Drip check: in defense of fashion and the art of style

Unlike many of my pieces, I’m actually going to defend a modern institution. I’m going to defend fashion. Now, the fashion industry has been rightly criticized over the years. Whether it’s the lack of sustainability and poor working conditions from fast fashion, the mental health challenges posed by impossible beauty standards, or outlandish prices that cause young people to mortgage their futures, you can’t argue that fashion hasn’t created some damage. These are all very real issues, but there are journalists far more talented than me who can tell you what’s fucked up with the industry. So why defend then? Fashion is much more than just an industry where the hallways are lined with botox and nepotism. It’s an idea, a practice, and a defining characteristic of culture and personality. Our sense of style is a fundamental part of who we are. 

As grounded individuals, we’re not supposed to care about how we look or how we dress. Caring is labeled as superficial or vain. There’s more nuance to it though because we all care about things for different reasons. One person's desire to dress well could be very different than another’s. Dressing a certain way just to send a message about your own superiority is superficial, but using the way you dress as a way to express yourself is different. We’re social beings, and part of being social is how we present ourselves to the world. Some of the earliest human artifacts are pieces of jewelry. As long as we’ve had consciousness we’ve thought about how we look in the world. This is why fashion or style is important, there are so few things in our control but our sense of style is one of them. Having this choice allows us to send a message to the world about who we are.

We often lose track of that message in the typical discourse. Tech moguls brag about how having their one “uniform” saves them precious time and energy. They espouse a sort of anti-fashion, saying that what they wear doesn’t matter. That’s still fashion though, they’re still sending a message. There’s no such thing as anti-fashion or anti-style. Whatever you wear is your style, your fashion. So despite Zuckerberg and the late Steve Jobs’ claims against style, it was still very much part of their lives. They both have had profound effects on the style of a certain class of tech worker. Just look at Elizabeth Holme’s fits inspired by Jobs, or walk around SF and Seattle, you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about. They’re all trying to send a message. That message is about utilitarianism and not caring, but obviously, they do care. Even someone who’s in a programming novelty tee and pajama pants is sending a message. We’re all just trying to say something about who we are. Whether it’s Tech Bros with Patagonia vests, weekend athletes decked out in athleisure, or your granola friend in Birkenstocks and a sustainable tee, they’re all sending a message about who they are and how they want to be in the world. 

There’s a lot that goes into what we wear beyond just our own personal expression. High fashion and designer brands are a great window into this. Granted much of it is overpriced and overhyped, especially when we’re talking about a lot of the “logowear” that exists out there today. Spending $800 on a sweatshirt with 200 G’s printed on it is largely just a way to show how much money you have. On the other hand, spending $200 on a hoodie that had thought and care put into its design and materials is a different story. Despite the emphasis placed on the brand itself, there’s a whole team of designers and artists behind the product. These are professionals who’ve dedicated their lives to perfecting their art which is clothing design. They spend countless hours designing the look and feel of these clothes. Something that becomes immediately apparent when trying on the things they’ve created. Making clothes is an art and a hard one at that. The human body is an extremely weird shape and making things that fit it well and actually look good is a monumental task. Again some of it is just a cash grab but there are a lot of designers who are just trying to practice their art and make cool shit. Those are the ones I have immense respect for and am willing to support. 

Not only is their art in the design of these clothes, but style itself is an art. When you’re picking out a fit, your mind goes through the same processes it would when doing anything creative. You start with countless options that you narrow down based on what you want to create that day. You have to decide on the silhouette and vibe you’re going for. All of which are impacted by things like the weather or what you’re plans are for that day. By the end of it, you have a project completed (the fit). It’s an opportunity in your day to be mindful and intentional. It’s another chance to go through the process of critical thinking and come up with something new. When you put something together with pieces you have carefully curated you just feel different. The old cliche of “look good, feel good” is true. 

This feeling is one of the reasons why I defend fashion. When I was growing up, there were a lot of shitty things that were completely outside of my control, but one thing I could do was choose how I dressed. For me, my style was heavily influenced by streetwear. I was drawn to streetwear because its ethos is self-expression. This was the style of people who didn’t just want to be part of the status quo, they wanted to say something. They were the outsiders trying to make a place for themselves in the world. Whether it was skate brands, brands rooted in New York and LA street culture, or even just the funky brands that permeated Zumiez (when it was still cool), to me they all meant something. The shirts all had interesting graphics that let me define myself. Every day was a chance to send a message to the world about who I was and how I felt. It also allowed me to feel connected to a broader contingent of people who dressed like me and liked the same things as me. Streetwear may be part of the status quo today but some of that ethos still remains. There are still designers who are trying to say something and make timeless pieces that allow people to express themselves, create their own style, and feel good about how they’re moving in the world. 

So too close, I’m a cultured and grounded individual who’s supposed to be above all of this, but I’m not. I rock Kith and have too many pairs of Jordans, but it’s a part of who I am. It’s been that way since I was a kid. As I’ve grown up my taste has evolved and my wardrobe with it. What hasn’t changed is that each morning I get a chance to create a new expression of who I am. It sets me up for that day, just like making my bed or brushing my teeth. In a way, it’s my uniform. A uniform that I get to choose and design each day. That’s the power of style. Albeit We shouldn’t define ourselves completely by what we wear, and I know many people can’t afford to have a giant wardrobe. I don’t mean to be insensitive to them and don’t want to sound like some privileged yuppie going on about pieces of cloth, but there are so few things we get to have control over like how we dress in our personal lives. Most of us have the option to express ourselves with what we wear. So despite all of the issues with the industry, that’s why I’ll still defend the concept and the art of it all.