29. The Bai Ling Mystery
June 18th, 2008 § 3 Comments
Okay, I admit it! I check my WordPress blog stats, sometimes on a daily basis. And it is through this stat-checking that I discovered that a not-small (at least, not-small in proportion to the audience this bitty fashion bloglet has) number of readers have been making their way here from actress Bai Ling’s blog, where she posts pictures of herself in faraway lands and updates her fans regarding her latest movie roles and cast parties.
Upon viewing her blog, however, I can’t for the life of me figure out how people are getting from Point BL to Point FFW. She has no links list, so far as I can tell, and nowhere has she mentioned FFW — not that I would expect her to. After trying to solve the mystery last night and getting nowhere, I wound up pontificating on the deep spiritual connection between Bai Ling and myself. (Although I did just watch her in the cinematic masterpiece that was Southland Tales last week.) Perhaps the fashion gods were trying to tell me something through Blog Stats.
Bai Ling is, in a sense, a fashion icon. Well, this point is debatable — but as far as the Go Fug Yourself ladies are concerned, Bai Ling’s outfits are so barftastic that they deserve an entire section. Sample quotes: “I love how much Bai appears to enjoy creating the illusion that she is [a] half-human, half-exotic endangered species moving through its own wildlife preserve,” or “I enjoy making fun of your outfits and when you’re gone, I really miss you and hope you haven’t fallen into hardship, hard times, or the evil clutches of someone who doesn’t understand that your eighteen personalities are a hilarious delight and need to be nurtured appropriately.” (A brief aside: I’ll read GFY sometimes, but it’s not that interesting to me — sure, snarkiness is fun, but making fun of Bai Ling’s outfits feels too easy to be truly hilarious, and the adventurous are almost never rewarded.)
And is Bai Ling adventurous? Surf any page of her “fugged” outfits and you’ll find that the answer is yes. Giant spidery lace ensemble? Check. Tiny babydoll tee with mysterious message? Check. Band-Aids as fashion accessory? Check. Is it aesthetically pleasing? I think a lot of people would agree that she’s beautiful; it would be easy for her to toss on a designer gown and call it a day. But that also probably wouldn’t be nearly as fun.
So it’s true — I don’t dress like Bai Ling, and I probably will never dress like Bai Ling. But The Bai Ling Mystery has reminded me that fashion is about taking risks, having fun, and trying new things. And sticking your tongue out once in a while.
ETA: The Bai Ling Mystery has been solved, thanks to a friend and reader. For the purposes of this post, though, I’ll leave it a mystery…
Um.
What? Is it the sparkly boots? Tell me it’s not the sparkly boots.
I think her reckless abandon is awesome.