Fashions Fade

There's this idea in marketing that if people see something often enough they start to like it and want it, even if initially they didn't like it. This is why you see brands send the same item to a dozen bloggers or celebrities and then blitz you with the coverage. Enough exposure and those bike shorts that were not cool a few years ago are starting to look very edgy and avant garde with mules and an oversized blazer. Well, this same effect is true for me but instead of being influenced into current fashion trends my penchant for historical novels, Outlander, and period costume has me dressing more and more like a character out of Little Women... I do find enough exposure to things will increase my interest in them--a few years ago even I was contemplating buying those ubiquitous rockstud Valentino heels (or a more affordable knock-off) because you could not check out a fashion blog without seeing them. See something enough and you'll start to covet it. Realizing this has made me more conscious of where I focus my attention. If I don't want to feel tied to fashion trends and the need for "new new new" every season then I probably shouldn't look at every new runway show and read endless fashion magazines whose sole purpose is to show me what's new and trending. I read an article recently about how in the early 1970s women protested because fashion magazines told them mini skirts were out and they needed to buy maxi skirts. It's funny now to look at the dated images of women carrying signs saying they won't let go of their mini skirts, but ultimately the fashion magazines won and maxi lengths became de rigueur. But the thing is, at the heart women weren't protesting because they loved minis, they were protesting because the same people who told them to change their wardrobe into minis in the 1960s were now telling them to change their wardrobe again. They were upset that what was chic yesterday is now gauche; they didn't want to have to replace their whole wardrobes. Today we've become so desensitized to the brevity of fashion trends; we expect to be told our shoes are out of style, we expect to buy new clothes every few months if not sooner. But we don't have to listen to that noise (even though it surrounds us) and we don't have to buy into the idea that square-toed boots are chic and pretend shearling purses don't just look like the inside of your favorite stuffed animal. There's inspiration to be found everywhere you look and you do have some say in where you look and where you invest your energy. I stopped following runway shows a bit naturally several years ago, my interest in them faded and I kept moving further and further away from that world. In evenings when I would have been browsing fashion blogs or catching up on fashion news, I started to read books online instead (I find it so convenient to have novel open on one tab and check back on it whenever I have a few free minutes, which might be to blame for my low productivity...). As my interests shifted and my attention refocused, my fashion preferences shifted as well. Watch enough period dramas and suddenly you'll find yourself searching Etsy for linen dresses, aprons, and petticoats. Which I suppose means that if I do get swept through standing stones one of these days I might actually be half-dressed for it...Time travel aside, I'm quite happy to drift further and further away from the fashion world. As Oscar Wilde said, "fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months."