So yesterday it finally happened: what cool girls started wearing in 7th grade mormon town Northern Cali, european models on the manhattan streets of ~Noho~ are now wearing. When i was 13 (1998) i remember the two pretty popular girls in jr. high started to wear ralph lauren and tommy hilfiger windbreakers and jkts that were ridiculously emblazoned with logos. Like the whole jacket just said tommy and looked like a giant, primary color, unsubtle, billboard for the corporation. It was a new trend at that time never really seen in fashion before, because why would you want to be a free advertisement for the gap (or wear velour track pants with juicy across the ass ..)? The jkts represented a very expensive purchase from macys and i remember wanting a dumb jacket like that basically because other people liked them (other people that were influential and thus were both prescriptive and arbiters of good style etc) and that was one of my first moments I recall of wanting status-symbols and to fit in with conventional/normal/mainstream/brain-dead/popular femininity, and to be pretty, as well (but who doesnt want to be and feel pretty?) Fast-forward 16 years: the 90s have been ironic fodder for at least 5+ years and becoming more and more a chunky-heeled non-ironic staple for young kids and hip urban outfitters demographics. Well! As i was walking on 4th and Lafayette, the exact tommy hilfiger jacket i envied in jr high walked by me on a gorgeous tall young model speaking french. I remember when i was younger i was so proud that I had successfully tracked down a white hilfiger windbreaker on clearance and final sale at the mall for something like $25, but then when i did get it ...i never wore it once (!)! because maybe consumption is really mostly about the thrill of the hunt and the pleasure of the acquisition, and fashion is about the creation of something new or original or recombination or design and when its a copy of someone elses style (or represents bubble-gum popularity) its not an authentic expression of the self or identity that is generative #boltbusdeepthoughts #commutejournaling #aaliyah #styleicon
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 15:21:20 +0000
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