"Hi, I'd like to purchase some character...again"
There’s a lot of good comments posted by everyone. I think some people might have misunderstood what I was trying to say. So, here’s a summary of what my main points are:
- Some people do not recognize that there’s meaning for different things. The uniform of someone in the Marines or the Army is symbolic of an individual that has made a gesture to this country to protect life and liberty. The uniform of a priest or a nun is symbolic of a person who has dedicated the rest of their life to God and religion. The American flag is a symbol of this country, unity, freedom, etc. And, while it’s not a crime to burn the flag, perhaps someone should at least know what it stands for before they do it. It is quite possible that it has another meaning to them, thus that is why they’d go and burn it.
- The other thing is, I’m not talking about the average person wearing the styles I talked about. I’m talking about people who have more money than God who can’t think for themselves…who have their stylist prepare their wardrobe…who wouldn’t get caught dead talking to people like you and me, yet, they are wearing what we wear. Do they even know who really wears that stuff? Where it came from? No, and they couldn’t care less. Just as long as J.Lo is wearing it, they have to wear it too. THAT is who I’m talking about.
- So, basically: Don’t be mindless AND mainstream, hollywood fashion is just ironic. That’s all.
I don’t believe in limiting yourself to anything. I like Couture and Designer stuff, but that doesn’t mean Old Navy isn’t good enough for me anymore. I think being open-minded is great. And, I especially love people who dissent anything that’s mainstream and I love irony in fashion. If you’re wearing the Army fatigues as a statement of some sort, good for you. If you’re wearing them BECAUSE you saw everyone and their mother wearing them, maybe you’ve got to recheck yourself.
- Some people do not recognize that there’s meaning for different things. The uniform of someone in the Marines or the Army is symbolic of an individual that has made a gesture to this country to protect life and liberty. The uniform of a priest or a nun is symbolic of a person who has dedicated the rest of their life to God and religion. The American flag is a symbol of this country, unity, freedom, etc. And, while it’s not a crime to burn the flag, perhaps someone should at least know what it stands for before they do it. It is quite possible that it has another meaning to them, thus that is why they’d go and burn it.
- The other thing is, I’m not talking about the average person wearing the styles I talked about. I’m talking about people who have more money than God who can’t think for themselves…who have their stylist prepare their wardrobe…who wouldn’t get caught dead talking to people like you and me, yet, they are wearing what we wear. Do they even know who really wears that stuff? Where it came from? No, and they couldn’t care less. Just as long as J.Lo is wearing it, they have to wear it too. THAT is who I’m talking about.
- So, basically: Don’t be mindless AND mainstream, hollywood fashion is just ironic. That’s all.
I don’t believe in limiting yourself to anything. I like Couture and Designer stuff, but that doesn’t mean Old Navy isn’t good enough for me anymore. I think being open-minded is great. And, I especially love people who dissent anything that’s mainstream and I love irony in fashion. If you’re wearing the Army fatigues as a statement of some sort, good for you. If you’re wearing them BECAUSE you saw everyone and their mother wearing them, maybe you’ve got to recheck yourself.
posted by Kitxana at 10:28 AM
1 Comments:
We are tribal creatures who often use our costume to express who we affiliate with. Even Polo sport often indicates one’s demographic and personal value. To say that clothes “don’t make the man” is only partly right. Clothes often express our values and inner desires. A middle manager who wears his suit during the week, goes casual on Friday’s, and wears his golf cap and Kaki shorts is projecting his tribal association as much as the Goth chick cruising into Hubba-Hubba for a new leather choker.
In my days in the Punk and Hardcore scene, I was often accused of hypocrisy for dressing so similar to other punks and yet claiming to be a non-conformist. But I had never claimed to be a non-conformist. I had only claimed to not be conforming to other standards.
We all express ourselves in verbal and non-verbal ways, trying to connect with like minded people.
This brings me to the question. What values do the “trendies”(for a lack of better term…sorry if it offends) express? My interpretation is crass consumerism, display of wealth, a social hierarchy that is rooted not in ideas but in acquisition of artifact. So, the display of clothing that represents another’s culture seems a little shallow and tells me of a sub-culture that is empty of its own truths.
And we’ve become a society that has become reluctant to embrace higher ideals. In a pseudo-cynical society, we manufacture heroes that are founded on little of value. I really don’t feel that people as individuals are so shallow but that they’ve been given very little choice in meaningful expression of their aspirations by being forced to chose among products that represent nothing.
If we started to actually represent through clothing icon, values of honor, liberty, spiritualism, community, etc. it would undermine the cycle of consumption. It is better for the manufactures to keep us vested in their label rather than our own values.
When I look at someone, I see both the individual and the tribe member. I give the individual respect even if I question their membership.
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