I remember that when I started blogging two years back, one of my closest friends (who *cough cough* knows me well too much for my liking!) told me that it was rather ironic for me to voice my thoughts about an industry that I loved yet hated at the same time. I never understood what he meant during my first blogging weeks, but then I came to a slow yet steady realisation that he was right.
See, it's one of those confusing situations that adequately define my life and personality. I grew up being taken to stores to shop for clothes instead of going for picnics or going to the park. My mother would take me shopping every day from a very young age and basically three out of four conversations during my adolescence revolved around recent clothing purchases (if not, Westlife was a likely alternative). So in a way, I feel like my love for dressing up and expressing myself through garments was a natural inclination given my background and not exactly my choice. I was lucky enough to love this kind of lifestyle though, so it grew up with me until the day I set (yet another) Blogger account and called it 'Boffism'.
Thing is, there's always been a side of me that secretly felt I couldn't relate with the industry itself. Ironically enough, this estranged feeling only got more pronounced as I became a more active blogger. In a way, I was writing about an industry I couldn't fully be part of due to my personal 'beliefs' (no, it's not about Jesus!), and as months went by I kind of cast myself the role of 'the other blogger'. I became the non-fashionable fashion blogger.
One of the main reasons why I feel this 'I'm part of but not really part of' sentiment are a handful of 'fashion people types'. You know, like everyone else in life, fashion people are classified into categories according to their likes, preferences and less loveable features (which I could list but I refrain from doing so). These kind of people put me off the industry. Here is a list of the most annoying people in the fashion industry (in no particular order). These are the people that annoy me to a point I can't even begin to illustrate for you.
Those Who Need A Thesaurus
Is it just me, or is there some kind of standard linguistic agreement between fashion people who describe everyone as a 'fashionista'? I am, I admit, quite a linguistic nerd, so I tend to get particularly annoyed when certain linguistic crimes are committed. Case in point, this whole regurgitation of the vocabulary utilised on Glamour Magazine or, even worse, Shout magazine. Everyone is a 'fashionista' who wants to 'rock the trend'. All the things we describe are either 'trendy', 'sizzling' or 'stunning' and obviously the words 'must-have' need to be used at least 5 times within the same paragraph. This whole repetition of 'jargon' gets even more annoying when used without the least idea of any of the lingo-terms mean. If linguistic blasphemy and repetition are a fashion-speak trend, most are certainly 'rocking it'.
The So-called 'Original' Fashion Crowd
Which, most of the times, give themselves the arguably prestigious title. There's a small (read: sizeable) group of fashion individuals who hail themselves as the greatest gift to mankind because, yes ladies and gentlemen, they are so original. They wear what they call 'innovative fashion', because no one else is doing it. Whereas I'm sure there are some genuinely creative people in the industry, I'm well-aware that some of these incredibly original folks are people who think they are good enough to hide their 'sources of inspiration'. Sources of inspiration, yes. More like sources they copy and try to make theirs. There's nothing wrong with being inspired by someone or channeling someone else's style, but it's ridiculous to give yourself the 'most original' medal when all you do is copy (style, font, hair-do, language, sunglasses, favourite dog breed, poses, interests. Did you try cloning source's mother too?)
The Staunch Unforgiving Maximalists
I can't decide what is more ridiculous between the loud (and most of the times, uncalled for) expression of disagreement between Maltese political party staunch followers or else the eternal war launched by one too many of the 'hardcore maximalists'. Even though I make my once in a blue moon exceptions, I personally tend to stand on the 'less is more' side of the spectrum, but I believe that it's okay for others to relate better to the 'more is more' mantra. What I despise, however, is the manner in which some of the staunch maximalists point their fingers at those who prefer a more classical, simple perspective, frowning down on them for their supposed boring take of fashion. These hardcore maximalists are the sort of fashion people that praise the random juxtaposition of items as something 'fashionable', whilst denouncing the more simple alternatives as those which involve no skill. Whereas I have my sincere doubts about how much skill is employed in the putting together of certain 'maximalistic, pile it all, the more the merrier' outfits as opposed to 'let me wear the first three things I find in my wardrobe', I personally feel that making sometimes timeless still look valid and relevant is also a skill in itself. Live and let live, please.
The Acting Members of the 'Fashion is Freedom' Movement
These are the hilarious ones! So, so absurd. I'm sure you've come across fashion persons preaching in an almost prophet-from-the-old-testament manner that 'fashion is all about freedom and personal expression'. Then 4 minutes later, they tweet and bash someone else's take on an outfit or trend. Another example, another proud waver of the 'fashion is freedom' flag covered in designer-wear criticising someone else for not wearing branded clothing. Now, what really bothers me is not the bashing itself (even though, it's hardly something to praise right?), we all know fashion is subjective. We can't all like the same things. What drives me up the wall is the way these individuals portray themselves as some sort of fashion-hippie promoting freedom of expression, but then don't lose an opportunity to attack whatever doesn't quite match their fancy. Hypocrisy is served. It wouldn't be half as bad to admit their personal preferences and judge everyone else if they didn't paint themselves as the Messiah of the fashion industry. Come on.
That's enough.
