disingenuous mistakes

 Oh my Miley! Make any disingenuous mistakes lately? I think so. You aren’t fooling anyone that those cutoff jeans didn’t come like that or that you shirt just happened to fall off your shoulder and reveal your bra strap. I mean, the girl next to you is wearing the exact same thing for heavens sake! The high heels and the layers of necklaces are trying to dress your outfit up, Just because you are trying to dress like you are “doing something wrong” doesn’t mean it wasn’t a strategic mistake that you carefully planned out. It's not like Miley couldn't afford a full pair of new non-wripped jeans, but something about the rich dressing poor is appealing to her. Sure, other people have made these mistakes but they aren't fooling anyone either. 

Semiotics

Lipstick, black leather, fishnets, bed-head, hot pink....ahh! There are so many semiotic signs going on here that it’s overload. I mean, Taylor has had her fair share of fashion faux pas, but this is just too much. Taylor is trying to be tough but girly, and create the specific balance of ambivalence and ambiguity of masculine and feminine. However, I’m not entirely sure you succeed here, Taylor, the hot pink lipstick and fishnets say sexy. The leather jacket says biker, rock n’roll rebel and the messy hair tries to say “I just woke up and looked this good,” but, as we all know thats not the case. The effortless look is never as effortless as it may seem. She probably spent hours fussing with her hair so it was perfectly messy and polished at the same time. 

Androgyny

Androgyny exists everywhere in fashion, some of it is super trendy but, I think short hair on women gets a bad rep. Because honestly, when you think of a girl with short, I’m talking really short hair, you don’t necessarily think of the femininity and beauty you associate with long flowing hair. But here, Emma Watson has done it well. On someone else without the soft lines of her face and her big beautiful eyes, it may look not all that great, but here, Emma looks just as feminine as ever. Androgyny is present, masculinity and femininity are fighting for attention.  One one hand you can't deny Emma Watson's feminine side here, but the connotation of short hair screams masculine. Short hair may not necessarily say "sexiness" or "beauty", but I think Emma has proven that signs are not always cut and dry and ambiguity will be ever present.