Informal Assignment #3: Gem Sweaters, Prairie Weddings, and Stretchy Pants

           Today fashion has taken a major role in our society. We like to follow what the top celebrities are wearing with a hawks’ eye. If we don’t follow them closely or aren’t up on the latest fashion, then we are usually rejected or ignored within certain social groups. Fashion also ties into being thick or thin. Depending on the size of your body, society has a set code of what is appropriate to wear out in public, at big events, or even in music videos. We have become more judgmental and critical of what is “cool” or “in” vs. what is not.

            Leslie Hall makes it apparent that she doesn’t agree with how people deal with these kinds of issues. When visiting Leslie Hall’s website, the first thing you see when it comes up is Leslie Hall herself, wearing a hot pink outfit while wearing tons of makeup. The outfit is ridiculous and the makeup makes her whole appearance over the top, and not in a good way.  She has made herself look like she is a lot older then she really is. According to society’s norms, she would be considered fat and overweight. She has her website set up this way to express to people that you don’t have to fit and follow the code that society has setup for itself when it comes to what you wear and how you should act according to your size.

            While exploring her website she made it clear to me how society is. Society itself is geared toward skinny, non-curvy people. Leslie Hall designs stretchy pants that are made to “…hug your legs and hold your prod lady stuff.” She even states to, “Go ahead and gain a few pounds, these pants will still love you…” She is demonstrating that with ordinary pants from major brands, they aren’t catered to allow that much stretch if you do gain weight. You will always have to go out and buy a new pair once you have “out grown” them. Some major brands aren’t good for big movements like Leslie’s famous high kicks and leg swings. When looking at her stretchy pants she is proud of her crotch seems. She tells you that the strength is there and that she uses cobra veins. Although she is exaggerating about what she is using, this is important in what she is trying to get through to the public. She is explaining discretely that everyone is not made the same and that it’s ok to be a big person. Designers should be more conscientious of sizes in society today.

            In addition to making stretchy pants, Leslie Hall also has wedding packages setup for lucky couples who are interested in having unique weddings in Iowa. One of the wedding packages is called “Praire Wedding of Tenderness”. Now I haven’t been to many weddings but the ones portrayed in movies and the ones described of major celebrities sounds nothing like the one that Leslie Hall is offering. Leslie Hall’s wedding package is described as a simple wedding in praire grass, and the fine dinning is done on a quilt. Leslie Hall’s perspective on weddings is that it is a special time with your loved one. It doesn’t have to be done up super expensive with a whole bunch of material objects in the way. To me this is important to her because today society has blown up weddings into something that takes away from the most important aspect of weddings, which is the union of two people. But now it’s about center pieces for tables and what designer dress the bride wants. All of this amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs. 

            Although I didn’t get a chance to go into her music videos, they fall into the same category of going outside the norms and being different. In music videos they are supposed to be flashy and expensive, not home made. Bigger women are not supposed to be dancing or even wearing skin tight clothes because the audience can see everything moving and it is not “appealing”.     

This is all important to what the bigger picture is for Leslie Hall. People go through life trying to be like what they see on TV and follow what the top celebrities are wearing and what size they are. They are focused on material objects and not on what is more important in life. People, mainly women are losing themselves in trying to become what they see on TV and in magazines.