Fashion

There is nothing wrong with not liking what another wears, but it angers me when a person uses it as a basis of ridicule. Not because I care what such people think of me, far from it, but because it pisses me off that people are so stupid and closed minded. I wrote this two years ago and recently rediscovered it on part of my amusing Weak Misanthropy site:

“Fashion? Fashion is not about copy-catting the most "up-to-date" look you observe. Fashion is an expression of yourself, not of your bank balance. If you want to show off your cash, write "loser" on your head and watch the opportunists let you spend it on their nice objects. Fashion is not a race or a competition, it is a relaxant and a quiet control over the people around you. Endless businessmen in suits and teenagers in sports gear. People with no aims, no personalities and not a single notion of what fashion really is. If it is fashionable, it is boring.”

"All People are Shit, Boring and Stupid!" by Vexen Crabtree (2000)

A close friend commented on this...

“The stuff you're talking about isn't so much fashion as the safe, lukewarm, highstreet version. Not fashion, but fitting in. Blending in, really. The change in look is irrelevant to the people who buy that stuff. They don't think about how great this collar is, say, or about the rightness of that proportion, the sensuality of the material, the images the clothes create. All that matters is not standing out. If the herd changes colour, they must change colour to match it. Terrifying mindset really. There's a paradoxical safety in fashion though; I find this interesting. If something is fashionable, the danger of difference is diluted and the wearer is 'safer'.”

A comment by Orinoco (2002)

Commercialism is part of this system of mindlessness, this upholding of everything mediocre and thoughtless. Rather than helping to cultivate our personalities and allow us to express ourselves, popular fashion detracts from both! It either detracts and desecrates our personalities, or, quite possibly, those who subscribe to the trends have lesser personalities to begin with!

The best thing about cheap clothes and alternative clothes is that you have to use your imagination and express yourself: There is no hiding in common labels. This way, we can really see your character... but when the hordes all wear the same clothes, as they do, their personalities are hidden by their will to fit in... fitting in becomes their personal replacement for lifestyle. "Style" being the significant thing that popular fashions completely fails on... if stylish is mediocre and average, then unstylish is supreme and expressive. And that is how it is!