Is Fashion Still Cool?

[Mr. Fabulous]

i like this thread, it's very interesting.. I agree for the most part.

 

[Missoni~Heiress]

I think fashion is more than cool... to me its like a passion of escapism from the real world... i design some of my own clothes... some trends i dont like buying into... i try to seperate myself from what most girls are wearing to be more unique... clothing can also be a way of expressing how you feel or how you want others to feel about you...

The thing that bugs me is the copying of ideas on runways... versace was the first to come up with coral last season... then suddenly everyone else copied... I see it so much season from season on the catwalk... its like a virus that spreads... someone does something then everyone copies...

I also dont like it how unoriginal some designers can be, to me fashion is about drawing from inspiration... dreaming of materials and creating something... fashion is tied in with elegance which comes from the latin elegator which means to select. I think keeping this in mind fashion is an art that each invidual has the power to explore...

it is cool

 

[faust]

I also have to say I hate this whole retro rags looking trend that seems to be on it's way out, just because I don't like affluent people wearing clothes that look like the clothes I had growing up because we were poor.

OMFG, I couldn't agree more. I simply find it ARROGANT.

 

[travolta]

I think keeping this in mind fashion is an art that each invidual has the power to explore...

 

[kit]

I think keeping this in mind fashion is an art that each individual has the power to explore...

Quoted by travolta

An aphorism that is NOT a cliche . B)

Something to absorb and ponder for those who , and I'M using a cliche here , are prepared to ' think outside the box ' ............

 

[fourboltmain]

OMFG, I couldn't agree more. I simply find it ARROGANT.

I see it as a desperate attempt at street cred, this is more evident when you hit them up or even end up talking to them.

 

[frugalsquirrel]

Interesting points!

What are we lacking? Individuality and a personal sense of style. Consumerism isn't cool. If you're more concerned with who made it than *what it looks like on you*, you might be "in fashion" but you don't have style.

Cool is not caring whether you're "in fashion" or not.
Cool is wearing exactly what you like, when you like, the way you like to wear it.
Cool is having enough self-confidence not to give a d*** what anyone else thinks.
Cool is designing for yourself.

Shop at consignment and thrift stores often enough and you'll learn to get an eye for quality construction and creative detailing, totally apart from notions of "what's current". Then, take what you learn (and what suits you) and design your own. Shoes, clothes, jewelery, everything! Take a class and get the skills, or pay a professional to make it. Why not? It's a fraction of what you'd pay for someone else's creativity.

Create what expresses *you* and you'll always be cool, no matter what you're wearing.

 

[travolta]

^ yep!

 

[Missoni~Heiress]

i totally agree... fashion is a power... it shows who you are... by your moods from colours to materials... its a freedom and i think it should be expressed

 

[Astrid21]

I think we are defining design differently. To me design necesseraly comprises function and aesthetics - one can not go without the other when I talk about something "designed". I'm not sure what you mean by it. The construction worker's jeans are pure function - there is no design element in it, so I don't see the correlation. It does look like you are confusing deconstruction with somethin else. Deconstruction simply means taking something apart and putting it back together in a different way, or it means not finishing the garment completely (rough edges, unfinished hems, etc...) Neither Rick Owens nor Ann Demeulemeester are known for deconstruction.

When you talk about adopting the high/lo look, it seems that you are referring to the hipsters who buy overpriced Rogan type clothes, which are for the most part salvation army tshirts that were given 2nd life (and a high price tag) by putting some phrase on them... which is actually what margiela has been doing for the longest time now... which i don't like either, but somehow i can get margiela doing it, because he pushed the boundaries of fashion at the time, and he sometimes can still do it in an amazingly clever way... but this kind of thing can only be done once, I think - more to make a point rather than quality clothes... once again, there can only be one malevich's black square, because the black square is not much in itself...

Excellent post, as usual, faust.

I posted this article almost two years ago and it's fascinating to see members still discussing it. I love everyone's valid opinions on the topic.

 

[Missoni~Heiress]

^ i think its a great topic...

 

[Judea]

Fashion evolution?

I was having a discussion with some other designers the other day and someone made the comment that there was nothing new in fashion just personal spins on old designs and ideas someone replied back that if you believe that then you might as well never become a fashion designer....what is your take?

there is nothing new in fashion. yes or no?

 

[travolta]

we have a similar discussion going on in this thread

http://www.thefashionspot.com/forums/showthread.php?t=804

 

[Judea]

there is a lack of fantasy of social commentary of history...the clothes we wear today are soooo homogenized, I think as global pluralization increases we are more and more desperate as societies to rid ourselves of any sort of class system or socail identities. Fashion used to seperate the bourgeoisie from the proletariat and the aristocrats. Now everyone wants to eleminate social inequality but it's that kind of tension that sparks rebellion and history...we are a people of "anything-goesism" and so nothing suprises us, nothing is considered rebellious, because nothing is against the rules...the only thing to rebel against is the Politicly Correct world we have built ourselves, and although surely it would give more naritive to fashion again, who really wants to be the biggot these days???? The only way to shake things up is to piss people off...the only thing I could think of that would piss people off are discussions about fat being ugly or hot and pro-bushism, nothing else shocks or offends people.

 

[gallianoboy]

Fashion Mess!

Fashion always replicates itself but not in a "copy" sense, kind of a remix of what came before it. When something new does come along via designers like Mcqueen and Galliano it's deemed unwearable and disgusting. When its somewhat of a rehash from previous collections via Chanel and Dolce & GAbbana its deemed boring. NO ONE IS EVER SATISFIED! Fashion these days is about selling and politics, not about design. Logos run rampant and have become "ghetto fabulous". How many times can you walk around any city and see bootleg Louis Vuitton bags. The first question you ask someone when they have a fashion piece is "ooh that looks nice" followed by "IS IT REAL???".When the heck is it okay to wear a chanel cambon bag with tattered sweats (YES IVE SEEN THIS!!).People dont understand that fashion represents lifestyle.

 

[Lena]

thanks for providing the link travolta

merging

 

[Amelia]

In my opinion fashion is boring. Why? Because everything at the fashion shows is too perfect: ideal models, clothes, shoes,... I love it but I think that's really boring. We should create something new- that's why I like street style. Fashion is for people- it doesn't mean that people are for fashion. If you don't like some trend, you can choose something different. I love it. I love it because we all have a choice. We can create fashion- but not adapt a famous designer's trend.

 

[Lena]

everything at the fashion shows is too perfect: ideal models, clothes, shoes,... I love it but I think that's really boring. We should create something new
.......We can create fashion- but not adapt a famous designer's trend.

agreed, polished and 'ideal' can be extremely boring
the problem with today's fashion is that its too predicted, no big surprises. financial crisis is not helping too much either..

that said, some of todays 'leading' designers are living in a big bubble, having nothing in common with 'real life', while new names find a wall infront of them.. not a door
i could blame it to the 'luxury groups' but i think the problem may be hidden deeper than that.

 

[Scott]

Well to me-fashion,label-wh*ring,copy-cats and mass market pretension will always equal fascism. Striving to be an ideal of some designer or ad campaign,those are truly at the most banal and disgusting. But like any medium there are many elements,and there are of course,parts of fashion that bode rather well. Style,originality,creativity. It's still there but often one can't find it in what the masses preach about. One has to take a more individualistic approach. So in that,fashion can be quite cool. But on the other hand I personally can be a bit "ANTI". But it's only in regard to the aforementioned.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

I agree with this article in regards to the New York fashion scene. London and Paris are very different IMO. I don't think fashion has lost it's cool because to be very honest it has never really been that cool in mainstream popular culture. Sure the age of Supermodels has passed but how much of the fashion world inspired mainstream popular culture anyways? Of course I mean this all in regards to American fashion. Europe and Japan is obviously a different story.