We’ve been down this road before. Victoria’s Secret sends a model down the runway in a headdress. Outrage, apologies, revisions to the national telecast. H&M sells hipster headdresses. Outrage, apologies, items removed. Nicole Richie wears headdress, posts photo on Instagram. Outrage. Karl Lagerfeld sends models down the runway in headdresses for the finale of Chanel’s fashion show in Dallas Tuesday night. Cue outrage? Not really. In Dallas itself, not only has there been no outrage, but there’s also been little to no discussion. FD Luxe’s recap didn’t mention them, nothing from Paper City either, and we did but didn’t swim into the controversial waters. Nationally, there’s been talk. Huffington Post, New York, etc. Were we all just too grateful that the fashion show of fashion shows had graced our fair city with its presence? I sure hope not.
When the first of the two headdress-donning models appeared Tuesday night, the more modest of the two, my mind didn’t dart to outrage. When the second appeared, the look with the floor-length headdress, so long that the model held the two flaps in place behind her back while walking, again, I wasn’t fuming. Headdresses are beautiful, and Lagerfeld’s versions were especially so, but they’re not fashion pieces. Or shouldn’t be. Still, the reason my mind didn’t go there was because I was already puzzled. Puzzled and intrigued and perhaps even slightly overwhelmed. The show was stunning, the music loud and tribal, the models beautiful, even the one with the funny, stomping walk who wore the sheer skirt and no underwear. But I was more amazed by what had already come: the barnyard, honky-tonk setting; the Native American-inspired face-paint makeup; the hair feathers; the toy gun carried by Lagerfeld’s godson. I was hoping for a beautiful, tasteful collection, and there were certainly elements of that. But this was not what would ever appear in Paris, New York, or Milan. This was Texas, and we were getting a Chanel fashion show in Texas. No one would let us forget that. But last time I checked, we don’t wear headdresses around these parts. Or face paint. Or boots 365 days a year. Dallasites are kind, respectful people. The show, for the most part, reflected that. But the headdresses didn’t belong. Not here. Not anywhere.
