Kizzume
Member
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2006
- Messages
- 145
- Reaction score
- 1
First off, if you wear it, it's a costume. There's no getting around that. When someone wholeheartedly believes otherwise, they have some issues with facing reality, quite frankly.
I find it rather sad how most people seem afraid to simply start their own style. When people are afraid to cause too many waves with a look they have or want, or they judge themselves on trends. When people will practically worship fashion magazines as if these high-brow fashionistas somehow know what's better for everyone else. When people will make fun of and criticize anyone who dares to look in a way that's completely out of the norm.
There's also this rather stuffy, stuck-up attitude that a lot of these high-brow fashionistas and their worshipers have where if it's not THIS brand or THAT brand, it's just not any good, even if they look almost identical.
There's also an attitude that says: Well, if you buy from THIS person who charges $800 for this top that they made themselves out of material that isn't actually very expensive (and it's not a one-of-a-kind, they have a well-designated pattern for it already), you're not contributing to people making minimum wage and you're not contributing to sweatshops, which means you're *somehow*, in some magical world, doing the world better just simply by spending a fortune on something that doesn't cost jack sh** to make. It's just like people who look down on others who buy a Toyota instead of a BMW or Mercedes. It's kind-of disgusting, actually.
It's kind-of like how in the 90s, when the "grunge" style was in, and you started seeing $200 plaid cotton flannel shirts, and people would make the same kinds of claims about those--that you're doing something *good* for the world by buying those versions of simple cotton flannel shirts instead of buying the cheap ones that actually started the trend in the first place. It was quite absurd.
Then there are those who feel that if you don't have "the perfect body" that you should cover it up at almost all costs. It teaches people to feel bad about themselves, to be ashamed of their bodies if they don't look like they eat only 50 calories a day for years, when we really could be trying to get people to embrace their bodies, embrace their creativity, embrace who they are in general.
Again, if you wear it, it's a costume, yet people treat so many things related to fashion like, "Well, if you're going to THIS type of place, the *proper* outfit to wear is THIS, because WE say so, because 'fashion experts' say so, and that means it's true" almost like people following a religion. Fashion rules ARE like a religion, it's following a dogma and criticizing anyone who doesn't follow the same dogma.
The fashion industry in general is one of the most judgmental industries out there--in fact, its base IS prejudice of varied types, including racism.
For the longest time, until the "hipster" thing happened, to the fashion industry, guys were supposed to look like tall often-thin children, sometimes with a hint of muscle (or sometimes they'd have to look like they spend their whole lives at the gym, but that was more rare, it was usually the tall child thing).
There are obviously things that most people would agree has a nice look to it, but there are tons of other things that people simply *can't* agree on, and at that point, people for some reason feel the need to ask "experts" on the subject instead of just wearing what they themselves think look good.
Granted, there are people out there who actually have no opinion about style whatsoever. They are likely to be people who would assemble an outfit/costume that they just choose things out of their wardrobe at random: Grab a top from here, grab a bottom from there, randomly choose shoes. I can understand why someone like that would want advice from those who actually DO have opinions about style.
But that's not what I'm really talking about here when I say "people who are afraid to have their own style". I'm talking about when people actually *have* an idea on what they think would look cool, but they're too afraid to actually wear it because they're scared of being made fun of, they're scared of being negatively criticized to extremes.
If we could simply remember that anything we wear is a costume, and that some more narrow people believe in a fashion dogma, and we realize that following a dogma just for the sake of following it is generally a bad idea no matter what the dogma is associated with, we could have a lot more fun with style. We could be a little more like Japan has been, where anything goes, where originality and creativity is looked at as a positive thing instead of "eww, that's not in style right now".
Why wait for a trend in order to wear something you like the look of? Don't wait for a trend. Have courage. Stop caring about what others think of it. If you're able to wear something with confidence, *YOU* will be the one starting a trend.
I find it rather sad how most people seem afraid to simply start their own style. When people are afraid to cause too many waves with a look they have or want, or they judge themselves on trends. When people will practically worship fashion magazines as if these high-brow fashionistas somehow know what's better for everyone else. When people will make fun of and criticize anyone who dares to look in a way that's completely out of the norm.
There's also this rather stuffy, stuck-up attitude that a lot of these high-brow fashionistas and their worshipers have where if it's not THIS brand or THAT brand, it's just not any good, even if they look almost identical.
There's also an attitude that says: Well, if you buy from THIS person who charges $800 for this top that they made themselves out of material that isn't actually very expensive (and it's not a one-of-a-kind, they have a well-designated pattern for it already), you're not contributing to people making minimum wage and you're not contributing to sweatshops, which means you're *somehow*, in some magical world, doing the world better just simply by spending a fortune on something that doesn't cost jack sh** to make. It's just like people who look down on others who buy a Toyota instead of a BMW or Mercedes. It's kind-of disgusting, actually.
It's kind-of like how in the 90s, when the "grunge" style was in, and you started seeing $200 plaid cotton flannel shirts, and people would make the same kinds of claims about those--that you're doing something *good* for the world by buying those versions of simple cotton flannel shirts instead of buying the cheap ones that actually started the trend in the first place. It was quite absurd.
Then there are those who feel that if you don't have "the perfect body" that you should cover it up at almost all costs. It teaches people to feel bad about themselves, to be ashamed of their bodies if they don't look like they eat only 50 calories a day for years, when we really could be trying to get people to embrace their bodies, embrace their creativity, embrace who they are in general.
Again, if you wear it, it's a costume, yet people treat so many things related to fashion like, "Well, if you're going to THIS type of place, the *proper* outfit to wear is THIS, because WE say so, because 'fashion experts' say so, and that means it's true" almost like people following a religion. Fashion rules ARE like a religion, it's following a dogma and criticizing anyone who doesn't follow the same dogma.
The fashion industry in general is one of the most judgmental industries out there--in fact, its base IS prejudice of varied types, including racism.
For the longest time, until the "hipster" thing happened, to the fashion industry, guys were supposed to look like tall often-thin children, sometimes with a hint of muscle (or sometimes they'd have to look like they spend their whole lives at the gym, but that was more rare, it was usually the tall child thing).
There are obviously things that most people would agree has a nice look to it, but there are tons of other things that people simply *can't* agree on, and at that point, people for some reason feel the need to ask "experts" on the subject instead of just wearing what they themselves think look good.
Granted, there are people out there who actually have no opinion about style whatsoever. They are likely to be people who would assemble an outfit/costume that they just choose things out of their wardrobe at random: Grab a top from here, grab a bottom from there, randomly choose shoes. I can understand why someone like that would want advice from those who actually DO have opinions about style.
But that's not what I'm really talking about here when I say "people who are afraid to have their own style". I'm talking about when people actually *have* an idea on what they think would look cool, but they're too afraid to actually wear it because they're scared of being made fun of, they're scared of being negatively criticized to extremes.
If we could simply remember that anything we wear is a costume, and that some more narrow people believe in a fashion dogma, and we realize that following a dogma just for the sake of following it is generally a bad idea no matter what the dogma is associated with, we could have a lot more fun with style. We could be a little more like Japan has been, where anything goes, where originality and creativity is looked at as a positive thing instead of "eww, that's not in style right now".
Why wait for a trend in order to wear something you like the look of? Don't wait for a trend. Have courage. Stop caring about what others think of it. If you're able to wear something with confidence, *YOU* will be the one starting a trend.
ink: There are worse things to be afraid of than adventurous fashion choices ... I hope these people aren't afraid of those things too.
