So yesterday - a Saturday in August, peak summer - I was walking around Sloane Square, Chelsea, Soho and Marylebone, stopping off at several places throughout the day for long lunch, serious shopping and dinner with drinks, when it hit me: Why does no-one look good?
At first it was just a fleeting thought 'hmm, I'm not finding much inspiration in people's outfits today...'. However, as the day went on, a deep realisation began to set in, that almost no-one had a good - scratch that, ANY - sense of personal style!
I almost wrote this exact blog back in Spring after attending an opening night performance at the Royal Opera House. Here's what I wrote: 'I went to opening night at the ballet this week and as usual, had a fabulous evening. However, one detail tainted my experience… Upon arrival, I immediately questioned if I missed a dress code revision (something like ‘shabby’ or ‘dress down and then dress down a little bit more’) because in each direction I looked, I saw men in scruffy jeans, graphic t-shirts and SNEAKERS??!! Women weren’t offending my eyes quite as seriously, yet still, many of them were in jeans, some in crop tops, an ungodly amount wearing Adidas Samba's; above all of this however, one girl was wearing… JORTS!!! Wearing jorts, jeans, crop tops and trendy sneakers to an event that has historically been a black tie affair, whatever next. It shocked me, as someone dressed in a suit, tie and Manolos, to see that other people (who are able to buy £100-£250 tickets to a performance) don't think that dressing appropriately for the occasion is necessary, or even worse, think that jeans and trainers fall under the formal evening-wear category. I mean can no-one follow a dress code?? Don't even get me started on the plague of 'Smart Casual'. Anyway...' I stopped blogging there in May and decided that it must have just been a fluke evening, but upon my findings in the last 6 months, I have to consider this topic further.
So, back to the present: I was walking around Chelsea with a girlfriend and we were playing our favourite game of hot or not - looking out for the hottest outfits of the day, rather than men - yet after fifteen minutes we realised that we hadn't seen anyone dressed above a questionable 6. Men out at lunch in hoodies, skinny jeans and baseball caps ('Hello? This is 2014 calling'), women in baggy denim and crop top combos all around, all looking like they had thrown on the first thing they could find in a Zara sale section. On top of this, the people that stood out to us, were the ones that seemed at first to have an intriguing outfit, but after seeing the next 10, 50 or 500 girls walk past in the exact same thing we realised: Ah, we have fallen victim to the curse of the micro-trend. I'm sure you can guess the outfit - Adidas Samba's, baggy or flared 'mom' jeans, white crop top and a flimsy black leather blazer (I'm blaming that one on Hailey Bieber and Matilda Djerf). Essentially, we were shocked to notice that all sense of personal style has been sucked out of a generation and replaced with what's 'In' or the current 'Aesthetic' (check out my post: The Curse Of The Micro-Trend, where I go into this much deeper), but what's worse, most people just looked like they didn't care.
My first analysis is that perhaps an over-exposition to fashion, trends and styles (through Tiktok and the craziness that is modern media) has led to a fatigue of clothing overall, so now we are at a point where nothing seems intriguing or cool because it all seems like it's been done before, or is only being worn as a farce - someone trying to fit into a trend - which in turn makes the whole idea or point of dressing up a little futile. I don't believe that this is the case however, as in the past, those with a love for fashion or a strong sense of personal style would always dress up, regardless of how trivial it may seem to others.
Looking around now - particularly in London - I could probably say at best that 80% of people are wearing something 'nice'. That's it. Pieces of clothing that would go in your wardrobe and be the pieces that you always almost wear, but never do, because you end up going for something a little more you, or a little more exciting. The is the point that induced the realisation: I'm not excited. Even 5 years ago, in London, you could walk around a trendy area, like Soho, any day of the week and be bombarded with cool, unique looks, that seem to be a second skin on the people wearing them. Everyone seemed to be dressed and ready for life - each in their own individual way - and even if you didn't like what someone else was wearing, you could always respect that they had put in the effort to do something with their outfit that showed their character to the people perceiving it. Looking around Soho now, if someone isn't a carbon copy of a Tiktok 'fashion aesthetic', then they are typically in clothes that I wouldn't leave the house in.
My mother always joked about her time working at a company in Fitzrovia and how on 'dress down Friday' she would still be in a 5 inch heel, dressed to the nines, whereas now it is common - if not expected - to see people at the office or in any job (without a uniform) in athleisure or even sweats. Something in our culture has shifted in which we no longer value the routine of getting dressed in a certain way to present ourselves to the world and people around us in the best way.
Let's talk about dress codes. It seems on top of this whole style-less, dressed-down debacle, people have also lost their ability to understand, or at least follow, a dress code. This is of course understandable, in a world where more often than not, we attend an event or venue that request 'Smart Casual'. First of all, WHAT?! This is simultaneously the most simple, bland and hardest to interpret dress code imaginable. Is it formal? Is it casual? Is it heels or sneakers? Is is long dresses or denim pants? Who knows. So essentially I can understand the confusion around following dress codes (within reason), but hearing 'Black Tie' and wearing JORTS! Come on people, humans are inherently capable of critical thinking, and that doesn't mean 'please solve the Riemann hypothesis' but surely we can hear elegant, evening affair and dress accordingly?
It still shocks me to see wedding guests in jeans or trainers (or god forbid in white dresses), theatre audiences in so many layers they are sweating and spilling clothes into their neighbours seat, dinner party attendees showing up dressed for nothing but takeout on their couch.
To combat any confusion, or awkward underdressed encounters, I live by one fashion rule: 'Always be dressed for the most peculiar outcome of your day'. Living in London in the fashion and arts scenes, you can leave the house for a coffee in the morning and end up at a gala or gallery opening without a chance to go home and change, so I follow the previous rule on all occasions. I hate the feeling when a lunch turns into drinks and dinner at a nicer establishment and you look and feel underdressed, feel unwelcome, feel messy. Due to this, I have fully made my peace with - and honestly come to love - the title my friends have nicknamed me with: 'The Always Overdressed One'.
But wait, am I just being judgemental? Does everyone else actually look great, and it's my perception that's warped? Do I have a ridiculously high standard for fashion? I don't think so. I thought maybe my personal taste stops me from appreciating different styles and looks that I see out and about - therefore dismissing them as 'bad style' - but I know that isn't the case, because regardless of my unique sense of style, I have ALWAYS found joy, inspiration or even just admiration in any type of fashion, regardless of whether or not I would choose to wear it, or if I even understand it.
For me, it isn't just about looking good, it's not just about making other people look and compliment you - though both those things are great - but it's about communicating something deeper: Who are you? How are you feeling? What are you ding? Where are you going? Clothes aren't just a way to cover your private parts, they are almost an art form in which you can express your true self, or even create a new part of yourself without saying a word.
These days - even in the city I grew up in, feeling like there was never judgement on anyone as it was the place people came to be whoever they were or wanted to be, authentically, unapologetically - I now feel the stares and weird or confused looks when I just leave the house in an outfit that isn't hyper-trendy or slobby. I'm not sure if this is entirely my perception - I sort of hope it is, and would love to be proved wrong - but please comment or write in and let me know if you have noticed or felt this shift.
So my question to you, dear reader, is: When was the last time you put on an outfit, went out into the world, and felt like you had accomplished something?
As always, thank you for reading, and please: dress up, make an effort, go out into the world and be unique XOXO
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