Beautiful Question

Philosophy 103

Stephanie Roland

CAN FASHION TRULY BE UNIQUE

…and can people really have a “unique, individual” style?

"Fashion is not simply a matter of clothes. Fashion is in the air, born upon the wind. One intuits it. It is

in the sky and on the road” - Coco Chanel

What does it all mean?

There are two basic sides to this question: Yes and No

But how do you answer it?

I will look at the reasons behind both the Yes and the No, looking at blogs, articles, interviews and other research, and based

on what I find decide what the true answer is (if there is one)

First, some basics(for the boys)

Definitions

Fashion:

1. A popular trend, especially in styles of dress, ornament, or behavior

2. Anything that changes style over time; the over all looks of a person

Definitions

Style:

1. A particular kind, sort or type, as with

reference to form, appearance or character

2. A particular, distinctive, or characteristic

mode of action or manner of acting

Definitions

Unique:

1. Existing as the only one or as the sole example;

single, solitary in type or characteristics

2. Having no like or equal; unparalleled; incomparable

3. Not typical, unusual

Now, on to the question...

Answer #1: NO

“Fashion is more usually a gentle progression of

revisited ideas” - Bruce Oldfield

First, let's take a quiz(or don’t, but it’s more fun if you do)

This quiz from Real Simple Magazine entitled “What’s Your Fashion Style” is made up of 9 questions to define your fashion style. There are 4 possible outcomes:

1. Feminine 2. Trendy

3. Minimalist 4. Preppy

It is one in hundreds of online quizzes asking variations of the same question

So what’s the problem??

Well…

• If style is truly unique and personal, how can it be so easily defined through a quick Internet quiz?

• Also, how can we all fall into only a handful of style categories?

Another Problem

Many of the quizzes are also tutorials, such as…• How to develop your personal style

• If someone is helping you develop it, isn’t it no longer personal?

• Who is your personal style archetype?• How can you have a “personal style archetype” if

style is unique to each person?

What do the bloggers say?

“Top 5 Beauty” posed the question: Can we be truly individual or are we all led by trends?

But wait! What the heck is a trend?!

Trend: What’s hip or popular at a certain point in time; reflects what seems to be going on at the time

(…so it would seem that if trends are what’s hip and popular, wearing trends to express unique style is contradictory)

“Top 5 Beauty” Question

The author shared her musings on whether she is actually as stylish as she thinks she is, or if she is just following what the fashion industry has told her looks good.

Her example: Does she really like her new Zara cameo jacket, or has she been subliminally

programmed to like it from magazines and blogs?

“Top 5 Beauty” QuestionIn response, the commenters offered their own ideas:

Many agreed that although they think their style is personal, they still follow trends to an extent (not so personal anymore, is it!)

One commenter said:

“I like to believe I have my own individual style, but when I really think about it, I haven’t exactly set any trends myself, or just ‘conjured up’ a look and rolled with it, it has to come from

somewhere!”

Our friends at the BBC News put it best:

“Fashion is cyclical; Everything comes from somewhere, and will eventually be repeated”

Confused yet?

OK, some examples…

Cyclical Fashion: the 1920sDoes this look familiar?

1920s Flapper

Cyclical Fashion: the 1920s

Dress from Popsugar.com Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City

Cyclical Fashion: the 1920sDoes this look familiar?

Vamp Makeup

Kim Kardashian

Cyclical Fashion: the 1950sDoes this look familiar?

1950s London

Jcrew Ad

Cyclical Fashion: the 1950sDoes this look familiar?

1950s Greasers

Models

Cyclical Fashion: the 1970sDoes this look familiar?

Flared pants in the 70sCelebrities today in flared pants

Cyclical Fashion: the 1980sDoes this look familiar?

Punk in 1980s LondonForever 21 Punk Style

Pictures are great, but what do they mean?

Basically…

All fashion trends have been seen before, so if you are expressing your “unique, individual” style by wearing ripped leggings and a spiked leather jacket, you’re actually channeling 1980s punk style!

If you want to express your individuality through flared jeans with a leather jacket, the 1970s and the Greasers of the ‘50s did it first!

…is that unique? According to the definition, NO!

Another Enemy of Individuality and Uniqueness:

Fast Fashion

Fast Fashion• Consumers today have shorter attention spans• To stay popular and current, companies must put new

clothes in stores more often

• Stores like Zara and H&M put new styles in stores every 4-8 weeks (sometimes less)

Fast FashionThese stores are global and sell clothes cheap. In order to make a profit they must sell in large quantities

“Designers don’t have time any more to be really creative. Fast fashion needs them to be very quick at ‘adapt, copy

and paste’, not design as an art form. It’s not good for originality.”

- Michael Tien

Chairman of G2000

So…everyone ends up with the same stuff!

So that’s why the answer is no…

MAYBE! Don’t close your mind just yet…

We still have to look at…

…The YES side!

Answer #2: YES

“Create your own style…let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable

for others.”

- Anna Wintour

Let’s look at those definitions again…

Style: 1. A particular kind, sort or type, as with reference to form, appearance or character

2. A particular, distinctive, or characteristic mode of action or manner of acting

Unique: 1. Existing as the only one or as the sole example; single, solitary in type or characteristics

2. Having no like or equal; unparalleled; incomparable

3. Not typical, unusual

Keeping these definitions in mind…

Lets look at the arguments on the “No” side, and refute them!

The Argument:Fashion is cyclical! Trends repeat!

Mass production and fast fashion stores have made it so everyone has the same stuff!

The Response

According to the PBS article “What Is Fashion?”, fashion is dictated by runways, the media and past trends, and all fashion eventually trickles down to every level of retail

…but it is how you interpret those trends that makes it YOUR style

The Argument:But there are billions of people in the world, someone somewhere at some point in time

has put together your exact outfit!

The Response

Of course! But…it’s the way you portray yourself in the outfit that makes it personal and unique to you.

One blogger on lovelyish.com compared style to personality traits…

“…there are thousands of people in the world who may carry the same sense of humor as you, but it’s the way you utilize that sense of humor that makes you appear different

than the other people.”

The Argument

What about the style blogs?

The Man Repeller (Leandra Medine) was unique, then her blog became a sensation and now people copy her outfits…is she still unique?

The Response

She is the definition of unique!

Unique: Not typical, unusual

Even though she wears designer labels and mass-produced clothing, she puts together outfits in a way that only her brain thinks of.

It is aesthetically pleasing and “cool” to her…she doesn’t care what people think, which makes it her very own style.

Leandra Medine

“Man Repelling is a style choice. It’s more important to have good style than to be fashionable.”

The ArgumentWhat about fashion magazines and the “Get the Look” sections? If everyone is copying runway and magazine looks, doesn’t that make style unoriginal?

Why do I need all of these!?

The Response

Why do magazines have “Get the Look” sections?

For Inspiration! These give people suggestions on ways to dress, and then when they incorporate their own clothes, accessories and, of course, attitude and personality, it becomes unique to you.

Ok, Enough Research Already!

After conducting all this research, I decided it was time to talk to some real people. I live with 5 girls, so finding opinions on personal style and if fashion is truly unique was not hard. Let’s see what a few of them had to

say…

Jackie

“YES…it can be unique because if you watch shows like Project Runway, where they make their own clothes from nothing, they are being unique.

Also, just because people have the same clothes, something is ALWAYS different about the outfit (whether it be accessories, colors, hair style, or just attitude itself).”

Rachael

“YES…because everyone has their own way of mixing and matching

Even if two people are wearing the same exact outfit, the similarities only go clothes deep. Underneath the clothes, the personalities are still different, and the message they are trying to express through their style will always be different.”

So What Do I Think About All Of This?

After reading, talking, listening and thinking about this question for what felt like years, I finally decided what I think the answer is.

Can fashion truly be unique, and can people really have “unique, individual” style?

Drumroll please…….

The Answer Is…

Yes and No!

My Answer

This is a question with no real or true answer. On one hand, I can understand the No answer to the question. Everything in fashion has pretty much been done so it has become almost impossible to be original. In the most literal terms of the definitions, no, no one can be unique anymore.

BUT…

I see the emotional side as well. The comparison to personalities stuck with me, and makes a lot of sense. Just because two people possess the same characteristic, they are still different in their minds and emotions and attitudes, so it will never be exactly the same.

References• "Curiosity." Discovery Channel. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2013.

• David. "Fashion Trends: Who Decides What?s Hot and What?s Not?" Top 5 Beauty Fashion Trends Who Decides Whats Hot and Whats Not Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2013.

• "Is Fast Fashion Killing Fashion?" Is Fast Fashion Killing Fashion? N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2013.

• "THE MAN REPELLER: How A 22-Year-Old Blogger Wound Up On The Runway At New York Fashion Week." Business Insider. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2013.

• PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2013.

• Sally. "Fashion: Can We Be Truly Individual or Are We All Led by Trends?" Top 5 Beauty Fashion Can We Be Truly Individual or Are We All Led by Trends Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2013.

• "There Is No Such Thing as Personal Style | Lovelyish." There Is No Such Thing as Personal Style | Lovelyish. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2013.

• Wilkinson, Michelle. "How Clothing Can Help You Express Your Individuality." Helium. Helium, 03 Jan. 2010. Web. 27 Apr. 2013.

• Winterman, Denise. "The Life Cycle of a Fashion Trend." BBC News. BBC, 22 Sept. 2009. Web. 27 Apr. 2013.

• Zarroli, Jim. "In Trendy World Of Fast Fashion, Styles Aren't Made To Last." NPR. NPR, 11 Mar. 2013. Web. 27 Apr. 2013.