It's interesting seeing how differently people react to changes in the fashion industry. Some take it in stride and others, like the writer of this piece, overreact and try to make sense of an art form.

More and more high fashion resembles an extreme sport, the X Games of glamour. Everything is amped-up: furs, glitter, nice Italian tailoring. Even the language wears extra padding.

This was especially true at the Oscar ceremony, where the red carpet is, after all, a marketing arm of the fashion industry. Dior, Prada and Giorgio Armani were the night’s big winners (“We did well,” an Armani executive said before the designer’s show here), but between the frantic commentary of cheerleading pundits and the mad race to wear spectacular fashion, you are less aware of a star’s charm or personality than an empty space on the carpet. Read More