Social Media: A Haute Trend?
“Twit-tahh?” the manicurist gave me a puzzled expression, “What’s that?” she turned her attention back to my nails, carefully cutting away at the dead skin near the base of my nail and listening as I explained the viral phenomenon that is Twitter. I asked her if she had heard about the “Twitter manicure” I read about in a PopSugar article recently, negative. None of the manicurists in the Palo Alto-based salon had ever used Twitter or Facebook, let alone heard of either of them.
As shocking as the image of hot blue nails with miniature light blue birds and bright orange “fail whales” painted on them is, it’s only the newest concept in the evolving relationship between social media and fashion. Social networks such as Twitter and Facebook have been featured on t-shirts for a long time now. Popular shirt sites like cafepress.com and threadless.com sell shirts that feature slogans such as “140 is the new 420,” “Don’t Make Me Unfriend You” and “I’m Not A Blogger, I just Tweet A Lot.”
So, does this mean that social media not only a hot trend, but a haute trend as well? Last year, I wrote briefly about Shopflick —a place where online shopping meets YouTube. The website doesn’t feature mass-market retailers, major fashion brands, or look to advertise through mass-media. Instead, it calls itself a “video-powered marketplace for indie-inspired goods.” And features designers like Amy Hall, for Amy Kathryn Handbags. By viewing the two minute video (each item has their own), we meet Amy and listen to her describe her product, her inspirations, and her reason as to why her product is better than the rest. At the end of those two minutes we have all the information we need to make a purchase. Another site similar to Shopflick is StyleHop. This one brings social gaming and fashion together through fun style-rating games and links to post directly to Myspace and Facebook. It uses a Yelp-like system and provides viewers with advice on the most popular fashion for that city.
Is video shopping better than window shopping? That is up for debate. Personally, I prefer strolling through the mall and trying things on over sitting at home in my pajamas clicking on images and videos.
January 10th, 2010 at 9:56 pm
YAY! You did the write up on the Twitter nails. Interesting concept – pop culture and tech worlds are definitely colliding. Thanks for posting!
January 11th, 2010 at 12:08 am
My uncle has a YouTube shirt. He thinks it’s really funny. He got it as a gift from one of my aunts because… well… he owns his own small business and sometimes he e-mails our family server random YouTube videos. And we all ask him… HOW DO YOU FIND THE TIME?! LOL.
May 15th, 2010 at 2:39 am
Good one ! thanks.Just one to take an opportunity to give a tip to those with cracked heel..make sure tht your heel is dry after you go 2 washroom or take a bath or else moisture will be stripped.put some baby lotion on your heels and wear a pair of socks at nite…it works on me!