Hey, hi, how are ya? I’ve got a lot on my mind lately and I’m having a hard time organizing my thoughts and feelings, but there’s one conversation I’ve been hearing a lot of and I feel the need to give my take on it. I’ve seen quite a few “glow up” style posts where people basically share a bunch of outfits they’re embarrassed of. Normally, I’m all for a little self-deprecating humor, but something about this conversation bothers me. I’m often seeing it in the sense of like hate toward self or past looks and it’s just… not the thing.
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IF YOU LIKED IT THEN, THEN YOU LIKED IT
I think the thing I’m seeing is a lot of conversation like “I can’t believe I thought this was cool.” And that’s not a new conversation, I’ve heard of people having that conversation for literally my whole life. But maybe I just grew up different – I heard this conversation differently at home. It wasn’t “I can’t believe I thought this was cool,” it was “this was cool when I was growing up,” and that completely changed my perspective and my relationship with my wardrobe.
It bothers me that people look back on their fashion choices when they chose to dress to a trend and question why they thought it was a good look. OF COURSE IT WAS A GOOD LOOK, IT WAS THE “IT” LOOK! Just because it’s not in style now, doesn’t invalidate the fact that you were straight up feelin’ yourself back then. It’s not a question of not believing you thought it was cool, it’s just acknowledging that styles have changed.
Of course, I don’t mean to ruin any self-deprecating fun, but I also have noticed women my age (good god) feel less inclined to enjoy fashion and take risks with style like they used to and it makes me sad. I know that priorities change and the reason we dress changes, but fashion is about having fun with how you adorn yourself.
I’m reaching a point where I’m feeling “too old” to wear certain things and it fucking pisses me off, man. Anna Dello Russo would be severely disappointed in that kind of thinking. (I also think influencer marketing and Instagram have had a big part in this, but that’s a rant for another time).
AN OLD OUTFIT
FASHION VS. STYLE
I really think a big part of this conversation comes down to fashion vs. style. Fashion is what’s trending, it’s what’s on the runways, what fast fashion is pushing so hard to sell. Style is something more innate to you. Style is classic, boho, even trendy can be called its own style. But I would say if you’re style is “trendy,” then your style is simply open minded and adventurous.
But with each style, there are trends. Classic style used to include a button up top and the chunkiest pearl necklace you could find. Boho used to be all about knit gaucho pants, long loose kimono style cardigans, and temporary tattoo jewelry. Neither are necessarily popular looks anymore, but they were still stylish in their respective style categories at the time.
The idea that fashion is temporary, but style is what endures makes only superficial sense to me. I definitely think that some people really have a set style, like “classic,” but the fashion that makes up that style is usually temporary. Key elements remain, like plaid, stripes, and pearls in the case of classic; but, the way those key elements are combined to create the fashion that makes up a look changes with each runway show.
FASHION (AS PART OF STYLE) IS CYCLICAL
Hearing that fashion is cyclical or that it repeats itself is about as cliche as florals for spring (groundbreaking?). BUT, it doesn’t take a genius to look around and see how true that is. For example, I’ve recently raided my mom’s 90’s selection in her closet and the pieces are looking absolutely fresh for the current trend. In some sense, each era or inspiration is reinvented with each reincarnation, but not always so much. I mean, the influx of 80s-00s right now is pretty much spot on, if not literally just 80s-00s vintage finds.
There’s always a few things that really don’t ever make it back around exactly as they were when they peaked in fashion (think the 20’s headpieces). But even those things come back in some sense. I remember when I was in high school, those headpieces did get a little dabble of interest.
So that outfit that you’re hating on so hard right now, you’ll probably like again at least once in the next 10-15 years. To me, that’s what is so fun about fashion. That’s what makes me keep going back to my closet day after day, challenging myself to never repeat a look (although I have more standby outfits now bc I’m old and sleep is a thing). Fashion is about turning yourself into a walking museum wall – at some point, everyone will critique the art, but eventually we’ll make like kombucha girl with a “but maybe not” and new things will come from that influence again.
TRENDS DON’T REALLY LISTEN TO BODY TYPE
I want to keep this rant reasonable in length, but I also just want to touch on one thing: trends don’t respect body type. They literally care not, and when they do, they often cater to the starved model aesthetic.
Super low rise jeans really weren’t that flattering on most of us who wore them. But they were “the look,” so we did it anyway. Some people found the peplum style intensely unflattering, but I actually still love it and it can be great for balancing a “top heavy” figure if. you. care. If you don’t care, continue to not care and dress as you damn well please because it’s fun.
But if you find yourself saying, “God, that didn’t even look good on me,” and feel embarrassed just check yourself and ask, were you dressing to please your body or to please a love of fashion?
How do you feel about your old outfits? Can you find inspiration in them, or do you prefer to regularly purge your social media of previous looks?
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