A bit of a rant on fashion today.
It's linked to the media because I heard a fashion expert on Jo Whiley's Radio 1 show today, and it irritated me how the media lead people by the nose in this area. The whole fashion thing has always bothered me, actually. Intensely. I even hate Absolutely Fabulous.
Of course, nobody wants to be wearing old-fashioned stuff. Times change, new looks come in. But most people don't go shopping in time-machines, so whatever you buy in any shop is immediately "modern", isn't it? So just buy what you like the look of.
Speaking as a man, I've never been a sheep when it comes to fashion. I buy what looks good, suits me, and is comfortable to wear. It's called taste! You can be influenced by adverts, or notice stuff other people are wearing, but it's pretty much a case of browsing around a clothes shop and buying what looks good and fits. Or am I missing something?
The fact consumers exist who religiously follow the advice of "fashion gurus" like the one on Jo's radio show totally baffles me. At one stage, "the guru" (Angela) mentioned that 90s-era Twisted jeans are coming back into fashion, and Jo responded with a genuine: "Thank God, no more skinny jeans for men! They'll be glad about that!"
This implied that most men have been wearing skinny jeans "this season" and hating it... aching for fashion to evolve... and will now be breathing a sigh of relief they can wear their beloved Twisted jeans again. Do you know these people?! I haven't seen anyone wearing skinny jeans since 1992! And anyone who wears uncomfortable jeans just because they're fashionable is a certified plank!
Another comment was that girls will be basing their look this spring on Carrie Bradshaw (aka Sarah Jessica Parker) of Sex & The City Fame. Carrie apparently tends to wear big, 1950s-style prom skirts.
Okay; so young women in their twenties want to dress exactly like a fortysomething on TV, do they? Despite the fact Angela mentioned that Next stock a "prom skirt", I'm confident that this time next week, next month and next year, you'll never have seen anyone wearing one. Unless you go to a Sex & The City convention, or happen to know a preening simpleton who wears Jade Goody perfume and has a signed copy of Katie Price's autobiography.
I'm sorry, but I've just never believed fashion is something that should impact, control and then dominate your life. And no, I'm not a fashion disaster area decked out in tweed either. I'm a jeans/T-shirt kinda guy -- but nothing in my wardrobe screams "hideous" or "old-fashioned".
There are tonnes of clothes out there, loads of people to be inspired by, so why spend a year limping around in skinny jeans just because an overpaid fashionista told you its "the in thing"? Get some baggy jeans you feel comfortable wearing.
Remember: the trendsetters aren't the ones who wear whatever some woman off the radio tells them to! Lead the way.
It's linked to the media because I heard a fashion expert on Jo Whiley's Radio 1 show today, and it irritated me how the media lead people by the nose in this area. The whole fashion thing has always bothered me, actually. Intensely. I even hate Absolutely Fabulous.
Of course, nobody wants to be wearing old-fashioned stuff. Times change, new looks come in. But most people don't go shopping in time-machines, so whatever you buy in any shop is immediately "modern", isn't it? So just buy what you like the look of.
Speaking as a man, I've never been a sheep when it comes to fashion. I buy what looks good, suits me, and is comfortable to wear. It's called taste! You can be influenced by adverts, or notice stuff other people are wearing, but it's pretty much a case of browsing around a clothes shop and buying what looks good and fits. Or am I missing something?
The fact consumers exist who religiously follow the advice of "fashion gurus" like the one on Jo's radio show totally baffles me. At one stage, "the guru" (Angela) mentioned that 90s-era Twisted jeans are coming back into fashion, and Jo responded with a genuine: "Thank God, no more skinny jeans for men! They'll be glad about that!"
This implied that most men have been wearing skinny jeans "this season" and hating it... aching for fashion to evolve... and will now be breathing a sigh of relief they can wear their beloved Twisted jeans again. Do you know these people?! I haven't seen anyone wearing skinny jeans since 1992! And anyone who wears uncomfortable jeans just because they're fashionable is a certified plank!
Another comment was that girls will be basing their look this spring on Carrie Bradshaw (aka Sarah Jessica Parker) of Sex & The City Fame. Carrie apparently tends to wear big, 1950s-style prom skirts.
Okay; so young women in their twenties want to dress exactly like a fortysomething on TV, do they? Despite the fact Angela mentioned that Next stock a "prom skirt", I'm confident that this time next week, next month and next year, you'll never have seen anyone wearing one. Unless you go to a Sex & The City convention, or happen to know a preening simpleton who wears Jade Goody perfume and has a signed copy of Katie Price's autobiography.
I'm sorry, but I've just never believed fashion is something that should impact, control and then dominate your life. And no, I'm not a fashion disaster area decked out in tweed either. I'm a jeans/T-shirt kinda guy -- but nothing in my wardrobe screams "hideous" or "old-fashioned".
There are tonnes of clothes out there, loads of people to be inspired by, so why spend a year limping around in skinny jeans just because an overpaid fashionista told you its "the in thing"? Get some baggy jeans you feel comfortable wearing.
Remember: the trendsetters aren't the ones who wear whatever some woman off the radio tells them to! Lead the way.
