Trend That I Loathe: Fringe Boots

I want to put a disclaimer on this post to say that I don't discourage anyone's personal style. One person's cup of tea is another's sewer water.
Now that this is out of the way, I have to say that most "trends" bother me on a soul level. Newness and inventiveness is wonderful. Buying into it with triple and quadruple digit pricetags because it's a trend, however, is not. This is especially true when the trend itself is an utter eyesore. (See trucker hats, crocks, uggs.)
Polyvore alerted me today of a new trend. Something almost worse than trucker hats. That would be the fringe boot trend. WHY? Do people actually pay top dollar to make themselves look like they should be deer hunting with a bow and arrow?
If it's a part of a motifed costume I can understand it. A little. If I squint.
Exhibit A:

Maison Martin Margiela ankle booties   These boots retail at Bergdorf Goodman for $895.

The above pictured boots aren't even boots with a little fringe on the edge, they are boots made of fringe! It's a mutated gladiator sandal that's hit a new low on the ugly ladder.

How about it, dear readers? What trend absolutely makes you want to stab yourself in the eye with a spork?

Bjork, My Eccentric Style Muse

When most people think of  (or google) "style" and "Bjork" one incident comes to mind. The swan dress. In one fell swoop Bjork's choice of dress made her the darling of vapid worst dressed lists far and wide. I had always been fascinated by her choice of fashion. The swan dress did nothing but amplify my intrigue.Who the hell else would have the (figurative) balls to pull something like that off?

For this and myriad other reasons Bjork has been a personal style goddess of mine. I have never sought to copy her fashions, but rather her independent fashion sense. She is an artist, and that carries over into how she adorns herself. She doesn't follow the "rules" of Hollywood or The Runway. From making her own clothes to styling her eyebrows in imaginative ways. She made a fan of Steve Mcqueen, who she interviewed for a fashion magazine years ago. The paper doll making website Stardoll..com even features her. And yes, the swan dress is in her virtual wardrobe.

My Bjork star doll.

I've loved her since seeing her clad in a wool sweater on the cover of Debut. I was captivated by eclectic music videos where she dressed as a starlet, a goddess, a bear, a nouveau mod. She has inspired me to follow the cues of my own loud personality with loud fashion. I never sought to find a swan dress of my own, but rather express myself through clothing and makeup choice. What is the Aesop's fable here? Life IS an art project. So go ahead, put ribbons and flowers in your hair, wear different colored shoelaces, adorn your eyes with blood red eyeshadow and glued on jewels. (I may have done all of these things.)

And here I am in all my flamboyant beauty circa early 2011.

The most iconic thing about Bjork's style is the fact that she throws caution and beauty standards to the wind. When she strips from the costumes and gowns she still retains her beauty, but it isn't something that can be manufactured by a plastic surgeon or an airbrush. She's simply beautiful for the entity that she is.