Fashion fades, style is eternal
Illustration by Joseph Alessio
Know who you are, and adorn yourself accordingly
Los Angeles: A city where everyone is fashionable but few are stylish. I recently spent a weekend in Los Angeles, and as a keen observer, especially when it comes to style, I was struck by one really interesting discovery: Los Angelenos are very fashionable, as a whole. Yet, I didn’t get the sense that many people there were “stylish.”
I’ll explain this differentiation further.
As we hit up some of LA’s hippest neighborhoods, making sure to stop off in many a cool coffee shop and/or brunch spots, I saw so many people in neo-hipster normcore pieces, but I didn’t think many of them were pulling the look off. Normcore, for the uninitiated, is a fashion movement that embraces many suburban fashion elements of the 1990s and early 2000s — high-waisted mom jeans, white sneakers, and basically anything anyone wore onSeinfeld.
But down in LA, I saw many people who seemed to be all wearing the latest “it” items, piled in them — they had the “right” idea, but they weren’t doing it right. Instead of working it, the clothes just weren’t working.
I thought normcore was mostly a joke trend that I had read about like two years ago, though I have to admit that I’d seen a fashionista or two around San Francisco trying to pull it off. If done well, there are some very interesting ways to make a statement with socks and loafers.
Whenever I see a new trend, I like to take it apart and tease out the elements that I like, and the things that would work for me. Even high-waisted jeans. There are elements of normcore that I like, actually: brown loafers and vintage cableknit sweaters, trouser cut pants and simple sweatshirts. I believe that if you look hard enough, if you pick and choose carefully enough, you can always do fashion in a stylish way.
“Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly. “ -Epictetus
The thing is, fashion and style are not the same. You can be fashionable, but not stylish. You can be stylish without being trendy. You can be stylish, while also being on-trend. Fashion may fade, but style is forever.
Fashion is always changing, and it’s become more disposable, more of a regurgitation machine than ever. Fast fashion chains churn out copies from runways and street-style blogs, and everyone seems to be on a constant lookout for that next big fashion hit as the trends cycle through, in a race to the bottom.
Mom jeans today in LA, and next year it’ll be more wide leg jeans and trousers, more kimono coats and round sunglasses. That’s just how it goes. Fashion lasts a season, maybe two if you’re lucky, while style is timeless. Fashion doesn’t necessarily work with your body shape or your current wardrobe — style works for you, because it plays to your strengths.
Style is about developing a sense of who you are and showing it outwardly in what you wear. The great Stoic philosopher Epictetus said over 2000 years ago, “Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly.” Seriously. Dude understood that you can harness the power of clothes to show the world who you are. Just as you change and evolve over time, so should your style. It’s about looking your best, and being your best.
And yes, you can be your best, rocking normcore pieces (except for cargo pants — no one should ever wear cargo pants). But not every trendy piece all at once with no thought or purpose.
I think the biggest problem I saw in Los Angeles was a lack of depth — especially in style. While this obviously isn’t true of everyone in the entire metropolitan area, there is a reason why LA has a reputation for being superficial — it’s common enough. I think that so many people are trying to be somebody, trying to make it big, trying to do something, that they have forgotten how to be themselves.
Remember: Anyone with a credit card can be fashionable, but it takes real heart to be stylish.