Fashion Becoming Too Mainstream?

[Lena]

soon, the very wealthy will have certain plastic surgeries done that mke them all reacognizable as part of the elite crowd. these surgeries will be don soon after birth, perhaps, or upon entering adolescence, like a bat mitzvah. the poor with not look like the rich.

it wouldnt surprise me much to be honest..

eg: the marketing plan for microchip as a fashion 'trend' on humans is based on using them as a social status issue..
there are already super private clubs & hotels when one can enter only if he/she's embeded with a specific chip..
people will do close to anything to 'enter' where they shouldnt be, conspicious consumption once again

 

[travolta]

it wouldnt surprise me much to be honest..

eg: the marketing plan for microchip as a fashion 'trend' on humans is based on using them as a social status issue..
there are already super private clubs & hotels when one can enter only if he/she's embeded with a specific chip..
people will do close to anything to 'enter' where they shouldnt be, conspicious consumption once again

can you elaborate on this?

btw. i just thought fashion is about power and desire it would be great to burst the whole thing wide open. right now desire is about the fantasy and the illusion..but who says it can't be actual stuff? tears, wrinkles, crazy crazy prints, odd shapes that just happen to feel comfortable -- isn't fantastical enough?

 

[Lena]

travolta > ..microchip tags are already been introduced for use on humans and could serve as future id's. Since there is still a strong opposition in their widespread use (see big brother syndrome) their manufacturers are already using the 'high class' strategy to make the adaptation of the microchip tags more 'consumer friendly' to the masses.
Introducing their use in high class private clubs, uber luxury hotels etc is already in action. I dont remember the name of the luxury hotel resort(s) and the private high class clubs in which one can enter only if embeded with the special chip but i guess a search will help (first saw this on a cnn report)
see.. if the rich and famous do it (or been advertised as doing it), microchip tags will be the new 'Louis Vuitton'
social imitation is a marketing tool

i just thought fashion is about power and desire it would be great to burst the whole thing wide open. right now desire is about the fantasy and the illusion..but who says it can't be actual stuff? tears, wrinkles, crazy crazy prints, odd shapes that just happen to feel comfortable -- isn't fantastical enough?

unfortunately enough, fashion is also (not to say more) about big multi national industries, luxury groups and their shareholders, genius global marketing managers, social-lites and brainwashing ... that's basically what makes fashion 'mainstream' versus 'creative'

 

[andrew]

^^ I'm going to need some more info about this microchip stuff... that is the first I've heard them being used in field.

 

[tott]

see.. if the rich and famous do it (or been advertised as doing it), microchip tags will be the new 'Louis Vuitton'
social imitation is a marketing tool

This is really insidious and clever.

 

[purechris]

ooh ooh.........I want a micro chip!!! mememe!!!!!!!

seriously though, that is very interesting.....

 

[renferme]

travolta > ..microchip tags are already been introduced for use on humans and could serve as future id's. Since there is still a strong opposition in their widespread use (see big brother syndrome) their manufacturers are already using the 'high class' strategy to make the adaptation of the microchip tags more 'consumer friendly' to the masses.
Introducing their use in high class private clubs, uber luxury hotels etc is already in action. I dont remember the name of the luxury hotel resort(s) and the private high class clubs in which one can enter only if embeded with the special chip but i guess a search will help (first saw this on a cnn report)
see.. if the rich and famous do it (or been advertised as doing it), microchip tags will be the new 'Louis Vuitton'
social imitation is a marketing tool



unfortunately enough, fashion is also (not to say more) about big multi national industries, luxury groups and their shareholders, genius global marketing managers, social-lites and brainwashing ... that's basically what makes fashion 'mainstream' versus 'creative'

The thought of this kind of thing makes me shudder. Microchips. Ugh it's all a bit scary. Wasn't it a club in Brazil?

Re. the old ' everyone's copying me, it's not fair, why isn't it exclusive to me?' it's not a new thing. I remember whinging to my mother 'it's not fair' when I was about 13. That was over 20 years ago.

If you can't stand it, heres a solution. Avoid anything with an obvious logo. Avoid anything that the fashion magazines tout as the new big trend. Avoid the 'it' bag. Simple!

OP: Alternatively just get over yourself - what makes you superior to anyone else who has the money to shop where you shop? You don't know these people personally, you don't know their values, so what gives you the right to judge yourself as superior?

What are we to do? Make people sit exams on bag or footwear design which they have to pass with a starred A before they are allowed to shop in Prada?

I for one am so over the whole waiting list/rare item culture - after all if you really want a one-off it is actually quite easy to get a dressmaker, shoemaker or bag maker to make an item for you. If we were that bothered at all about being individual, I'm, sure we'd all be doing this.

 

[Labeladdict2]

that's how I felt when 'average' girls started carrying Chanel (knockoff or auth). It ruined it. I've been wearing high end since the 80s when I was in high school....seem not as special anymore....B)

 

[Assembler]

that's how I felt when 'average' girls started carrying Chanel (knockoff or auth). It ruined it. I've been wearing high end since the 80s when I was in high school....seem not as special anymore....B)

What does "average" girls mean exactly?

What makes you above average (not asking in a mean way, though I know that that kind of phrasing sounds mean. Just curious as to why you see yourself that way)

 

[meme527]

that's how I felt when 'average' girls started carrying Chanel (knockoff or auth). It ruined it. I've been wearing high end since the 80s when I was in high school....seem not as special anymore....B)

i felt this way about music. when cheerleaders started listening to the clash and everybody discovered REM, i was sooooo sad! i just started to listen to REM again in the last few years.

i think that it is just about how you identify yourself, especially when you are young and first really establishing your individual identity. i can't speak to the money aspect of that sense of exclusivity, since recorded mainstream music is affordable (or not) across the board (access to opera and live concerts is another matter).

but loving music that most people didn't even know about emphasised my feeling that i was different, that i was special, that i belonged to a creative, ernegetic, and yes! superior group. and when other people broke into my little world, i just felt they didn't deserve to even hear this music, since i knew they couldn't understand it!!!!


that's how i remember it, though.

is it the same with clothing, labeladdict?

 

[renferme]

i felt this way about music. when cheerleaders started listening to the clash and everybody discovered REM, i was sooooo sad! i just started to listen to REM again in the last few years.

i think that it is just about how you identify yourself, especially when you are young and first really establishing your individual identity. i can't speak to the money aspect of that sense of exclusivity, since recorded mainstream music is affordable (or not) across the board (access to opera and live concerts is another matter).

but loving music that most people didn't even know about emphasised my feeling that i was different, that i was special, that i belonged to a creative, ernegetic, and yes! superior group. and when other people broke into my little world, i just felt they didn't deserve to even hear this music, since i knew they couldn't understand it!!!!


that's how i remember it, though.

is it the same with clothing, labeladdict?

You hit the nail on the head - I wonder if it's something you grow out of when you get older. I did, I got over myself

 

[Assembler]

The one thing that I do think has gotten to be mainstream about fashion though is the whole "celebrity fashion line" concept. They're taking over the fashion shows (atleast in New York). I understand a designer having a celebrity as a muse, but it's another thing to have a celebrity as the "designer" when really all they're doing is oking clothing that people they hire are making. Not true in all cases I know, some celebrities are really doing the designing work, understand materials etc. I'd like to see a Project Runway show where they took the heads of designing houses/lines, and had them compete. See what kind of things JLo and Puff Daddy would create then when competeing with actual designers (either well known like Tom Ford, or new comers like the people that were actually competeing on the first project runway).

Different thing I know. BUt it's like putting a celebrity on the clothing name is really the mainstream section of fashion... maybe not, but it's certainly the downfall. I think people who do the actual designing should get to walk down the catwalk at the end of the show. Not the producer (which is what those celebrities do). Though I don't really know how much actual designing some lead designers do anymore....

 

[kleinesdeutsch]

fashion sure is not becoming mainstream here in good old colorado springs. though at times, i wish it would.

 

[littlenicky]

I think this is pretty true. It seems weird to me people are more influenced by some 23 year old celebrity who didn't even pick the item out herself or put it together with her stuff herself than anything runway show, magazine, etc. That's how it seems these days.

I always say, "At some point, fashion is going to take its industry back."

 

[maverick]

travolta > ..microchip tags are already been introduced for use on humans and could serve as future id's. Since there is still a strong opposition in their widespread use (see big brother syndrome) their manufacturers are already using the 'high class' strategy to make the adaptation of the microchip tags more 'consumer friendly' to the masses.
Introducing their use in high class private clubs, uber luxury hotels etc is already in action. I dont remember the name of the luxury hotel resort(s) and the private high class clubs in which one can enter only if embeded with the special chip but i guess a search will help (first saw this on a cnn report)
see.. if the rich and famous do it (or been advertised as doing it), microchip tags will be the new 'Louis Vuitton'
social imitation is a marketing tool



unfortunately enough, fashion is also (not to say more) about big multi national industries, luxury groups and their shareholders, genius global marketing managers, social-lites and brainwashing ... that's basically what makes fashion 'mainstream' versus 'creative'

Are you referring to RFID?

 

[Gigi_B]

There may be knock offs of designers at the local strip mall etc-which will then be worn in large numbers by teenagers and others-I still do not think that this will have a negative impact on the fashion industry-both technical aspects as well as the art of creating and designing pieces. What it boils down to is style-who has it and who doesn't? Because you can be extremely wealthy-namebrand from head to toe and look like a fool...whereas there are those who shop at consignment shops and thrift stores and no matter what look extremely polished

 

[MizBlue]

On the nail!

Ageed

 

[MizBlue]

In the spirit of discussion (and a slight bit of 's advocacy), I'll bite and say this does sound extremely snobbish.

Here on The Fashion Spot we're hypersensitive to the luxury industry. Just as messageboards devoted to house music (for instance) are full of people griping about how "the mainstream" is ruining the scene, we too get protective of our buys.

Ask yourself what sets you apart from the "mainstream?" How come you're allowed to buy a Coach item and keep the Integrity of Luxury flying high while "12 year old girls, hip-hoppers, and teeny boppers" dilute it?

Is it because we know and appreciate the quality and craftsmanship? Is is because we're filled with trivia about the designer? Is it because we know someone that knows someone that knows Tiiu?

I don't think anyone at Coach headquarters is particularly bummed out about a packed store. Also you must consider who actually bought an item there as opposed to merely internally window-shopping.

Thanks to financing, people drive cars and live in houses they can't afford. Similarly, credit cars make a Coach item attainable for some. There's no prerequisite for discretionary income or hip knowledge to buy luxury goods.

Remember Jack Black's character in High Fidelity? Should Coach sales staff quiz prospective customers before they can buy?

We've got 270 million people in the US. There is no one "mainstream" anyway, just a bunch of trends with good PR.

I love and applaud your sentiments
Tell it like it is

 

[MizBlue]

playing devil's advocate --

how is buying a "designer" item because it's the in thing to buy by "mainstream" standards any different than buying a "designer" item because it's the in thing to buy by industry (fashion) standards (like many people on this forum do)?

you may say you buy CD or LV or Hermes, etc, because of the history behind the bag or because the name says quality...but honestly (you don't have to be honest with me, but be honest with yourself) you are only buying it because it is a CD or LV or Hermes this or that -- which in my opinion is the same thing these "kids, teenyboppers, hiphoppers" are doing.

quality is quality no matter what the label says.

Well said..You should buy a bag for quality, and more important reasons like how long it should last etc
not for whether it's an LV , CD, FENDI or GUCCI

 

[sharonnn]

Fashion = Mainstream

The term "fashion" (in this context) refers to "a prevailing or preferred manner of dress, adornment, behavior".. The term "mainstream" is defined as "the prevailing current of thought, influence, or activity"..

Hence "fashion" itself IS "mainstream".. For something (such as a particular type of style of bags, for example) to be considered as "fashion/fashionable", it has to be widely accepted/adopted (whether by grandmas, fashionistas or even 12 year olds). Those not accepted are "avant garde".

Hope I'm making sense here.