Martin Margiela invented the true reality of this. In one way or another, it's been going on since the late 70's: Punk was this. None of this is new, at least not to those of us mature enough to have lived through it.
Absolutely! Big Margiela fan here so I agree. However I think it’s interesting to note how back in the day, ugly fashion tended to be confined to niches or subcultures (punk), while I feel like now it’s increasingly entering the mainstream and getting revisited/reinterpreted as a result.
"The Mainstream" is uninterested in ugly, so all this will do is be ignored, misunderstood, waste time, money and natural resources. Mainstream will never accept ugly fashion, as they don't understand it, don't aspire to it, and certainly won't spend money on being less attractive because that's what an influencer said to do. I do see your point though--back in the day--it truly was limited to those with extremely advanced taste. Rick Owens caters to a similar crowd, sort of the same crowd, actually, that is now his age. It's not like Rick Owens & Michele Lamy ever think about appealing to mainstream people. The difference is a kind of beauty dwelling there in what he does. It's extreme, but somehow beautiful even if you don't care for his aesthetic--what we are seeing now is pure stupidity, uselessness that will never find a full price paying audience vast enough to keep anyone in business.
I thought this was so interesting and well written! One of the unfortunate things about the rising trend of "embracing the ugly" that I still see as very pertinent today is that it's reserved for already attractive people. I feel that dressing 'ugly' or disobeying beauty aesthetics is only permissible if you're skinny enough or conventionally attractive enough, like a certain level of beauty is a prerequisite to rebelling against the beauty standards. I would love to know if you agree with this take, I just feel like we haven't gotten to the point yet where everyone is 'allowed' to test the boundaries of 'beauty'.
Martin Margiela invented the true reality of this. In one way or another, it's been going on since the late 70's: Punk was this. None of this is new, at least not to those of us mature enough to have lived through it.
Absolutely! Big Margiela fan here so I agree. However I think it’s interesting to note how back in the day, ugly fashion tended to be confined to niches or subcultures (punk), while I feel like now it’s increasingly entering the mainstream and getting revisited/reinterpreted as a result.
"The Mainstream" is uninterested in ugly, so all this will do is be ignored, misunderstood, waste time, money and natural resources. Mainstream will never accept ugly fashion, as they don't understand it, don't aspire to it, and certainly won't spend money on being less attractive because that's what an influencer said to do. I do see your point though--back in the day--it truly was limited to those with extremely advanced taste. Rick Owens caters to a similar crowd, sort of the same crowd, actually, that is now his age. It's not like Rick Owens & Michele Lamy ever think about appealing to mainstream people. The difference is a kind of beauty dwelling there in what he does. It's extreme, but somehow beautiful even if you don't care for his aesthetic--what we are seeing now is pure stupidity, uselessness that will never find a full price paying audience vast enough to keep anyone in business.
I thought this was so interesting and well written! One of the unfortunate things about the rising trend of "embracing the ugly" that I still see as very pertinent today is that it's reserved for already attractive people. I feel that dressing 'ugly' or disobeying beauty aesthetics is only permissible if you're skinny enough or conventionally attractive enough, like a certain level of beauty is a prerequisite to rebelling against the beauty standards. I would love to know if you agree with this take, I just feel like we haven't gotten to the point yet where everyone is 'allowed' to test the boundaries of 'beauty'.