Balenciaga Fall Look Book 2018: Nothing Fits

By Olivia Hill

Summer: the season when it’s socially acceptable to wear as little clothing as possible: the shorts are short and the shirts are nonexistent. It’s a beautiful time, truly.

However, someone at Balenciaga is sitting high atop their mountain above Who-ville rubbing their devious hands together, scheming a plan to ruin this freedom of the skin—and sometimes for the nip.

The proof is in Balenciaga’s Fall Look Book 2018, as it takes a hard turn from shedding layers, allowing our bodies to absorb as much Vitamin D as possible, by not only covering up the entire body, but in excessive ways.

As someone who personally stands at five feet tall, I already try on clothes only to find they are two sizes too large—and with this new line, it’s as if that’s what they were going for.

Exhibit A

An item that could have faired just as well as a normal windbreaker is now the size of a trench coat that hits your knees. While I know parts of the nation could use this in the winter, as we go through this heat wave, this photo alone makes me sweat. But it doesn’t stop there.

See below:

As if one oversized item wasn’t enough, Balenciaga encourages you to LAYER these options. That’s right, I capitalized and italicized that, just to emphasize how asinine all of this is—and how much I continue to wipe sweat from my brow. I’m going to be honest: if not for the cute purses that say “BALENCIAGA” I would believe these photos were artistic shots of homeless people.

Which is not a dig at anyone living on the streets, as much as my venting about the spoiled rich draping fleece blankets under puffy jackets (see the third picture above) and calling it “high fashion.” Please take some of the funds from this line and send it to shelters, Balenciaga, as that is clearly where the inspiration was found.

The final thing I will point out about this Look Book is their choice of non-flattering angles. While I’m not a fan of this burgundy jacket—yet another oversized item—the way it drapes across the model’s stomach contrasted against the pencil thin pencil skirt makes her look like your typical caricature of a sleazy, corporate big-wig.

But the one that irks me the most is the distortion of this beautiful dress:

I look at this image and continuously question whether it’s a poorly done photoshop job. Her torso is completely removed from where her legs end up! The awkward “hoop” at the waistline doesn’t help this cause either. Had they kept her standing up straight, it probably would’ve made the dress look fiercer—or maybe this awkward angle was exactly what they were planning to hide a poorly structured dress?

The only image in all of this that I can relate to is the following. It is reminiscent of my high school days, when for whatever reason—probably the immense stress our parents put us under at an academically charged school to the point of losing sleep at a young age—my friends and I would show up to class in our plaid pajama pants and call it a day. Flannel shirts were cute too.