Remember when Balmain showed overpriced distressed jeans, some elegantly upturned shoulder pads, and a few tight dresses that look amazing on models but no one else? Yeah, that stuff is like from a bygone era compared to Thursday's fall 2013 show in Paris... which ALSO appears to be from a bygone era.
"'More is more' has been the inferred house motto, but sometimes enough is enough," wrote WWD, sneering at what the paper called the collection's "parody of Eighties nouveau pastiche." There's really only one way to assess the merit of that review, and that is, by going directly to '80s icons themselves to find out what they thought of the show.
1.
'80s Sarah Jessica Parker is aghast at the amount of metallic and texture.
2.
'80s Melanie "Working Girl" Griffith is trying to think of a polite way to suggest models wear a pants or skirt, but not both.
3.
'80s Renee Simonsen would like to trade her purple outfit for that purple runway look.
4.
'80s Brooke Shields doesn't feel comfortable commenting.
5.
'80s Molly Ringwald just doesn't understand why someone would want to wear a sweater that prohibits all arm movement.
6.
'80s Kelly Kapowski prefers her midriff to a super-wide, shiny belt.
7.
'80s Grace Jones is totally loving all of this.
8.
'80s Prince likes it but kind of has mixed feelings.
9.
'80s Madonna is embarrassed that she never wore anything like this someplace really serious, like the Oscars.
