Alexa Chung’s ‘thinstagram’ controversy

I swear, Instagram has never had so much publicity as its had in the last week.  The photo-sharing app for mobiles (in case you’ve been living under a rock) has not only been acquired by Facebook’s greedy Zuckerberg  for a rumoured $1 billion, but it also appears to have got MTV presenter Alexa Chung embroiled in yet another ‘weight debate’.  When Chung posted a snap of herself on her Instagram account wearing a denim dress, shades and trademark ballet flats the ex-model was inundated with negative comments about her tiny frame.  After commenting on the photo that she wasn’t ‘trying to be thinspo for anyone’ she then made her account private, and is now dealing with the Instagram fall out in the press.

Having  only joined Instagram a few weeks ago (insert shameless self promotion here: @helencoakley, Chung was actually one of the first ‘shlebs’ I followed.  Now, I know she can be considered Marmite, but I genuinely admire her sense of style and from the few images I managed to see on her account, it was rather nice having a direct window in to her wardrobe!  But no.  Haters gotta hate, haven’t they?  And now my fabulous pocket inspiration in the form of Chung is set to private.  So unless I befriend her sharpish that’s game over for us.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this photo didn’t have the shock factor.  Alexa’s legs do look very thin, but at the end of the day, and to my dying day, I will not understand people’s obsession with abusing celebrities because of their weight.  I admire the way she styles herself and don’t judge her on her on the aforementioned issues.  And what is even the point in following someone you are just gagging to abuse on a social network?  Let’s have a social media cleanse people.  Anyone nowadays in the public eye is automatically considered a ‘role model’ whether they like it or not, and unfortunately they cannot post a tweet or a picture without over-analysis and hoards of abuse.  Everyone has a photo or a tweet they aren’t proud of, but unlike us, celebs can’t get away with quickly hitting the delete button and hoping nobody saw.  Now defending Alexa’s weight isn’t my point here.  But I would like to point out through all the abuse she has received over this one picture and being accused of said ‘thinspo’ she is one of the few celebrities who isn’t posting half scantily-clad twitpics and dressing like a stripper.  Swings and roundabouts people. Actress Ashley Judd recently wrote an incredibly eloquent and accurate essay for the Daily Beast about just this subject, the objectification of women in the media, when she was criticised  in the press not for being too skinny but for her ‘puffy face’. If you find yourself drawn to the side bar of shame on the Daily Mail more than you’d like, it’s highly recommended reading.

Now I know some of this may provoke different opinions, and I would love to hear your thoughts, as ever, so please do feel free to pipe up…although any thoroughly negative comments may result in this article being deleted.  Method acting and all that…

INTERVIEW | Vintage Seeker Roberta della Bona

When it comes to vintage shopping, I am an extremely difficult person to impress. I am one of those nostalgia-driven kind of girls, one who thinks of this decade as a ‘fashion-recession’ era, seeking comfort by overloading my Barclaycard with expensive ‘seasoned’ buys, spanning from 1920’s cigarette dresses to 1980’s vintage Reeboks. While roaming through the collections at the Dust PR press day the other week, I came across Roberta della Bona, a fellow Italian young lady who was there to promote Vintage Seekers, an e-commerce website that sells rare vintage treats. I interviewed her about this ambitious project.

Naomi Morello: How did you come up with the idea of Vintage Seekers?

Roberta della Bona: It all happened on a day out at Goodwood Revival -[a classic car event sponsored by Rolex and Vitra that celebrates the heyday of racing at Goodwood between 1948 and 1962] in the Autumn of 2008. Me and my business partner Rob Keylock could sense the connection between cars and vintage fashion. We quickly put two and two together and realized that there was no online platform uniting these categories, so we decided to give it a go ourselves!

Could you briefly describe the website to our readers?

Vintage Seekers brings together 20th century design and collectibles across six categories in a premium lifestyle site. An e-commerce platform and online magazine combined, our aim is to connect the seeker with the sought after.

What kind of products do you offer?

The product mix is in itself unique, taking a very specific timeline (vintage pieces are between 25 and 100 years old) and applying it across six industries (design, collectibles, fashion, wine, watches, motoring). Anything from a first edition book collection to a vintage Airstream to an original 1963 Aston Martin can be found by the connoisseur. We’ve also started an online heritage-focused lifestyle magazine, which brings all of  these six areas together. Also currently developing is the ‘Future Vintage’ category, which covers a whole range of products from all our categories that are 0 – 25 years old and set to be the sought-after collectibles of the future.

How important is the internet to your business, how has it helped?

The Internet is our business. We sell niche product and thanks to the internet we managed to reach a targeted consumer based globally, connecting a collector in Hong Kong with a piece sat in a gallery in Holland, or a gift-seeker in Washington with a perfect anniversary present from a supplier in Kent.

Do you see the growing popularity of vintage as a result of the recession?

There has been a growing global demand for vintage products. The economic downturn has generated an increasing interest in nostalgia and heritage, and a reaction against ‘fast fashion’ and other disposable purchases and while independent niche dealers may have the stock, they often lack the digital knowledge or marketing skills to reach a wider audience and capitalise on the new media age.

Since the ‘vintage trend’ has been spreading all over Europe in the past five years, you must have a lot of competition. How do you distinguish Vintage Seekers from other vintage stores/websites ? What makes you special and worth visiting?

First of all, there isn’t another vintage site that covers all these categories under one roof to the same level. We are not a listing site or a portal, but a real e-commerce website, where you can click and buy from anywhere in the world. Also, since we are not a second hand  ’shabby-chic’ outlet we don’t see ourselves in competition with many of the so called vintage shops. We have very particular criteria to define and select our items which sets us apart. Everything we sell are investments items, true classics iconic of an era that retain value in time.

Visit www.vintageseekers.com