Introducing "Diastema"

Maybe I didn't give the movie "Zoolander" enough credit. Rather than simply an entertaining comedy, stories like this one have helped me see it as more of an exposé of the weird world of fashion - a world I admittedly don't understand.  Think about it - ask yourself which is more bizarre, Jacobim Mugatu (pictured above) launching the clothing line "Derelicte" inspired by the homeless vagrants of NYC, or David Delphin (pictured below) paying an orthodontist to intentionally separate his central incisors as a metaphor for the separation he was feeling after his father's death.  This, to accompany the launch of his new clothing line "Diastema".  I'm not joking.  He named the clothing line diastema.

Delphin is unfortunately inspiring others in the modeling world to follow suit.  This has been covered by many media outlets this week, but the original story appeared here in the Wall Street Journal, with a nice sideshow of what gap-toothed models look like. 

Sidenote - at age 22 when I set my sights on a career in dentistry, I had an orthodontist close the gap in my front teeth.  I had two reasons:  1) I realized that nobody would trust a dentist with crooked teeth and 2) fixing my smile could only improve my chances with the ladies.  Maybe on some subconscious level I was doing this to symbolize the closeness I felt with my then (and now) living father.  On second thought, I'll stick with the first two reasons.