“‘fit pics” and context
she’s wearing an embroidered white button down, black straight leg pants, square toed mary jane shoes, and lilac socks.
she’s wearing an embroidered white button down from a local vintage shop, black straight leg sustainably-made work pants from Big Bud Press, square toed mary jane shoes by Sandy Liang, and lilac socks from now-defunct Entireworld.
these are the same sentences. but they’re also not.
I can guarantee if you’re fashion-minded, you envision the two sentences differently, and you have different internal emotions for each. most people would see the second fit described as more covetable than the first, because of the context, which also inherently means “how much?”, “how rare?”, “how exclusive?”, the list goes on.
I fight with context. I can’t decide whether it’s helpful or hurtful, especially in the age of the internet, tiktok, instagram, etc etc etc. context in these situations can often embolden hyper-consumerism.
let’s think about the outfit as creative output, as formulation, creating a story, etc - part of me feels as if the context stifles creativity, imagination. it becomes “I want the thing,” instead of “I want to construct an idea.” leaning towards “the thing” is where my issue sits, because trailing behind is the hyper-consumerism.
but then I pull back…
it’s not so bad to want “the thing.” we’re all trying to fit in, even if it’s to stand out among the masses, and be seen among the selected. that’s community, right?
I guess I just wish it the argument didn’t lay in a material object.
my brain inherently goes to that place of excess, of overconsumption, of comparison, etc etc. but maybe that’s my negative bias.
sometimes the how much, rare, exclusive can be positive:
how rare / exclusive = is it small batch?
how much = were people who made the piece paid properly? treated properly? in safe, comfortable conditions?
those pieces of the puzzle are important. they’re questions that exist because of our current landscape. they’re questions that have to exist because they give our choices meaning.
is my adhd showing?