Fashion eccentrics like the late Anna Piaggi flouted the rules of conventional fashion.

“Good taste is the worst vice ever invented,” Dame Edith Sitwell famously declared. We can only wonder what the unconventional poet would’ve made of today’s fashion magazines, and their endless style guides proffering hints, tips, dos, dont’s and – of course – “must-have” buys.

We know that mass-produced fashion is destroying the planet, but it might well be destroying style too. Touted as democratic; what fast fashion has really delivered is so much sameness, it’s stifling.

Our taste for copycat style came into sharp relief earlier this month with the news that Italian fashion editor, Anna Piaggi, had died. The photos that accompanied the style icon’s obituaries showed her talent for unbridled, imaginative outfits but most strikingly, the confidence of an original woman who truly lived the life she envisioned – reminding us just how dreary wanting to look merely “pretty” really is.

So if you’re interested in developing a look beyond the inspiration of fashion magazines and the boring, bland and safe choices of their film star cover girls, take a look at some of fashion’s favorite style anarchists now and then. As the late Alexander McQueen declared, ‘”Fashion needs eccentrics, of course, but so does the world. God, the world would be boring without them.”

Marchesa Casati

Once quoted saying, “I want to be a living work of art,” Luisa, Marquise Casati Stampa di Soncino was an Italian heiress in early 20th century Europe. Known as the first female dandy, she was muse to and patronized some of the biggest artists of her time. Even now her outrageous and flamboyant style still manages to inspire designers to this day, including Lagerfeld, Tom Ford and John Galliano.

Diana Vreeland

Described by her mother as an “ugly little monster,” legendary Vogue editor, Diana Vreeland highlighted her so-called flaws and defined her motto, “elegance is refusal.” Scraping her blue-black hair into a severe knot to spotlight her unconventional profile, her garishly rouged cheeks and scarlet fingernails became her signature. “You gotta have style. It helps you get down the stairs. It helps you get up in the morning. It’s a way of life. Without it, you’re nobody,” she said.

Isabella Blow

Style icon and international magazine editor, Blow was credited for discovering and nurturing fashion talents such as Alexander McQueen, Sophie Dahl, Hussein Chalayan and milliner Philip Treacy. Treacy’s muse, she was rarely photographed without one of his extravagant and flamboyant headpieces. Suffering with depression throughout her life, she tragically committed suicide in 2007.

Anna Piaggi, with milliner Stephen Jones

With a wave of blue hair curled over one eye, vivid lipstick and a bright dash of rouge on each cheek, fashion journalist Anna Piaggi was a front row regular who was said to be “the world’s last great authority on frocks” – of which she owned more than 2,800. London’s V&A Museum dedicated an entire exhibition to her remarkable career in fashion journalism. Muse to milliner Stephen Jones, who released a statement upon her recent death describing Piaggi as “a talisman for all those around the world who believe that fashion is a way of life and that freedom of expression should manifest itself in what we wear.”

Lynn Yaegar

Instantly recognizable by her bright red hair, doll-like face and painted-on cupid-bow lips, Yaegar is a contributing fashion editor and writer to Vogue. She is a former fashion reporter for The Village Voice, having worked for the paper for 30 years. Known for her love of vintage clothing, she is a rare original on today’s style scene.

Daphne Guinness

Heiress of the Guinness family and muse to photographers Steven Klein and David LaChapelle, Daphne Guinness has an intensely cultivated sense of dress and her rejection of style status quo makes her one of today’s most enigmatic style icons. “I truly hate the word [eccentric]…I’m actually very grounded…Also, eccentrics are almost asexual, and that is not something you can say of me, by any means…What drives me now is the idea of something being against the world. I’m an artist, I suppose.”

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Sustainable style news from EcoSalon’s West Coast Fashion Editor.

Beauty Seeker – Check out LA’s newly opened “Eyescape” exhibit, by legendary London-based fashion photographer and founder of Dazed and Confused magazine, Rankin. The striking photographic series of a dozen or more large and close-up portraits of irises prompt intriguing insights into the nature of the proverb “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Rankin said himself, “Eyes are my favorite part of the body – eyes and getting the best out of them are my stock-in-trade as a portrait photographer, I’m constantly telling my subjects to feel something with their eyes.” A must see for all those interested in our culture’s unending fascination with what is beautiful.

Vintage Budget – “It’s hard to find the good stuff for cheap anymore,” is a common refrain among vintage clothing lovers. If this sounds familiar to you head down to the Helms Design District Vintage Boutique summer bargain event featuring no item over $50 on August 13, at the LightSpace Studio located 15 minutes from Santa Monica. Hosted by Clever Vintage Clothing, who are known for their incredible selection of classic, designer and repurposed women’s vintage clothing and jewelry. This is your opportunity to nab hard-to-find vintage at incredibly low prices.

Hats Off – Suffering from a case of Summer style doldrums? Take a leaf out of fashion icon, Isabella Blow’s book. Made famous by her habit of wearing dramatically eccentric hats, Blow declared “If I feel really low, I cover my face with a hat and feel fantastic… Wearing a hat is like cosmetic surgery.” Spend Saturday afternoon, August 13^th perusing the exquisite creations from some of the Bay areas best hat designers at Warehouse 416 in Oakland’s Uptown neighborhood. It’s time to tip your topper to fashion’s most underrated accessory and discover the work of Jasmin Zorlu, Paul’s Hat Works, House of Nines Design, Kitty Andrews Millinery, Hey Sailor!, T.S. I Love You and Dollymop.

The post Eco Style West Vol. 21 appeared first on EcoSalon.

Five low-impact suggestions to create a smart Fall 2011 wardrobe.

Thinking about our relationship to fashion beyond conspicuous consumption is a core principle here at EcoSalon and as we all know is as challenging as it is enlightening. Identifying what fashion truly means to you is the first step to figuring out how to re-design a stylish future that better serves you and the planet. For me, the fun of fashion is in its unique ability to express the outlandish, a sense of wit and imagination, as exemplified by icons such as Alexander McQueen, Isabella Blow and Diana Vreeland.

Vreeland, Editor-In-Chief of Vogue from 1963-1971, created the fashion media as we know it today. She imparted her sparkling wit and ingenuity into the style scene, qualities that are mostly missing in these days of carbon-copy consumerism.

Vreeland began her career as a columnist for Harper’s Bazaar in 1936. Her tongue-in-cheek “Why don’t you” columns – “Why don’t you use a gigantic shell instead of a bucket to ice your champagne?” and “Or paint a map of the world on all four walls of your boys’ nursery so they won’t grow up with a provincial point of view?” for example – inspired her post-Depression readers to think outside of the box and break the rules of fashion.

It was Vreeland’s fearless, slightly madcap voice saying “Why Not” that came to mind as I watched last week’s New York runways with a view to how I could adapt my own wardrobe to reflect some of the trends. In the spirit of fashion risk taking, and with humble acknowledgment paid to a true genius (she actually invented the word “Pizazz” for goodness’ sake), here are my five low-impact suggestions to create a smart Fall 2011 wardrobe.

Why not…tie one on? Menswear is a huge trend. With Yigal Azrouel, Alexander Wang and Prabal Gurung (above) showing tuxedo inspired ensembles, the easiest way to get the look is to borrow a tie or cut a thin strip of black silk. Tie the knot a little looser and lower  than you would on your male counterpart or forget a collar completely and rock the androgynous look with a tee.

Why not…stop playing so safe? It’s not until you’re confronted with a chartreuse dress or bright orange pants that you realize you’ve essentially been weaned on a diet of safe neutrals and black. If you’re going to buy one thing for next season, choose a piece that gives your neutral ensemble an unexpected pop of color, as seen at Peter Som, Preen and Phillip Lim (above).

Why not…chop off the arms of your old trench or jacket? If this idea makes you squirm, get your tailor to do it. Make sure to save the arms to create a bias binding to neatly finish off the look. Vest coats looked fresh at Alexander Wang, Richard Chai Love and Rachel Roy.

Why not…nix the match? Clashing textures, plaids and prints is the way to go, as seen at Marc Jacobs, Rag and Bone (above) and Thakoon. Consider it  the perfect excuse to try on all your old clothes again to see what clashes with what!

Why not…make a sweeping entrance? Flowing, mid-calf and longer skirt lengths feel radical, even mildly uncomfortable, after years spent in form fitting tops and skinny pants. Dig around your local thrift store and I guarantee you’ll find some floor-skimmers left over from the early 1990’s. Pair with a utilitarian jacket to get the new silhouette, as seen at Tommy Hilfiger, Rachel Comey and Tory Burch.

All images from style.com

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