FOR THE FASHION GIRLIES: A Love Letter to Istanbul
For three and a half months I found myself completely unstimulated, deflated, and desperately chasing the creative high from Asia. When it came to inspiration for the fashion girlies, Europe was failing me.
And then we arrived to Istanbul.
It would be impossible to define Istanbul’s fashion scene, but if forced, Istanbul is hyper cosmopolitan, with a touch of resort wear. Below is a love letter to Istanbul, from a fashion girlie who was jonesing.
DIVERSITY
I once heard somebody describe Istanbul as the capital of the world and at the time, I thought it was the douchiest thing I had ever heard. Please, shut up. They continued to spew about how Istanbul is the epicenter of ancient history, but also where you can best see the confluence of modern commerce. This person almost certainly had a Ph.D. in something that doesn’t sound real, so I obviously rolled my eyes and then promptly looked up Istanbul, and added it to my bucket list. Unfortunately for my judgemental ass, this person was one hundred percent correct. Never in all my days have I been somewhere as diverse as Istanbul.
What this means for the fashion girlies is that you can experience the best the world has to offer from a seat in a cafe. Istanbul is bustling, geographically central AND a kick ass vacation spot which means people from all over the world both live in Istanbul AND visit Istanbul for vacation. If you’re paying attention, the city serves as as a crash course in beauty standards from across the globe. You can appreciate the best from Saudi, Ukraine, Syria, Japan, Georgia, Lebanon, Uzbekistan, Australia, China, Belgium and Turkey all in a mornings walk. All on a sunset Bosphorus yacht cruise.
Beauty standards and fashion trends from all of the aforementioned countries are totally different, but they’re all equally represented in Istanbul. Throughout our travels, I’m noticing that what is in vogue in certain regions (Southeast Asia, East Asia, Western Europe and Eastern Europe) is obvious, you’ll key in right away. I’ve also noticed that what is in vogue differs VASTLY based on region. I noticed this on the streets and in the stores, of course, but also through all of the online ads I got – the ads in Japan were COMPLETELY different from the ads in Albania; the beauty products on the shelves in Thailand were trying to achieve a completely different outcome than the beauty products on the shelves in Germany, were completely different than the shelves of Montenegro. In Istanbul, it’s all represented. Literally. Hair thickening services are on the menu right above laser hair removal; skin lightening products and methods right next to methods and products to get a deep and even tan; makeup and skin services aimed at achieving the glass skin/chok chok look contrasted by services and products promoting “svetlanacore” – there was no one thing that was en vogue in Istanbul simply because there are so many people, places and cultures represented. I’ve never been somewhere as truly diverse, where you genuinely couldn’t pick out one dominant thread….because there wasn’t one.
A love letter to Istanbul.
PLASTIC SURGERY
Istanbul has to be the plastic surgery capital of the world. And before y’all come for me, I haven’t yet been to Seoul, I hear they’re a worthy competitor, but my god, Istanbul.
Every single night we went out walking we saw a handful of girlies out shopping with their rhinoplasty bandages on. Every night….several girls….even Quintin noticed.
Turkish Airlines is jokingly called "Turkish Hairlines” and the airport is referred to as “the hairport.” At first we thought this was an overblown bit, but we went on two guided tours and on both tours there were men in town specifically for hair transplants, just on a food tour to pass their time between initial consultation and operation.
On said food tour, our guide openly joked about eating more now that everybody had their “Turkish Teeth” in place.
The government subsidizes the cost of Botox (so like if any of the aging girlies are looking for a return trip, don’t hesitate to call).
I straight up spent 4 hours googling all of the services on various esthetician’s websites because never in all my days had I heard of the services they were offering. EVERYTHING. Everything under the sun and also the moon and like please tell me what is in a youth vaccine?! Four loko? Swallow spit?
I can tell you I got the best facial of my life and laser for $12 so I’m not joking about the return trip. You’ll have a good ass time and come home well fed, looking brand new.
A love letter to Istanbul.
MARKETS
So the knockoff purse game in Istanbul is lit as fuck. By and far the most robust knockoff game I’ve ever seen and the diversity in offerings is endless. Every luxury brand was represented, this season's bags were on display, there were multiple models and colors per brand and they even had more niche collaborations available (like how did I see a 2023 Yayoi Kusama x Louis Vuitton bag available).
Purses were the most obvious display, but the grandeur extended to shoes, hats, tshirts, pants, knock off Palm Angels entered the scene. I was in hog heaven. If there weren’t one billion people ripping darts inside the main market I would have stayed all day.
An anecdote I love, which I have to imagine exists in other countries where the knockoff game is strong, but that we heard about for the first time in Istanbul is going into a shop front, but asking a shop keeper for the good stuff and a whole nother world opening up.
Shopkeepers don’t want their good (i.e. expensive) stuff to be confiscated by the police should there be a raid (knock offs are illegal, afterall) so what you see in the shop fronts are merely a smattering of the cheapest and lowest quality goods available. If you want the good stuff, you simply ask to be shown the better quality items at which point you’ll be taken to “secret” rooms that the cops are far less likely to raid. Here, you’ll be shown the higher quality fakes. There are literally whole YouTube channels, PDFs and guides dedicated to how to navigate getting the best fakes in Istanbul.
So again, I’m not joking about the return trip and when I return, bet I will be employed and coming home with a Celine hat and bag combo that will make even global ambassador Lalisa drool. Thank you, Istanbul.
The diversity of Istanbul as a city was apparent all throughout the bazaar. You could see so many distinct style influences through the jewelry, textiles and general “souvenirs” on sale. There were chess boards, tea sets, carpets, robe and towel sets, textiled jackets alongside leather motorcycle jackets, etc. The scene was incredibly varied, vibrant and beautiful.
That’s all for Istanbul but to keep in line with the previous FOR THE FASHION GIRLIES post, I give you my specific wants, inspirations, and observations from Europe BEFORE arriving to Istanbul (it’s a short list….)
Inspirations:
In SPAIN I was inspired by the ladies in their flamenco dresses. We were in Cordoba for The Fair of Cordoba, and all of the women wore flamenco dresses to the feria. Their flamenco dresses and accessories were pure drama – beautiful patterns, shapes, colors and accessories. They were the full package.
In SLOVENIA a bitch knows how to look expensive. I saw several enviable ladies out and about in these CRISP white shirts that just made me know they were wearing something from Tiffanys, smelling like Amouage. These shirts were the material of dress shirts and they were perfectly pressed and starched, vibrantly white, with a distinctly feminine touch whether that be a bell sleeve, a dramatic cuff, a long tail, or a popped collar that somehow didn’t look absurd. These ladies looked like they were born to lunch.
Observations:
In Germany & Austria people are really dressed for function. Like everybody was ready for a commute that could entail getting on a bike, or the weather changing by 45,000 degrees. Everybody had a full sized backpack and when I googled “why does everybody in Germany have a backpack” I was met with a barrage of TikToks informing me it’s because Germans have everything they could possibly need for ANY change of weather with them at all times, in their backpacks. This made me LOL because we met an American girl in Spain who was living in Germany and she told us her colleagues always told her that “there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes.”
In Serbia, Montenegro and Albania I was stunned by the number of people in what can only be described as sexy athletic clothes (this applies to men as well). Like athleisure but rather than athLEISURE it’s like…athILOOKSMOKINGHOT. Think Khloe Kardashian in bike shorts and a crop sports bra that are obviously matching, with furry slides of the same color, with a baseball cap of the same color with your hair and eyelashes done, blush, and your eyebrows microbladed to perfection. The men were dressed the same but the mens version.
There isn’t a man in Albania with a hair out of place. Dead ass I thought the men in Asia killt the clean haircut aesthetic, but nobody has anything on these Albanian men. The beard/hair trim is a once a week standing appointment, according to Q’s barber in Tirana.
In Eastern Europe, the beauty standard was immediately identifiable. Women had long, thick hair that always looked perfectly blown dry, with equally as perfect barrel curls. Makeup is worn obviously, with dramatic and noticeable eyelash extensions. The style is full and long microbladed eyebrows (!!!! beautiful !!!!), and a lot of lip filler.
Anecdotes:
Here’s what I noticed people wearing in the streets as well as for sale in the markets. This list is adding to the T/V/J list so refer back there if interested!
Streetwear:
Puma and Adidas totally dominate the scene which makes sense as they are both German companies
After Puma and Adidas, FILA and Champion rule
And then, as mentioned above, Palm Angels made its knock off debut in Istanbul. I noticed Palm Angels in Japan, but sparingly. It was all over in Europe.
Designers: The regulars mentioned in the first FOR THE FASHION GIRLIEZ POST with debuts from:
Kenzo: we mostly saw this in Germany. Kenzo is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1970 by Japanese designer Kenzo Takada, owned by parent company LVMH (French owner….richest guy in the world)
D SQUARED 2: First saw them in Germany, but I noticed them all throughout the rest of Europe. D Squared was founded by two Canadian fashion designers who are identical twin brothers (Dean and Dan, hence the name). It’s an Italian luxury fashion house based in Milan.
In addition to the regulars, in Istanbul, Celine and Jacquemus ruled. We didn’t see ANY Jacquemus in the Thai/Vietnamese markets but it was all over Istanbul.
Othersie, Kappa remained strong especially in Montenegro and Albania. Pepe Jeans has a HOLD on Europe, especially Spain, and Hugo is literally the BOSS in Serbia, Montenegro and Albania.
When getting my eyebrows done in Slovenia (best I’ve had abroad), the aesthetician was really curious about what was popular in the US as it came to all things beautiful. We got to talking about what was popular in terms of eyebrow shape, microblading, lash extensions, filler, botox, makeup…la la la and it was really fun to hear about where there is overlap and where there wasn’t. We compared what I deemed to be “the style” in the US versus what she deemed to be “the style” across Europe. Her perspective was interesting as Slovenia straddles eastern and western Europe both geographically and culturally. She described it to me as “Germans and Austrians are very natural…too natural if you ask me. In the Balkans, Russia, and England the girls take it to the other end and they are super done up, you can tell they do work. In Slovenia, we’re in the middle.” It was really fun to hear another woman's perspective, especially somebody who works in the industry, tell me what she’s seeing in terms of trends of beauty standards. This conversation inspired me to be more intentionally curious with other beauticians I interact with and I’ve started asking everybody “so what’sthe biggest nail trend in South Africa right now :) :)!” “Is it popular to do microblading here or not so much?!” “OH, are lashes popular” Immediately following Slovenia, I tried in Serbia but the language barrier didn’t allow for a conversation, but in Istanbul I ended up having a fascinating conversation with the lady doing all of my services, where I learned a lot about the beauty industry in Istanbul, and beyond. This woman was from Syria, but grew up in Saudi. She moved to Istanbul for university and stayed. She works full time as a translator at this salon because they have so many clients from all over the world every day. As in so many every day that the clinic has hired a full time translator. When I asked her where most of the clients come from she said “Africa. Central Asia. United States. Europe, everywhere!”
Capitalism: specific things I want to integrate into my wardrobe
There’s only one way to say it so I'll say it plainly. Dudes in these Palm Angels shirts look hot, can you imagine my Quintin in one?! You can. Unfortunately for my character, they also remind me of those sorority girl college tshirt which I love so I want one for my personal use.
These are listed on my wishlist from our time in Asia, but the look was omnipresent in Istanbul as well. Jelly sandals were everywhere, so let us pray I can find a pair for these wide ass, honkin’ feet.
