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Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Battle of the Blonde Brit Pixies: Twiggy vs. Agyness Deyn

London is hot, hot, hot when it comes to fashion. I don't even need to tell you about the excellent Londoner Susie Bubble, do I? And, whatever you may think of Nylon magazine, you can't deny that their latest issue all about London is a good one. (And holla, Topshop is coming to New York!)

This current London movement has a particular face: Agyness Deyn. She's won raves for her look, but let's take a look back at the original London supermodel, why don't we? That's right: I'm talking Twiggy.

I'll be listing off things they have in common, then awarding points for style. (Naturally.)

Nicknames: Surprisingly enough, both Twiggy (okay, maybe not a surprise) and Agyness Deyn are not their real names. For stage names, I'm going with Twiggy, if just because it's easier to say and remember. Twiggy is forever. Unlike, for example, Wholahay.

Twiggy: 1 Agyness: 0

Real Names: So what are the real names? Twiggy's originally Lesley Hornby (now Lawson, as she's married) and Agy is Laura Hollins. I'm going to call this a tie and give both of them points. Also, identical initials!

Twiggy: 2 Agyness: 1

Height: I have a soft spot for Twigs here, because she's a shorty like me. Surprisingly, she and Kate Moss, who are arguably the most well-known models, are both 5'6". Agyness, at 5'8", does surpass America's Next Top Model's height limit of 5'7". So Agyness gets the point here.

Twiggy: 2 Agyness: 2

Product Placement: Because Twiggy truly started the fashion-model-as-celebrity movement, there are all sorts of things that came with her name. There are Twiggy dolls, Twiggy make-up, and (my favorite) Twiggy colored tights. Just take a look on eBay for Twiggy and you'll find all sorts of vintage Twiggy goods. Agyness has it a little harder, as she's still a new model in a much bigger field. But she has a t-shirt with her face on it! So clearly, the winner in this round is Twiggy.

Twiggy: 3 Agyness: 2

Health Rumors: There have always been grumblings that Twiggy is responsible for the unhealthy and unobtainable body image that's been put on girls for generations now, as she was the original prototype for the waif model. Twiggy herself has addressed the issue, but what can you do? Agyness, meanwhile, may have had pink eye at London Fashion Week. Ouch! No one wins this round, except for maybe Henry Holland. (I want that blazer!)

Twiggy: 3 Agyness: 2

Discovery: Twiggy was famously discovered by having her photo taken and hung in a salon, where a fashion writer saw her picture on the wall and then wrote a major article titled "Twiggy: The Face of '66". Pretty awesome, right? Agyness' best friend and former roommate is the aforementioned fashion designer Henry Holland, and so it's probably not as hard to break into the fashion business if you're the muse of an up-and-coming designer who puts you on and in his shirts, no? (Also, I suppose that means "Deyn" rhymes with "Bean". Glad to know!) I'm giving the point to Twiggy again, because everyone loves the serendipitous story... we're all hoping it happens to us, aren't we?

Twiggy: 4 Agyness: 2

I will admit to knowing more about mod London than I do about modern London, so I will say that perhaps I lean more in favor towards Twiggy. I can't help it. But you never know: Agyness Deyn's star will keep on rising, but I think she's got a long way to go before she reaches the same height that Twiggy's achieved.

Which is, you know, 5 foot 6.

images from twiggylawson.co.uk and style.com

1 comment:

Susie Bubble said...

Twiggy all the way for me.... And thanks for the mention!

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