Something is Lost

[nfotxn]

I'm not sure if I've lost my mind or my fashion sense. But I feel the urge to revolt. Whenever I show up somewhere in the past I'd enjoy dressing up. And I still like to once in a while. However it seems the state of fashion right now is a little sick.

There's this overwhelming theme of self-consciousness and a severe lack of play in the way young people dress. It's like YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE WHITE BELT WITH THE ACID WASH JEANS OR ELSE YOU'RE AN IDIOT! DON'T YOU WATCH TV?! YOU'RE NOT A STYLIST SO STOP IT!

It's the dominant culture with shows like What Not To Wear that bug me. They work under the assumption that no matter what people judge you by your appearance. Which is true, in the case of impressing shallow nincompoops. So if we all dress to please the surface-level thinkers we can all get along AND look fabulous!

But you're not fooling anyone. Being a stringent style droid who accentuates strong features and draws away from the poor is always apparent to most people. You can look so good on TV and during your reveal but this is real life, motherfucks!

Now maybe it's the same as it ever was. But so many young girls today are so fucking dolled up they seem to have forgot their personality on their make-up desk. Peach shimmer, the right accessories and lip gloss. Autumn complexion, perfect jeans, pumpkin shoes for Fall and..

you're still boring.

Dudes too. I am a self-admitted indie hipster dork with a long and dark sordid past of puke strainers, obscure band shirts and ironic statements aplenty. I remember saving up all summer to get a set of PZ emo shades with yellow tinted lenses back in '97 or so. Now kids wear blog syndicated style. Dumb ass fedoras, unicorn shirts and retro-whatever. Bonus points for investing in a backlash good. Easy targets include: The RIAA, Old Navy/The Gap or anything with GWB.

The question I find myself asking at this point in my life is this: do I buy a lifestyle or do I live one? How hard do I have the communicate my lifestyle or how easily will I declare my existence through the actions I make in my life? Fashion is fun but I think, right now, our culture is a little extra hung-up on appearances. And it's time to move on.

Comments

[dakoopst.livejournal.com]

*giggle* I had to go check your info list to see if you and sunsmogseahorse were on each other's lists, because you two offer great perspective from both sides of the fence.

[sunsmogseahorse.livejournal.com]

Actually, Brodie's right. I think that what I was actually criticizing is something pretty close to what he's getting at, in a funny way.

I think the kind of dress that I'm bitching about (I should do less of that in LJ) is about clothing that begs for attention and shows the wearer's pretensiousness. Instead of looking for clothes that are comfortable, practical, complement the wearer's form or are imaginative, they're essentially memes, denoting socioeconomic class or hipness. They're shortcuts and they're inauthentic and lazy.

[dakoopst.livejournal.com]

*nods* So it's the equivalent of people wearing Carhartts or overalls or boots to bars, just for show?

[sunsmogseahorse.livejournal.com]

All dress has that function, of conferring identity. When that identity becomes one of social climbing (see: Tassel loafers) I think it's ridiculous.

[dakoopst.livejournal.com]

Point taken...though the boots can be identified as social climbers on a different ladder...(taller? blacker? more biker-like?)

[sunsmogseahorse.livejournal.com]

and at some point it reaches a point of absurdity. Wearing boots because you think they're hot and can't wait to see them in the air over your head while getting your butt pounded, well, more power to you. But trying your damnedest to outdo everyone else in the bar, rather than just being yourself, is distasteful.

[dakoopst.livejournal.com]

I'm totally in agreement with both of ya, then.

[abearius.livejournal.com]

I agree with you in spirit, but would suggest changing "confer identity" to "assert identity" in the context you are discussing here. People who go out and purchase a certain "look" (I'm thinking of chubby suburban chicks in overalls and work boots, white guys with dreadlocks, "bear" drag, etc.) are making assertions about their identity even though they have at best a vexed and distant relationship to the thing they want to appear to be. Clothing that "confers" identity usually has to be earned or given by granting authorities. Wearers must have somehow proven themselves in a series of ideological transits. Examples would be academic or priestly robes, war medals, merit badges, or shamanic tattoing (done by actual shamans to actual initiates), etc.

[sunsmogseahorse.livejournal.com]

I stand corrected.

[foodpoisoningsf.livejournal.com]

So then having reached the pinnacle, one is permitted tassel loafers, ever?

I suggest instead that some people look at your clothes and go "Ick. Why doesn't he pull himself together. He could be so cute." Which is good for you- you've managed to derail any possibility of getting to know someone who might judge you on your appearance. Or who doesn't dress like you.

Fashion has nothing for you. And that's OK. It means something to others, however. Clothing is about signals, about belonging to a community (or adamantly not) and about one's place in the world. What might seem like social climbing to you may seem like tradition to others. Or ironic. Or just protection against the uncertainties of life.

(Disclaimer: the writer does not wear tassel loafers.)

[sunsmogseahorse.livejournal.com]

You raise an important point. When I go to Montreal I feel like a schlub. Everyone's running around on a Saturday morning, for cryin' out loud, dressed like they're actually going somewhere. I think they do it just for the joy of it. I don't think that being interested in one's appearance is ridiculous.

I do however believe that there are vulgar clothes. Particularly those clothes and accessories that are intended to confer a sense of social class, regardless of the actual class of the wearer.

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

Yes! I did all that tap-dancing and you summed it up in a paragraph. Fashion says so little about personality these days. It's all varying price degrees of commodity goods that generally just indicate class.

Boring!

[sunsmogseahorse.livejournal.com]

It's like we're back to the first century or something.

"Me powerful. Me have many shells and bear claws."

[(Anonymous)]

Okay. So here's how I think fashion works.

Fashion is communication. It says, "I spent a lot of time figuring out what going on in the fashion/music/ironic statements industry, and I bought all this stuff to show that I did that. Where did I get the time to do this? Well, you see, I have excess time and energy to spend doing this stuff. And even if I don't have money, it's clear that the time and energy I put in to making this style is representative of a creative intelligence that will bring be popularity and success in my life sooner or later."

In brief, clothes communicate two valuable survival commodities: wealth and/or ingenuity.

It seems like information is moving faster now, and the styles are being communicated in a faster way than before. Everyone's catching on to the latest, quick.

But, as always, as soon as something becomes well-known, the stylishness is gone. That's because the information becomes easy to get, so the fashion no longer represents leisure time and creative intelligence. If the cool clothes don't stand for deep involvement in a certain developing or developed lifestyle, they no longer communicate anything.

So, in order for fashion to convey anything now, it has to move faster....much faster. People will pick up on the new thing really quickly unless the flow of information becomes more standardized by external corporate influence. This means faster wardrobe turnover (likely faster than most pocketbooks can handle) and fashion franchises digging their own grave unless the business model changes to keep up.

My fashion rules:

1. Clothes and accessories should contain no advertisement of any sort for anything other than yourself.

2 (new). Clothes should contain no artwork or text unless it has been self-designed.

All that's left is choosing color and composition.

[(Anonymous)]

oops....i was accidentally signed out. can you guess who wrote this?

[gusmacroy.livejournal.com]

Does GWB= Gay White Borings?

[the-niallist.livejournal.com]

Which is why I am much more excited by the fashions of times gone by, because we can have a totally different perspective on what they mean. Well, I say "fashions" but I basically mean Victoriana. For instance, the ridiculous facial hair sported by men, which was a statement of social status at the time, but now looks incredibly scruffy. And actually quite sexy. That's the thing: what does it say about me that I choose to dress in fashions of a hundred years ago? Apart from being obviously a bit screw-loosey...

[callingzero.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Victorian-era clothing can be pretty visually exciting, for sure! But a lot of it looks really restricting, constricting, uncomfortable to wear for any length of time - at least for me. I can't handle shoes that actually fit properly because I want to wiggle my toes, and I'll never be seen in look-at-my-crotch jeans as they make me hurt just looking at them! So I'm a bit of a wuss. I want comfort!

So how do you come across your garb, anyway?

[the-niallist.livejournal.com]

There is a costume warehouse here called Saratoga Trunk that hire out outfits to indiviuals and also to TV companies doing period dramas, and they have an entire world of retro clothing. The gear looks uncomfortable and, yes, it can get very hot, but most of the stuff was mnade to fit and if your are *ahem* bigger of build they really knew how to make you look good in those days! It's just a pity all the trousers are made of itchy wool... But once it goes on you feel like a million bucks!!

Dumb ass fedoras, unicorn shirts and retro-whatever.

[profundis.livejournal.com]

Oh Noes111!!! Poor Andy!

http://www.livejournal.com/users/thefatrooster/54734.html

Re: Dumb ass fedoras, unicorn shirts and retro-whatever.

[thefatrooster.livejournal.com]

I know! Now all the kids will laugh at me more than they already do!

Why do you hate me Brodie? Why?!

Re: Dumb ass fedoras, unicorn shirts and retro-whatever.

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry I think I sub-consciously stuck that one in there. I still think you are stylish and stuff. But you have to admit there is a serious Blog look.

I didn't mean to hurt youuuuu.

[jawnbc]

Leave Trinny and Susannah alone. They have made the world a better place. Even if some of the "improvements" have rendered some British woman looking rather freaky.

Unintentionally Funny!

[emramesha.livejournal.com]

back in '97 and Fashion is fun but I think, right now, our culture is a little extra hung-up on appearances

I hate to tell you, but I was a kid in the early '80's and everybody was hung up on fashion then. I also know we didn't invent fashion then either. Some people are always struggling for the right clothing label, the right designer, the right sartorial statement, and will continue to do so just as people have for aeons.

[http://users.livejournal.com/speedy_/]

The thing is fashion is often about being accepted into mass society. I agree with 'What not to wear' often, especially when they help those ladies to get rid of their mullets or their leg-ins.

Fortunately 'the fashion industry' does not work for everybody; thank god we have punks and real alternative people in the streets spicing up 'modern fashion.

[mondragon.livejournal.com]

I wear clothes that I think make me invisible. Usually that means non-fashion and comfortable.

I remember in the 2nd 1/2 of the 70's at the beginning of the whole punk/new wave thing that dressing up was fun. We were dressing for each other, sure, and to be noticed, but it was mostly about fun. Orange beehives and white fringe cowgirl outfits. Lots of tiki shirts and patent leather gogo boots. Coveralls with earpieces made from 8" floppy disks. Shaved strips on the head with liver taped to them. Way silly, and great parties.

[thumperto.livejournal.com]

in the end it doesn't matter what you're wearing, but how you're wearing it. if you don't look comfortable in your clothing then you don't look good. nuff said. well, that and stop watching what not to wear.