I borderline hate fashion and fashion trends.
You know the saying, “People hate what they can’t understand?” Well that applies to me because I can’t seem to get this fashion thing figured out.
Let me backtrack for just a moment. From childhood and up, we all tend to consciously or unconsciously gravitate towards things that we tend to naturally be good at or good with. For example, if you pick up a basketball for the first time, and find enjoyment out of trying to put it in the hoop, you might gravitate towards becoming a basketball player, or at least taking more an active interest in the sport.
Growing up, I gravitated towards a variety of things, some of which I would continue to have an interest in while dismissing others that never really held my attention. Fashion fell towards the latter.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never been one of those “clothes are clothes, who cares how much I’m matching” types of people (not for long at least) but I’ve had a hard time keeping up with fashion trends and finding a style that fits my personal tastes, at least until recently.
I think the biggest issue I’ve struggled with is how much of a short-term investment, clothing seems to be. I’ve always had an interest in electronics, and one of the biggest perks of electronics is the longevity that can be found with them. You can buy a video game that can last you years on end, but you’re telling me that I should spend that same money, sometimes even more, on an article of clothing that may be “out of style” in six months? Not factoring stains and general wear and tear? Thanks but no thanks.
That was my mentality for a long time. What makes it worse is that I feel like I’m an “easy on the eyes” type of guy; I’ve never really had to invest into my wardrobe to impress the opposite sex, though I have seen, and experienced, some of the benefits that come along with generally being dressed to impress.
Did the 12 years of wearing school uniforms and 2 years of theater production (stage building) classes help to discourage any fashion forward thinking? Absolutely. Debates with my more fashion aware sister tend to go something like this:
Her: ” Nobody wears those anymore.”
Me: ” I don’t care they’re comfortable.”
Her: “Do you have anyone that you look up to from a fashion standpoint? Like you would want to dress similar to them?”
Me: “Uhh… No?”
Lately, I’ve gotten tired of being “presentable” with rare flashes of brilliance in my wardrobe, I want to look GOOD.
As I’m going through my closet looking for some outfits for my most recent headshots, the thought that kept coming to mind is, “Why do I have so much PLAID??” It was ridiculous. Plaid is cool (for now?) but I couldn’t even find a half decent polo shirt… and I couldn’t think of one good reason why that was the case except for the fact that I had simply not bought any.
So it took me 25 years, but I’m slowly starting to figure out how to balance with what I feel comfortable wearing compared to what actually looks good. At the end of the day, you need no one else’s approval but your own, but less side eyes from your immediate family and friends doesn’t hurt either.
