Apparently not original enough to even Instagram, everyone is going on about 'Normcore' at the moment; the anti-trend lifestyle that's become trendy. I thought that there weren't enough people already talking about it so I'm going to weigh in with my opinions too. I'm following the herd on this one, perhaps making me as Normcore as could be, but let me first try and explain what Normcore is. The New York trend agency K-Hole (whattaname), coined the term in October 2013 to categorise the new surge in dressing ordinarily and inconspicuously, although clearly its not as inconspicuous as everyone supposed. Picture Steve Jobs, your Dad (mine still dresses exactly as he did ten and twenty years ago), or your old school games mistress and you're just about there. Normcore is a movement towards sameness, away from the individuality and the frivolity of fashion, in an effort to 'fit in'. According to Giles Hattersley in this weekend's Sunday Times, Normcore is "about loving the norm and digging the dull, the idea being that if you're at one with the crowd you'll feel more connected to it."
But, hang on a minute, that all sounds a bit deliberate to me, especially when you consider the fact that a group of Parsons art studentswere some of Normcore's initiators. Aren't art students supposed to be the indiest kids around?
It makes the point that edgy has now become mainstream, and its increasingly difficult to make your style say something original. Dressing normal is actually making people stand out. In a very confusing and ironic spiral, being Normcore and trying to blend in, is in fact a very deliberate effort to separate oneself from the crowd only in order to become part of a new troupe. The trouble is, even fashion has picked up on and even perpetuated this anti-brands, anti-fashion statement, featuring in multiple pared back editorials featuring the likes of Celine's baggy jumpers, Vuitton tracksuits and band tees. The brands may not be visible, but the price tag certainly still is. Perhaps the beauty of this trend may lie in its invitation to imitation. It is genuinely affordable for the masses, no matter how high end you try and make it.
The thing is, how is anyone supposed to do anything new any more? I semi-applaud the Normcore elite for dressing practically, eating packed lunches and staying under the radar, and saying that they don't care if they look like everyone else. But isn't it also a bit of a piss take? Bringing into the fold the thousands of people who really don't care two hoots about fashion and would rather avoid any sense of judgement on their lives? To me, it's just another micro trend, seen even on the aisles of Chanel's runway supermarket and in Valentino's line of trainers. It laughs at consumerism while fuelling it. Although Normcore may be the absolute shunning of style and implies that its wearer has no sartorial clue in their head, it is also, more obviously than it would perhaps care to admit, a very distinct nod to the nineties. It is adopting the kind of nostalgia and recycling that fashion breeds on. It may have been led by IT workers and scientists, but the fact that fashion has taken it on no longer makes it so oblivious.
Fiona Duncan for the New York Times neatly sums it up by saying that "Normcore is a blank slate and open mind - it's a look designed to play well with others."Only now it has a label, and one that sounds ever so slightly degrading and spiteful because it has been founded by those we pay to tell us what is cool and what isn't. It would appear that nowadays, no one is allowed to escape the norm - be that the hoards of edgy hipsters in East London or the Mums heading down to Waitrose after the school pick up - we must all be slotted into one bracket or another. With all the pressure now to do something, be different, be someone, when can we ever just be me? Come graduation in July, I must try to find my way among the 7 billion people on the planet, and I think as long as I do something that makes me happy, and don't feel too self-conscious while doing it, I'll be alright. Who ever said there was anything wrong with being normal?
But, hang on a minute, that all sounds a bit deliberate to me, especially when you consider the fact that a group of Parsons art studentswere some of Normcore's initiators. Aren't art students supposed to be the indiest kids around?
It makes the point that edgy has now become mainstream, and its increasingly difficult to make your style say something original. Dressing normal is actually making people stand out. In a very confusing and ironic spiral, being Normcore and trying to blend in, is in fact a very deliberate effort to separate oneself from the crowd only in order to become part of a new troupe. The trouble is, even fashion has picked up on and even perpetuated this anti-brands, anti-fashion statement, featuring in multiple pared back editorials featuring the likes of Celine's baggy jumpers, Vuitton tracksuits and band tees. The brands may not be visible, but the price tag certainly still is. Perhaps the beauty of this trend may lie in its invitation to imitation. It is genuinely affordable for the masses, no matter how high end you try and make it.
The thing is, how is anyone supposed to do anything new any more? I semi-applaud the Normcore elite for dressing practically, eating packed lunches and staying under the radar, and saying that they don't care if they look like everyone else. But isn't it also a bit of a piss take? Bringing into the fold the thousands of people who really don't care two hoots about fashion and would rather avoid any sense of judgement on their lives? To me, it's just another micro trend, seen even on the aisles of Chanel's runway supermarket and in Valentino's line of trainers. It laughs at consumerism while fuelling it. Although Normcore may be the absolute shunning of style and implies that its wearer has no sartorial clue in their head, it is also, more obviously than it would perhaps care to admit, a very distinct nod to the nineties. It is adopting the kind of nostalgia and recycling that fashion breeds on. It may have been led by IT workers and scientists, but the fact that fashion has taken it on no longer makes it so oblivious.
Fiona Duncan for the New York Times neatly sums it up by saying that "Normcore is a blank slate and open mind - it's a look designed to play well with others."Only now it has a label, and one that sounds ever so slightly degrading and spiteful because it has been founded by those we pay to tell us what is cool and what isn't. It would appear that nowadays, no one is allowed to escape the norm - be that the hoards of edgy hipsters in East London or the Mums heading down to Waitrose after the school pick up - we must all be slotted into one bracket or another. With all the pressure now to do something, be different, be someone, when can we ever just be me? Come graduation in July, I must try to find my way among the 7 billion people on the planet, and I think as long as I do something that makes me happy, and don't feel too self-conscious while doing it, I'll be alright. Who ever said there was anything wrong with being normal?
My whole family dressing Normcore style back in the Nineties.
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