To Resist Recreation
A good friend recently shared this wonderful piece written by Haley Nahman that critiqued the use of the phrase ‘deeply personal’ to describe Emma Chamberlain’s home. Her most poignant point comes from her reflection on an early 2010s coffee table book focused on interiors:
“…rather than a product of trends, these homes feel personal, layered, seasoned with life itself. They look like they came together over a mishmash of years, experiences, and influences….In revisiting the book, I realized the missing ingredient in the current conception of a great or cool place is time. When I realized my apartment would come together over years, that it didn’t need a mood board, that it didn’t need to present itself to others like a designer’s statement—and that in fact those things could sap my home of its humanity—I felt liberated.”
The online fashion ‘influencer’ community thrives in a vapid state of regurgitation. Instead of seeking out a sense of individual personal style, folks are content to replicate the outfits of their favorite celebrities or influencers, made easier by fast fashion brands that pump out ‘dupes’ of the looks that grace paparazzi photos and Instagram accounts. I have no doubt that social media plays a massive role in the amplification of outfit recreation; desirable, well-performing content is effortlessly and infinitely reproducible.
Many fashion content creators toss around the world personal style so carelessly when, in fact, there’s nothing personal about it. A wardrobe that is turned over every season (or, more realistically, every time a trend dies out) cannot be personal or else there wouldn’t be a need to reinvent it. A wardrobe that can be cloned with a fast-fashion haul cannot be personal. Like Haley says, time is key. A well-loved wardrobe will be worn in. It will reflect a point of view that’s been honed over the years. Ideally, it would invoke a certain level of ease in the wearer who relishes in the comfort of their favorite clothes.
You might be asking, “In the grand scheme of things, does this matter?” Absolutely. First and foremost, I want folks who are interested in refining their personal style to think critically about what they want to wear rather than taking the advice of influencers who get paid to push shitty clothes onto their followers under the guise of personal style. Comb through old fashion references; if you are looking to creators or other style icons, it might feel empowering to reflect on what you like about their stylistic choices - maybe there’s a boldness, an elegance, a grittiness, a sense of humor that you’re drawn to - rather than buying dupes of their wardrobe.
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, fast fashion companies thrive on this recreation culture. Their goal isn’t to craft quality clothes or inspire their customers; their goal is to make money, and lots of it, at the expense of their labor force and the communities that take on their fashion waste. Aja Barber constantly reminds us that many of the world’s billionaires are owners of fast fashion parent companies including the CEOs of Inditex (who owns Zara), H&M, Amazon, Shein, and the Boohoo Group. The reason they’ve amassed so much capital is because folks with ample disposable income are willing to spend thousands of dollars every year to feel trendy and shop the closets of influencers or celebrities at a fraction of the price. We have to stop supporting them.
Fast fashion brands want us to feel like time is against us. We have to hurry or else we’ll miss out on the newest Really Important Trend™. We have to buy more poorly made clothes because time wasn’t kind to the poorly made clothes we bought last year. We have to buy everything right now otherwise our wardrobe won’t be perfect and if it isn’t perfect then it isn’t something that we can actually wear.
Time couldn’t be more on our side. Time affords us the opportunity to meander and explore our style at our own pace. Time gifts us the joy of discovering designers or silhouettes previously unknown to us. Time offers us the space to steadily accumulate a wardrobe according to our ever-evolving tastes. With a little time, effort, and patience, I have no doubt you can find so much of what you’re looking for either secondhand or from contemporary slow fashion designers.
As someone who previously thought that a cocktail of strict minimalism paired with hyper-restrictive buying habits was the quickest, easiest answer, and (regrettably) purged so much of their closet, I can attest to the fact that my wardrobe’s only felt like me once I removed all of the rules. I slowed down and trusted my own point of view. Sometimes I’m wrong, and that’s okay. I attribute that to my growth and to necessary exploration. Trust yourself. Stop letting influencers tell you what you mUsT hAvE tHiS sEaSoN. Fashion’s a lot more fun when there’s fewer rules ;)