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Dear Fashion: Screw You
Jul. 2nd, 2010 11:19 amAs should be obvious by my comments on this journal I really hate mainstream fashion. Now I acknowledge that in many cases what they produce looks nice, but I’m continually frustrated by the fact that it seems that what the mainstream produces is not something I would ever willingly wear myself, and that the mainstream idea of how a woman should dress is at odds with my view of how to dress myself. Which is to say that mainstream fashion has a problem with people who aren’t overly feminine (read: butch) and prefer more unisex clothing, i.e. me.
Now some of my friends make fun of me for almost always wearing a collared shirt, but the reason I wear those is that I like them and know they look good on me. I don’t especially like flashing cleavage or showing large portions of skin and they accomplish that. Plus given the job I have they’re dressy enough that I can wear them to work as “business casual” but not look out of place when I go out afterward. The Irish stubbornness really comes out here: I know what I like and I’ll be damned if I compromise on that.
Recently I’ve been particularly enraged by something I’ve been seeing with shoes, which are a particular sore point because I have rather wide feet. Mainly, that all the shoes being produced today seem to have these tiny little areas for the toes that I can tell would cause me excruciating pain if they managed to fit at all. Not to mention that the heels are all so skinny that my ankle, which I am chronically injuring, screams in pain at seeing them. I felt particularly betrayed when I looked at the website for a company that made a pair of boots that I own that are now starting to get worn out, and discovered that they too have succumbed to this insanity. No, you guys used to be one of the good ones! I’ve also heard that some women are getting surgery and removing one of their toes to fit their feet into some kinds of shoes, which succinctly summarizes everything wrong with fashion these days. Make the clothes to fit the woman, not the other way around! If you need surgery to fit into it you are doing it wrong!
There was once a video in one of my sociology classes that talked about the consumer culture and the idea of conformity by using the example of how skinny heels and thick heels seem to go in and out of fashion year by year, and that still wearing one when the other is in shows that you’re not subscribing to the current norm. The metaphor was a stretch, but I just remember thinking to myself “But what if you’re one of those people who doesn’t give a crap about what people say and just buys what you know you like?” which pretty much sums me up.
In short: Fashion? Screw you.
Now some of my friends make fun of me for almost always wearing a collared shirt, but the reason I wear those is that I like them and know they look good on me. I don’t especially like flashing cleavage or showing large portions of skin and they accomplish that. Plus given the job I have they’re dressy enough that I can wear them to work as “business casual” but not look out of place when I go out afterward. The Irish stubbornness really comes out here: I know what I like and I’ll be damned if I compromise on that.
Recently I’ve been particularly enraged by something I’ve been seeing with shoes, which are a particular sore point because I have rather wide feet. Mainly, that all the shoes being produced today seem to have these tiny little areas for the toes that I can tell would cause me excruciating pain if they managed to fit at all. Not to mention that the heels are all so skinny that my ankle, which I am chronically injuring, screams in pain at seeing them. I felt particularly betrayed when I looked at the website for a company that made a pair of boots that I own that are now starting to get worn out, and discovered that they too have succumbed to this insanity. No, you guys used to be one of the good ones! I’ve also heard that some women are getting surgery and removing one of their toes to fit their feet into some kinds of shoes, which succinctly summarizes everything wrong with fashion these days. Make the clothes to fit the woman, not the other way around! If you need surgery to fit into it you are doing it wrong!
There was once a video in one of my sociology classes that talked about the consumer culture and the idea of conformity by using the example of how skinny heels and thick heels seem to go in and out of fashion year by year, and that still wearing one when the other is in shows that you’re not subscribing to the current norm. The metaphor was a stretch, but I just remember thinking to myself “But what if you’re one of those people who doesn’t give a crap about what people say and just buys what you know you like?” which pretty much sums me up.
In short: Fashion? Screw you.
