http://blogs.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/girlsbehavingstylishly/

It's geek but is it chic?

By Emma Johnson on Aug 11, 09 09:22 AM

WELCOME TO GUEST BLOGGER GEMMA ALDCROFT:

Hello again stylish ones! How lovely to be invited back to the GBS blog!
After a break of seven months Club Geek Chic is back and tomorrow you'll be hearing from my new partner in chic-geekery Karen Podesta! And we hope to meet some of you at our wonderful TeaDance event at the Racquet Club on Saturday...more of that later in the week.
In the meantime I'd like to talk about something that fashion-wise is very close to my heart.

The Geek look is really in right now. I mean, David Tennant's Dr Who got the ball rolling a couple of years back and now we have the likes of Big Brother's George Lamb (looking VERY fetching the other night in smart suit with Brylcreamed hair and Musketeer style goatee) and C4's Alexa Chung carrying the image off with aplomb. But some people haven't got it quite right in my opinion.
Case in point...Kelly Osbourne...
kelly.jpg
I kinda love Kelly. She's feisty, fun and most of the time looks fabulous - just look at her in 'Chicago' or here at the 2008 Glamour Woman of the Year Awards...
But the new image? I'm not sure. Of course I salute and embrace an element of 'geek' in any look but I think to remain chic you need to work with what you've got.

kelly2.jpg

Let's start with the blonde crop - well, on Annie Lennox and Madonna it was amazing and ground-breaking. Kelly's just makes her look like a peroxide version of her mum. It doesn't flatter her lovely round face and makes her look much older than her 25 years. Weirdly she's managed to make herself look middle-aged and childlike in one fell swoop. That could be the water pistol though.
As for the Buddy Holly specs...I think they look best on Buddy Holly and Elvis Costello. They are marvellous of course but only with the right outfit. Teamed with Kelly's ill-advised studded denim and you've got one un-chic combo.
Maybe I'm just getting old. I know fashion is meant to be all about trying out new things, being brave, standing out from the crowd, not giving a monkeys: Peaches Geldof was recently reported as saying "I don't want to be sexy. I'm grungy and weird...and I think that's cool." But what's wrong with looking...I don't know? nice? It is possible to look elegant, sexy and individual at the same time isn't it?
How about if Ms Osbourne had gone for the geek glasses but with the slick ebony hair-do, a Little Black Dress and 40s style platform stilettos? I think that would have looked fabulous.
So, my advice to Kelly is this; stay your fun and quirky self but save the studded denim and platinum bouffant fright wig for one of your Dad's 70s theme parties.