak. Grlfrnd shorts, $228. Available at TTH Forty Five Ten. Shoes and bandana, stylist’s own.

Spring/Summer 2017 • 21

Stoop Kid Jimi Roos shirt, $325. Marc Jacobs skirt, $885. Both available at TTH Forty Five Tenh. Miu Miu shoes, $535.

22 â&#x20AC;¢ SMU LOOK

Jump Street Rosie Assoulin shirt, $495. Palmer/harding pants, $370. Both available at TTH Forty FIve Ten. Shoes, stylist’s own.

Spring/Summer 2017 • 23

Millennials make a move for modesty. by Jasmine Johnston

24 â&#x20AC;˘ SMU LOOK

id-December, 2002. A naked, radiant Heidi Klum sits upright on a bed, covered only by her right arm draped across her bare chest and a poinsettia-red blanket wrapped around her hips. A smiling, sun-kissed man lays his head on her legs, grinning widely, looking like a tanned, blonde frat boy straight out of USC. He is also nude, but for a strategically placed thigh preserving his modesty. Klum dangles a Christmas hat above him, casting a shadow on his strapping six-pack abs. This is an ad for Abercrombie and Fitch â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s selling like crazy.

Opposite page: Photo @AmericanApparelUSA/Instagram. Graphic by Gabriella Bradley.

Clothing retailers like Abercrombie have been pushing provocative ideals since the early 1990s. Another such brand is American Apparel, the Los Angeles-based, worldwide retailer that has been dressing America’s modern, hip youth for almost two decades. The retailer, like Abercrombie, is notorious for its salacious ads, featuring nearly nude models in many of its campaigns. But after declining sales and subsequent bankruptcy, the company was forced to put itself up for sale — and announced in January 2017 it would soon be closing all 110 of its U.S. stores. Abercrombie has also struggled since the 2008 recession hit, closing hundreds of stores and shuffling to entirely reinvent the brand. But the racy ads that pulled in massive waves of revenue in the early 2000s no longer seem to be working for youth; millennials aren’t buying it. In the early aughts, young buyers were attracted to American Apparel’s entirely madein-the-USA, sweatshop-free policy. Scandalous advertising wasn’t doing it any harm either; the brand wasn’t afraid to push the envelope, using nudity as a mainstay motif in its ads in the early 2000s. One of the most highly criticized ads featured the company’s founder and former CEO, Dov Charney, lying in a bed wearing nothing but a pink pair of the brand’s underwear. Another ad pictures a girl posed seductively atop a boy in bed, both only in their underwear, captioned, “Playtime.” Some campaigns even used porn stars as models. But this controversy-igniting strategy was just that – strategy. Sales were booming and by 2007, the company reached its peak value of $1 billion, proving its sex-sells angle to be a huge hit among young shoppers. American Apparel was not alone in selling clothing by showing a lack thereof; Abercrombie got in on the skin-baring game as well. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Abercrombie aesthetic was enticing, alluring and rulebreaking – it was the cool brand to wear. Jock and it-girl types were commonly featured doing outdoor activities like throwing footballs or skinny-dipping in groups. It was this kind of daring misbehavior that was so inviting – the buyer wanted to dive right in and join the cool kids. “I believe that Mike Jeffries [the company’s CEO] felt that showing off these beautiful people was depicting a brand image that would resonate with his customers,” says former Abercrombie corporate employee Dan Petronella. “The target customers for the brand were strong, beautiful, and smart young people who lived adventurous lives and had a lot of fun doing it.” But R-rated campaigns and the promise of cool weren’t enough to keep millennials captivated as the years progressed. These shoppers are viewed as the most progressive generation to date, and many are extremely passionate about concepts that promote inclusivity. Millennials tend to value a brand’s ethics over its aesthetics. Because of this shift in taste, Petronella says that the apparel industry as a whole is focusing more on sending inclusive marketing messages. “Highly sexualized messages aren’t seen as being inclusive,” he says. “The exclusive nature of Abercrombie’s marketing under Jeffries doesn’t work in today’s world.” In an attempt to become more attractive to the modern youth, both retailers have recently made

an effort to revitalize their brands with a more conservative image. Since the recession, both brands have suffered significantly. Regarding American Apparel, a series of lawsuits alleging sexual assault were filed against Charney by company employees, ultimately resulting in his ousting in late 2014. Newly appointed CEO Paula Schneider immediately pushed the brand’s advertising in a more modest direction. The new ads were more focused on the clothes, and did not contain nudity or erotic undertones. But in October 2015, the company declared bankruptcy for the first time, and has struggled and failed to stay afloat since. Similarly, Abercrombie drastically altered its ads, featuring fully-clothed models who were more ethnically diverse. These ads aimed to be more inclusive to cater to millennial customers’ preferences, but still weren’t enough to revive the brand. Rapidly changing taste among the newest money-handy generation worsened the case for both brands. “While there are plenty of re-branding success stories… in the clothing business, brands are more closely tied to their brand image than in other industries,” James McNally, director of digital strategy at TDT Media, told Mobile Marketer. This made it especially hard for the companies to shed their raunchy reputations. Interestingly enough, retailers aren’t the only ones ditching dirty. In 2015, Playboy made the decision to eliminate all nudity from its pages, although it recently brought it back with its March-April 2017 issue. “Today, the world is so saturated with nudity and sex, people are looking for more than just shock and nudity because you can see those anywhere,” Ruth Bernstein, co-founder and chief strategic officer of advertising agency YARD, told Business Insider. “The consumer is looking for sex-plus.” With popular apps like Instagram allowing its users to post almost fully nude photos of themselves, and the entire, uncensored internet in the palm of their hands, millennials have likely seen it all. “I think every generation is seeking more than the previous, but only in the sense of the social and sexual politics, which are always changing,” Dallas-based photographer Kristi Redman says, in terms of advertising. Fashion designer Tom Ford is credited with saving Gucci after revamping the brand as a sexy, chic label in the mid ‘90s and early ‘00s by using super-sexualized advertising. In his first year as creative director, he drove sales up by 90 percent. As Ford once said in an interview, “I think fashion’s a pendulum – I think culturally we’re sexual creatures, we’re in a material world, I don’t think that’s ever going to go out of fashion completely.” Today, the sexy look might not be as celebrated, but only time will tell when the fashion pendulum will swing back to sexy. n

“Highly sexualized messages aren’t seen as being inclusive,” he says. “The exclusive nature of Abercrombie’s marketing under Jefferies doesn’t work in today’s world.”

Spring/Summer 2017 • 25

Photographs courtesy of Arienne Lepretre. Frames copyright Evgeniy Zakharov/123rf.com.

MAPPING ARIENNE Meadows alumna Arienne Lepretre guides us through her world. by Sara Worth Mullally

“I

’ve been an artist since I was 10,” Arienne Lepretre delivers flatly within seconds of our first meeting. I’m still standing in the doorway of her world: a contemporary slate gray singlestory home, a minute’s drive from the water’s edge of White Rock Lake. She greets me with a familiar excitement, as her icy blue sweater emanates inner ease. An unidentifiable accent hides in the layers of her honeyed voice. Something flashy glimmers in my peripheral vision in what seemed from the exterior to be a minimalismto-the-max house. Luckily, our conversation begins to flow into the kitchen, and the mysterious glowing wall reveals itself: a gigantic frame. With nothing inside. It hangs centered on the wall, stretching floor to ceiling, basking in its golden glory. Light pours in through the massive paneless windows. Four putti

26 • SMU LOOK

adorn the corners of the frame, the gilt chipping off at their bellies, as ornate scrolls swirl together to create the florid masterpiece. The frame dates back to the eighteenth century, and Lepretre’s father, a Jordanian architect, purchased it at an auction in the 1970s to put in a church he was working on in Kennebunkport. The frame was in storage for 30 years until Lepretre built this wall for it specifically. Its history is not unlike its owner’s: a product of a glittering past that has laid dormant but now resurrected. After years living nomadically, hopping from one exotic place to the next, Lepretre settled in Dallas, working as a residential developer. But art, like the frame, has now reclaimed its place center stage. When Lepretre was 8, her father received a commission in Beirut, Lebanon, and the family relocated from Pasadena. In the 1960s, Beirut was dazzlingly cosmopolitan, and though now it’s “almost u n k n o w n ,” L e p r e t r e remembers the cit y ’s nickname at the time: “The Paris of the Orient.” From there began an adolescence filled with travel: boarding school in Switzerland, a move to London, then to Paris, and ultimately back to her mother’s home: Hamburg, Germany. After earning a degree in textile design from the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg, Lepretre moved with her future husband to Nairobi, Kenya, on a whim. There she joined a collective of artists, including sculptor Rob Glenn, and spent her days oil painting. Lepretre reminisces the “swashbuckling,” fascinating people in Nairobi, giggling to herself about the “white mischief of the English ‘bad’ aristocrats,” and the obscure mixture of people living there at the time. Her first exhibition was held there, at the Gallery Watatu, which was attended by artists and socialites such as Peter Beard, who purchased a self-portrait. Eventually Lepretre returned to the states — again on a whim — landing in Dallas, accompanied by her second husband, Christiane, an interior designer and native Frenchman. “He had met at the famous Thorntree Bar in downtown Nairobi a ‘cowboy’ from Austin, Texas,” Lepretre says, “and he told him, ‘Christiane, what are you doing in this Mickey Mouse country? You’ve got to come where the real money is, in Texas!” One day in the Park Cities not long after, Lepretre stumbled upon a house and bought it instantly. “Either I’m stupid or courageous,” she admits, “although I like to think the latter.” This launched her career as a developer, which after

a steep learning curve came naturally to her. Not only did she grow up in an architect’s office, but Lepretre also “always lived in beautiful houses,” one being a Richard Neutra modern in Connecticut, just around the corner from one of the Vanderbilt residences. After the success of her first renovation, she launched a career in home development. Her career reached its peak with her 13th home: her own. Lepretre’s modern enclave is supremely customized, with the goal to make it into a gallery of sorts. Hallways are not mere hallways, but a stage for Lepretre’s latest works. A collection of lithographs of homes that once belonged to her mother’s family in Germany takes up an entire wall in the office. A pop art sculpture by Equipo Cronica stands in front of a set of bookshelves in the entry alcove. A chair from Nairobi contrasts with the clean lines of the living room. Lepretre’s studio is a controlled cacophony of creation, which she admits spills out into the rest of her abode. Tubes of paint and canisters of pigment litter the high-top tables, as a canvas in progress rests on an easel in the middle of the room, its shapes mirroring the abstract designs Lepretre spoke of earlier. Lepretre is always trying her hand at new techniques, most recently making her own gessos out of binders, chalks and sodium bicarbonate. “ I a m i nte r e s te d i n everything. It is a problem.” Lepretre laments as we discuss Arienne Lepretre, artist. the range of mediums she uses in her work, echoed throughout her home. While attending Southern Methodist University, where she received her master’s in 2013, Lepretre began working in series, inspired by events in her life. “They take you and they pull your insides out of you and chop your head open and start pouring in,” she says of her MFA program, but “it always distills down to the core essence of who you are.” Her first series she calls “Mapping,” stemming from a trip to Dresden, Germany, with her mother, and the experience of living in Germany alongside so many who suffered through the Second World War. The first map is of Dresden the night it was firebombed by the Allies. From there she continued to paint and create prints and hanging sculptures surrounding the idea of maps, as she “examined place and the idea of home, and belonging, and the displacement of peoples.” One day while working a rock “appeared” in one of her maps. “I like irreverent, silly things too, and it just struck me as so funny, but it is like the proverbial rock we all schlepp on our shoulders.” Rocks began to take over her works,

“Either I’m stupid or courageous,” she admits, “although I like to think the latter.”

until they morphed into abstracted shapes. This idea of morphing then inspired her to morph her maps, which began a series of cages. “I was in Maine staring at lobster cages and the horrible idea of being caged, and then thought of the maps, and it sort of all came together for me,” she says. Artist Sally Warren speaks of Lepretre’s ability to experiment, and how she fearlessly allows her work to take control. “Arienne works in an intuitive way,” Warren says. “[She] always understood how accidents happen in painting that can lead the painter to something new.” Lepretre’s rock is a prime example. Lepretre’s most current work is a collection of vibrant landscapes inspired by the pre-Renaissance and the Byzantine that are “not too deep,” she explains, while reaching for a book on Giotto. Lepretre points out little vignettes in the background of the Old Master paintings, and you can sense her excitement: “Look at this adorable house here! Can you imagine living there?!” She began super-sizing these little vignettes, simultaneously modernizing them for the 21st century. “None of this is haphazard,” she says. “They painted flowers that were specific herbs that had a meaning.” Everything has a meaning to Lepretre. Lauren Zogg, art director at Blue Print, where Lepretre’s current work is shown, speaks highly of the “staying power” in Lepretre’s work, noting the poignancy in her latest landscapes. “There seems to be this sense of growth, vitality and energy in Dallas and her work reflects this,” says Zogg. “It’s almost as if you are experiencing spring for the very first time.” Later I asked: So why 10? Lepretre answered instantly, a smile spreading across her face. When she was living in Lebanon, her mother took her to a painting class with “the real McCoy,” a French oil painter who was a part of Beirut’s thenburgeoning art scene. “I walked in as a 10-year-old child, the only child, into a studio with sawdust on the floors and smelled the turpentine and I was home,” she says. “I found myself. I knew I would not do anything else.” n

Spring/Summer 2017 • 27

Retro grade

Playing dress-up down the street at the eternally groovy Milo Butterfingers, est. 1971. Photographs by Dorian Drislane Art direction and styling by Sabrina Abbas and Alexa Slenders. Assistant photo editor Ali Bloom. Photo director at large Kristin Wertz. Model Remy Ryan for Wallflower Management. Hair and makeup by Kayla Combs.

28 â&#x20AC;˘ SMU LOOK

Alexis dress, $495. Available at Elements. Sunglasses, stylistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own.

Spring/Summer 2017 â&#x20AC;˘ 29

American Graffiti

Midnight Rider top, $68. We the Free shorts, $78. Both Available at The Gypsy Wagon. Anine Bing jacket, $300. Available at Elements. Yeah Bunny socks, $18. Available at Free People. Adidas Sneakers, $60.

30 â&#x20AC;¢ SMU LOOK

Saturday Night Fever Free People shirt, $78. Mayle jeans, $395. Available at Elements.

Spring/Summer 2017 â&#x20AC;¢ 31

Far Out

Robert Rodriguez shirt, $295. Available at Elements.

32 â&#x20AC;¢ SMU LOOK

Hot Rod Honeymoon Free People kimono, $168, and bra, $78. Levi’s shorts, $69.50. Available at Free People. Sunglasses, stylist’s own.

Spring/Summer 2017 • 33

Phone and text bubble graphics by Samantha Klaassen. Opposite page: photo courtesy of Gianna Sciortino.

AATT& &TT 44:4:46 6PPM M 100 %

swipe

right A commentary on modern love.

by Krystal Sarna and Gianna Sciortino

n modern relationships, it ’s exceedingly rare that social media does not play a role. Many courtships begin online, but many also end there (lest we forget the popularity of Facebook relationship status updates circa 2010). The ease of accessing information on a new crush in just a few taps of the screen is an irresistible temptation. Within the past few years, dating has gone from traditional to digital, just like everything else in our world — with apps like Tinder, Bumble, Grindr, Happn, and even Hater (the app that matches you with people you share

34 • SMU LOOK

mutual dislikes with — technology is redefining the ways we meet people. In general, the process is simple: swipe right for yes, swipe left for no. Once you get a match, you begin to chat. But, maybe we should reevaluate. Everything on dating apps happens quickly, feeding into the instant gratification needs of modern society. You could open your account one day and have dates lined up within the next 24 hours. We connect with people on the other side of the world in seconds. We have necessities delivered to our door using drones. Obviously, this need would filter into the dating world, and it has. These apps give us the instant “love” we’re seeking. In 2014, Tinder co-founder and SMU graduate, Whitney Wolfe (‘11), set out to create the feminist

version of the very app that she helped found in order to saturate the online dating scene. Wolfe’s development of Bumble, which earned her a spot on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 for 2017, puts women in charge by making them the initiators of conversations — and as it happens SMU is the No. 1 campus for Bumble users. According to Bumble’s SMU rep, Whitney Wilkerson, the popularity comes from “giving power to the female, taking the ‘creepy’ stigma out of dating apps and putting the girl in control as the initiator.”

The current dating landscape is paradoxical in that “we need to appear sexually available, but not promiscuous.” On social media, everyone puts their best foot forward; filters and editing apps can turn an average picture into a magazine-worthy shot. Users present their best one to five photos in hopes of getting a swipe right. But can you really find your true love based off a highlight reel of life? “Authenticity has to start from the beginning,” Dallas-based psychotherapist Maddie Cohen says. “For a relationship to go in an unauthentic direction from the beginning where neither person is talking about their feelings — they’re just under this cool, non-emotional front — one of the partners at some point along the

Been there, done that Why my first right swipe was my last.

way can no longer maintain that because they will [become] overwhelmed.” That cool-kid attitude extends to other parts of modern pop culture as well. Today’s beauty trends reflect an “I couldn’t care less” mentality, featuring no-makeup-makeup and beachy waves via a can of OUAI spray. Relationships reflect the same shared beliefs. But behind the façade of the effortless air and unemotional attitude is lots of effort (and stress), especially on the part of women. Katharine Boswell, a women and gender studies professor at SMU, explains how culture “forces women to perform gender in a ‘cool girl’ way.” The current dating landscape is paradoxical in that “we need to appear sexually available, but not promiscuous,” she says. “We need to master the spirit of effortlessness, but spend time, money and effort to achieve that.” Because of this, it seems now more than ever that we consciously separate physical and emotional intimacy. Ironically, many go to great lengths to make that connection meaningless. Thus, we remain label-less in order to keep a nonchalant attitude toward pseudo-relationships. “It’s not human nature to not be emotional,” Cohen says. “Every human is emotional. Some people have a greater window of tolerance of keeping those emotions at bay or not showing those emotions to other people. At some point, one of them will crack because being in a relationship elicits emotion.” With the pleasure of immediacy also comes an addiction to it, and because of our digitallyfocused lives, our generation has lost the

’ve never been one for dating apps. I’ve always found them to be creepy and uncomfortable, and they never seem to be as popular in close-knit communities like SMU. While studying abroad in Sydney, Australia last semester, I was exposed to a social scene where internet-inspired meetups were the norm. All of my friends were meeting real, normal people through Tinder and Bumble, which defied all of my personal doubts. After about two months of convincing, I finally decided to give Tinder a shot. Once on the app, the majority of my swipes were left (sorry, I’m picky). After realizing my dream man wasn’t going to appear on my screen, I started to swipe right more often and be a little more generous. Within an hour, I had messages. Many of the conversations resulted in invitations to get drinks — at which point I started ghosting, or cutting off all communication without explanation. Messaging someone is one thing, but to actually go and meet up with a stranger? What if he isn’t who he says he is? What if he happens to be crazy? What if he kidnaps me? Or worse — what if he happens to be cool and I’m actually interested? My friends persuaded me to agree to one date with a guy who seemed somewhat normal, and

A user weighs in: Talbott Zink (‘16) “It’s hard to really show someone the real you on a dating app, [you] know? And even harder to have an organic conversation [with] someone you really know nothing about. But at the same time, once I match with someone I bet she’s already seen my social media and stuff. I can see some value in online dating apps but honestly I struggle to have good conversations via text, especially when it’s from scratch getting to know someone.”

excitement of falling in love and taking the time to develop a relationship. Technology itself seems to be perpetuating the constant need for attention and influencing the progression (or lack thereof) of relationships through a need for immediacy. So how can a relationship devoid of time withstand the test of time? “Whoever is using the dating app has to be mindful of it. They have to hold authenticity as part of their intention” Cohen says. n

if I didn’t like it I would never have to do it again. Stepping out of my comfort zone . . . blah blah blah. We agreed to a bar crawl. I met Dave* at a bar across from the train station. Initially it was awkward and weird, at least on my end. First red flag: he didn’t resemble his pictures at all. I smiled and tried to keep an open mind. We talked about our studies, life back in the States, basic things. We finished our drinks and went to the next bar. The conversation remained surface level and I realized there weren’t exactly fireworks between us. By the time we get to the next bar, I’m pretty much over the night. I could tell by Dave’s* and the bartender’s body language that this wasn’t his first time doing this bar crawl. I wasn’t the first girl and I most likely wouldn’t be the last. I quickly became disinterested, and resorted to scrolling through my phone. I wanted to get back to my friends, ASAP. I tried my best to make myself seem as terrible as possible, so he would be the one who could end the date first. No luck. My excuse to bail? I started feeling “sick.” I called myself an Uber, hugged him goodbye, thanked him for the drinks and bailed. Later that evening, I got a text asking for a second date. Seriously? I reverted back to my old ways, and ghosted. — Gianna Sciortino *Name has been changed.

Spring/Summer 2017 • 35

Look Back

Role Models Photograph: Smart, Volume 01, Number 01, February 1947, SMU Archives, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University.

IN EACH ISSUE, WE TAKE A TURN THROUGH THE SMU ARCHIVES TO DIG UP HISTORY’S MOST FASHIONABLE HIDDEN GEMS.

mart, SMU’s “Sorority-Fraternity-ISA Monthly Pictorial Magazine,” produced only one issue in February 1947. Though short-lived, the masthead included such distinguished names as Jake Hamon and father of cheerleading Lawrence Herkimer (‘48), and included recruitment news, intramural standings and social scene notes. The issue’s cover story, “Sorority Models,” is about the prevalence of students who double as fashion models, both in Dallas and New York. It opens with this photo of Alice Altman (‘48), a student who “models regularly in the A. Harris fashion shows and is rated one of the top high-fashion models in Dallas.” Today, models are no less common on campus with students represented by local agencies including Kim Dawson Models, Wallflower Management, The Clutts Agency and more. — India Pougher 36 • SMU LOOK

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