Reposted from mrsartorial.com
For all that I love style, something troubles me about the general way in which so many people on the internet approach and consume clothing. There is this emphasis put on being “in fashion” or being “on trend”, and while it is likely a machination of the powerful companies that persist by propelling fashion forward, it forms a negative attribute ascribed to so many who have an interest in clothing as a form of expression, making fashion appear trifling. The emphasis is not put so much on the artistry of constructing fashion, but of what is “new”, what is “exclusive”, what makes the person who owns it “special”. In many ways I suppose that this make fashion a lot like music. People are constantly grappling and clamouring to lay claim to being the first to discover something or, in this case, to start wearing something. People want to not just keep up with the Joneses, but to constantly trump them and state that they “were here first”. Perhaps this is what so persistantly troubles me about the idea of fashion.
While I find the shows to be magnificent, I am haunted by the fact that this will mean so many people will buy into the newest product on the line, their old clothes will be disposed of, all in the name of wearing the hottest, latest trend while claiming that they are discovering themselves (coincidentally the clothes that express who they think they are happens to appear on the shelves just in time thanks to expert trend-tracking and well-positioned marketing.
All of this contributes to the perception that fashion, and clothing in general, is such a trivial thing. Buy it one year, discard the next, and yet this cycle has very real conesquences in the real materials from which fashion is made. Unlike music, you cannot simply move onto the next band and move your old songs further down your itunes playlist only to be discovered later: the clothing must be manufactured from raw goods, which must be farmed to feed the hungry maw of our increasingly consumptive culture.
This is not to say that I am some raging environmentalist, for I am not, but it troubles me that all that I love about clothing is ignored by these masses of buyers, lost in the trends as their search for happiness takes the form of whatever is on the runway. Nor am I going to cling to tradition for the mere sake of thing as so many of the older style enthusiasts that I see online, espousing the pure quality of Canali or Ermenegildo Zegna ad nauseum.
Simply put, I am disappointed to see the real power that personal style can have in a person’s life reduced to a series of garments to be released every few months in the latest. H&M + Whoever collaboration/shit show. The triumph of “fast fashion” only compounds the problem. How can one find oneself among the excess? How can one develop style when the urge is to constantly be in the latest garments? Frankly, the business disgusts me. The term fast fashion disgusts me. While I, as much as anyone, is interested in the artistry that goes into creating a truly novel garment, I am saddened that such industry thrives around making as many varieties of knockoff fashion as quickly and as cheaply as possible. Too many have given up the beauty of personal style for the endorphin rush of the latest thing, like the lab rat who starves to death hitting the orgasm button.
I realize this will not change, not anytime soon at least. The cat is out of the bag, and too busy making $300 billion a year to give a shit. However, much like the credit crunch I think that this consumptive behaviour will, too, hit a constriction. Fashion may be fast, but it is made up of very real materials that have to come from somewhere, and the environmental impact is very real.
All I ask you to consider when purchasing each new item is whether that item really builds on your style. Take the time to develop this personal style, whichever way works. Have a look at my developing series on building style from the ground up if it helps, or just check out as many blogs as possible until you develop that keen taste for what works. In this day and age there are so many images of style available on the internet that you can develop that sense without looking like you’ve been simply dressed by the internet.
If anyone has any great links on developing personal style, please share them with me in the comments and I’ll collect them together somewhere for everyone to use.
As always, thanks for reading.
- Mr. S
