Founder of Biba says that women nowadays are slaves to trends, and are "too concerned with what's fashionable" and therefore it becoming dull and samey. The 77 year old designer acknowledges that perhaps the reason for this is that high street shops stock such similar styles that it's difficult to have an individual look.
I would have to agree with her. I can traipse high street stores for hours and feel so utterly bored that I could burst into tears! It's always the same. It's so rare to find something unusual on the high street, and when that happens you find hordes of people suddenly owning it and yet again originality is diluted into what becomes a crowd of sheep. You see this quite often in fashion blogging, it is quite difficult to find a blogger which isn't entirely influenced by trends and has their own unique style. I have a few favourites myself who I feel go against the grain, but it is a rare find.
Trends and style today is something myself and my mother talk about quite often, and it seems very fitting to me that she, born in 1960, talks about her favourite shops being Biba and Chelsea girl - both of which have now been reinvented to something very dissimilar to what they were before, being owned by House of Frasier and River Island. She tells me about the times when she was a Mod, how style then reflected a political statement. When she became involved (by accident) in a large Mods vs Rockers brawl she threw away all her mod-style clothes because she hated what she saw on that day (she recalls to me a mod-girl screaming "kick his head in, kick his head in!" to her boyfriend fighting a Rocker). Although it is much to my disappointment that she no longer owns these wonderful clothes, the act of throwing away something has such a different meaning then than it does now. Then she threw away the clothes as a statement against violence, now we throw away clothes because we are bored with them, or they're out of season.
I think people need to venture out further than the high street in order for us to regain some individuality. Following trends is okay to an extent, but becoming a slave to one is a no-no. Trends should work around you, you shouldn't work around them. Fashion needs to become an expression of self again. Not shopping on the high-street doesn't mean that you have to shop designer either - rummaging through vintage shops, car boot sales, charity shops, lesser known independent designers or even making your own clothes can help create a better and more interesting look. People are too scared of looking different nowadays and it fills me with disappointment every time I get some silly cowardly comment on my sense of style because it's slightly different to their idea of fashion!
This is my challenge to you to experiment with your style!
No comments:
Post a Comment