Letter from the Editor: September i05.

Same Difference

I

went to Toronto for a weekend to watch the filming of a friendis movie. When I checked into the hotel, I noticed an alarming number of people dressed in head-to-toe blackoall of them with gelled hair, highlights in colors like blue and fuchsia, ?thick, emphatic eyeliner, and blood-red lips. This was not normal. At breakfast, in the elevator, on the clean, mild streets of Toronto, these goth creatures seemed to ?be multiplying. I finally stopped one group and asked them where they were from. M.A.C.!I said a woman with false eyelashes and genuine pride. Itis our global sales meeting!I

The M.A.C. people told me they loved their edgy black clothes and elaborate makeup. ?We look different, like rock and rollers,I said one guy with curled lashes. Yet when I ?stuck my head in the hotelis ballroom and saw hundreds of them all together, their quirks seemed to blend and become indistinguishable.

The same could be said about beauty and fashion editors. As much as we believe in individual style, we end up looking remarkably alike. Our clothes are usually black, our heels are usually high, our hair is layered, and our makeup covers the full spectrum of brown to brownish pink. Itis a formula that makes sense in a job that values effortless ...