Generic Individualism
June 29th 2009 22:24
Something struck me as I was watching MTV the other Sunday afternoon, and it struck me again when I was out and about the next Saturday, and the more I look around the more apparent it becomes. Being an individual when it comes to fashion is actually impossible.
I first started to think about this when I saw a group of emos, who despite flying in the face of conformity were actually almost identical to each other, and every manufactured emo group I’d seen on said MTV viewing session. The emo trend was spawned because these people wanted a physical way to express themselves and their interests, and like I always say, what better way is there than fashion? Body adornments were added to the mix and this homogenous group were suddenly individuals! See the oxymoron? It’s popping up everywhere, and I’ve termed it generic individualism.
When you look at fashion, fashion statements, trends and styles it’s all about copy-catting to a certain extent, something I touched on in my Single White Fashion Female post not long ago, (speaking of which, did I mention she rocked in with almost identical boots to me last week? The nightmare continues…) and something that to a great extent is accepted. How often will you be at a bar and see three or four girls rock in wearing almost identical outfits right down to hairstyle and accessories? My friends and I insisted someone get changed when the same situation arose when I was in the height of my partying hey-day, but it seems times have changed and today there is fashion safety in numbers.
If that’s the way some fashion followers want to roll, that’s fine, but what gets me is when people claim to be unique and individual and really they too are just following a style conceived and made available through someone else’s creativity. Of course to begin a trend there must be an individual concept to begin with, and the like of Vivienne Westwood who I also blogged about recently is a testament to this. But then what happens – someone like the Sex Pistols took a shine to her unique style, gave her the means to make the trend available en masse, and then suddenly everyone who was ‘different’ looks like a whole bunch of other ‘different’ people and no-one’s actually got individual style any more. It seems to be the unavoidable fashion phenomenon.
I’m all for taking a trend and making it your own, and I do believe that you can still express your own sense of style on a daily basis, but even if you decide to pair your harem pants with stilettos instead of ankle boots, seriously how different are you?
And really, when you consider that fashion is mostly about aspiration and fantasy, who can blame us for copying what the likes of Giselle is wearing?
I first started to think about this when I saw a group of emos, who despite flying in the face of conformity were actually almost identical to each other, and every manufactured emo group I’d seen on said MTV viewing session. The emo trend was spawned because these people wanted a physical way to express themselves and their interests, and like I always say, what better way is there than fashion? Body adornments were added to the mix and this homogenous group were suddenly individuals! See the oxymoron? It’s popping up everywhere, and I’ve termed it generic individualism.
When you look at fashion, fashion statements, trends and styles it’s all about copy-catting to a certain extent, something I touched on in my Single White Fashion Female post not long ago, (speaking of which, did I mention she rocked in with almost identical boots to me last week? The nightmare continues…) and something that to a great extent is accepted. How often will you be at a bar and see three or four girls rock in wearing almost identical outfits right down to hairstyle and accessories? My friends and I insisted someone get changed when the same situation arose when I was in the height of my partying hey-day, but it seems times have changed and today there is fashion safety in numbers.
If that’s the way some fashion followers want to roll, that’s fine, but what gets me is when people claim to be unique and individual and really they too are just following a style conceived and made available through someone else’s creativity. Of course to begin a trend there must be an individual concept to begin with, and the like of Vivienne Westwood who I also blogged about recently is a testament to this. But then what happens – someone like the Sex Pistols took a shine to her unique style, gave her the means to make the trend available en masse, and then suddenly everyone who was ‘different’ looks like a whole bunch of other ‘different’ people and no-one’s actually got individual style any more. It seems to be the unavoidable fashion phenomenon.
I’m all for taking a trend and making it your own, and I do believe that you can still express your own sense of style on a daily basis, but even if you decide to pair your harem pants with stilettos instead of ankle boots, seriously how different are you?
And really, when you consider that fashion is mostly about aspiration and fantasy, who can blame us for copying what the likes of Giselle is wearing?
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