Petite Fashion Challenge #17

Candy Colorized

This month's challenge is hosted by SewPetiteGal.

The challenge:

“Take a bowl full of colorful candies (M&Ms, Jolly Ranchers, jelly beans, etc.), close your eyes, and draw 2-3 pieces.  Now use those colors (+ a neutral of your choosing) to form the basis for your ensemble.”

The candy:

I am more of a chocolate girl so I had to stock up on candy for this challenge and was happy to renew my Jelly Belly fever. 

For chances of bolder color I chose different Jelly Belly bags and Skittles before picking one candy from each container.

The random selection:

The challenge was to draw 2-3 candy pieces to mix with a neutral of your choice with extra cool points if you did a DIY element. I chose 4 candies plus a neutral, so brace yourself...

The color comparison:

Check out the candies with the colors they inspired:

 

The outfit:

...Tadaa! I think that describing my outfit would make it seem crazier than it looks. 

Does your work wardrobe reflect that the world is full of color? 

Depending on the work environment and dress code, I could definitely see myself wearing an outfit like this to work beyond Easter office attire. Why? The silhouette works. If you imagine this look in a grayscale, you can see the shapes are office appropriate.

The neutral:

Yes, I went with a cobalt blue as my neutral shade. Usually a navy is more of a neutral but with this rainbow outfit I think a cooler shade of blue might just draw more attention. Although adding this blue to my already colorful outfit might seem like overkill, I think it works!

Passion tea lemonade, yum!

Outfit details:

Amrita Singh necklace, J Crew dress, J Crew flats

Chanel purse, Mango sweater, Hermès twilly, Rolex

Some ways to wear a twilly scarf: 

as a bow on your head or tied on your wrist:

alone as a belt:

A single one as a belt and a second tied as a bow:

I love that this dress has pockets!! The fit got a little loose throughout the day so I am not happy about the fit in these pictures. Still, thank you for letting me share. ♥

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Dress in a lawyerly fashion

Le Smoking is the original "borrowed from the boys" look, created by Yves Saint Laurent in 1966.

These timeless tuxedos were exclusively worn by men with power until YSL came along. These have fallen out of favor daily wear even amongst the crème de la crème. Still, I think an attorney should not leave all the 3-piece suits or tuxedos for defendants... of course we ought to leave all of the polyester ones alone for the pimps.

I was a girl scout so I believe in always being prepared. As a teen, my "being prepared" motto covered having a nail repair kit in my purse (you never know when impromptu rock climbing or intensive shopping might chip your nail). Now I manipulate this motto into sartorial splendor: a lady must shop for clothes for occasions that may come up. Besides, if you buy it the occasion will come a la Field of Dreams.

Source: snapwidget.com via Fashion on Pinterest

   

I have heard that some law students go through their first year of law school without a suit. I think lawsuits--err, suits are just as important as laptops. Budget a quality suit into your loans. My first suggestion is Theory suiting. The quality is good, they offer free tailoring, and the cuts are classic. It is not at all that I am against cheaper clothing, as long as it is cheaper in price--not quality. I shop with longevity in mind so quality and classic looks are important to me. I will splurge on designer items but I definitely love well made affordable pieces and will not buy something just because it is designer if it is made of low quality. 

Have you bought a designer item that did not live up to your expected quality? 

  

Classic cap toe pumps

I came into law school ready to suit up at a moment's notice. I was 14 when I got my first suit because I was working in a professional environment. Since I was less than 100 pounds and just 5 feet tall, I had to get all my work clothes tailored. The fit of my professional attire looked so much better than my velour sweatsuits and made me feel so polished and grown up that I was immediately hooked. So it is hard for me to imagine not having even one suit in my wardrobe.

When did (or will) you get your first suit? 

See what this little charmer is wearing? The look is not only timeless but ageless too! 

A quality navy suit was a smart splurge for me because the pieces are versatile for work and casual attire, the color goes well with my natural or (spray) tanned skin, and the look is timeless. I feel the same way about all of the pieces in my look here. 

Outfit details:

YSL Le Smoking

Haute Hippie blouse

Banana Republic tank

Chanel heels

Rolex watch

Hermes Birkin

(Check out my other suit related posts: The interview suit, Get ready to suit up, Case: clothes; Bebe tweed suiting review, Keep it a boardroom not a bored room.

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Infringement for the love of fashion

Consider this another one of my educational intellectual property posts. The take away is similar to my previous fashion law posts: in fashion, imitation can be seen as infringement--not flattery.

I found these blinged out iPhone cases on an Etsy's seller's page and made a collage out of them for your viewing pleasure. From the looks of it, the seller, slave2beauty, is truly talented. Unfortunately, these glam cases are okay for personal use but turning a profit on someone else's intellectual property? Not so okay.

I am reposting these images under my Fair Use rights, not to be confused with copyright infringement! 

    
How do these cases tie into intellectual property (IP) issues, and particularly fashion law?
Well, if you have not guessed it, trademark law is implicated here.

I wonder how long this user will make these cases before receiving a cease and desist letter*. Not long if someone forwards my blog post to Mr. Pantalony (the lawyer who sent U Penn Law School a cease and desist). Slave2beauty opened up shop March 6, 2012 so it is likely that her work just has not yet come to the attention of relevant IP owners. I think Louis Vuitton and Lady Gaga rigorously police their brands, so the death of these cute infringing phone accessories may come soon.

Would you buy accessories like these even though they do not support the brand owner? 


I am not afraid to say that I report on counterfeiters all the time. Maybe one day I will get paid for it too! ;) Lucky for Etsy companies, Etsy asks that claims of infringement be signed by the IP owner or person authorized to act on behalf of the owner, which is on par with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

I do not feel badly about the infringer getting stopped from profiting off of these works but I do wish there were more flexibility in the fashion world, wherein a person like this Etsy seller could easily pitch ideas of these creations to brands. It is just that allowing/licensing people to trademarks is dangerous for brands. It is dangerous because brands may lose track of how their trademarks are being used and even if they develop a contract with a second user, wherein the IP owner is not liable for torts arising from the second user's products, the IP owner can get a tarnished image from bad use. Also, if trademark owners do not exercise quality control they lose their trademarks.

A trademark owner who wants to license use of IP must also be careful that the second user will not be considered a franchisee. A franchising relationship would be bad for the IP owner because it is difficult to get out of such a channel relationship: If a court determines that it is a franchise agreement, it is hard not to renew the contract when it expires. A front-end negative consequence of a determination that a franchise agreement exists is that the trademark owner is supposed to provide the franchisee with  an offering circular with all risks. The IP owner can get in trouble for not providing proper franchising material.

Although this Etsy seller might think she is paying homage to popular brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, MAC cosmetics, Swarvoski and Lady Gaga, using these trademarks without permission of the trademark owner is trademark infringement.

Any of these aforementioned brands can bring a successful lawsuit against someone making products like this Etsy user. Let's say the user thinks she is not doing anything wrong because she is not actually making a counterfeit of an existing item. To that, I say trademark infringement is not synonymous with counterfeit. When a trademark is used in connection with products or services in a way that may lead a viewer to think the product is connected to the brand the possibility of a problem exists. The person doing the buying does not have to be the party being tricked. Like with these phone cases, the people buying from Etsy most likely realize the lack of connection to the designer. Yet someone who sees this case in use by another person may mistaken the case for being one made by the brand. If quality is a problem then the viewer may falsely attach the negative quality with the brand. On the other hand, if the brand sells or wants to cell such accessories the products pictured above might compete with the brand. This is one of those situations where ignorance of the law is not an excuse.

Do you agree that products like these hurt the brand owners? 

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*a cease and desist letter is a notice sent by the IP owner or representative to stop use of IP. See this post.