DEATH OF THE INDIVIDUAL

When did personal style become public currency? If personal style is no longer personal, is individualism dead?

THIS IS YOUR SUNDAY RESET - Thank you for subscribing and for the paid subs, there’s a lot more after the crease, including a BONUS overdub recorded off the back of the incredible response to the ‘Bits of Dad’ essay.

Every weekend I’ll be delivering your mini mag with a featured article and more… hit play on this weekends ‘Overdub’ for a window into the week that was.

So with that, enjoy your second Sunday Reset…

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SSS/002

Welcome back to your Sunday subscriber sound. Its been busy, but I made time to walk and build a list of songs in this unreal London weather we’re having. Yes I’m eight buttons down on my shirt, and no, I’m not wearing sandals. These are the songs soundtracking my time in the sun this week. London you’re pretty when you’re not in a mood… this week, I think I played promise by DAMEDAME over thirty times… I’m a fan. Its official.

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WHEN DID PERSONAL STYLE BECOME PUBLIC CURRENCY?

There’s a corner of Substack I’ve caught myself lingering in. Occasionally.

I call it MoanStack.

Essays so heavy in rant powered rhetoric, it’s the kind of writing colloquially referred to as mardy. Miserable. Overdone. Old man ‘get off my lawn’ energy. Is it fun to write? Of course. Is it fun to keep reading? Absolutely not.

So, to be clear - this is not a rant. This is a line in the sand. A flag marking a moment of change. The mob have spoken and I’m joining the chorus as fashion’s relationship with the internet has reached a Rubicon.

The mood board makers on Pinterest, the reference hoarders on Instagram. The TikTok followers that catapult a trend to global status in days have crystallised the generational divide between the Gen Zers and everyone else. Remember Normcore in 2013/14 that was kind of funny, but kind of a joke that we all played along with?

Today, the micro attention span of ‘the kids’ has farted out more ‘core’ trends than even I have the energy to type. Gorpcore, Dadcore, Cowboycore, Grungecore, Blokecore/Ladcore, Barbiecore, fuck my life core.

Let’s not forget the aesthetics - Quiet luxury, old money, Y2K, Baddie, Clean girl/Clean boy… Looks you’re expected to sample and switch out, based on what ASOS has on sale. These ‘looks’ might I add, are commonly created by a group that can’t spell aesthetic without spell check.

So, who’s to blame? The influenza’s born just that little too late to enjoy our pre-internet freedom? Fast fashion bastardising every runway moment with sludge, made to buy and discard at an affordable price point?

Or does the onus fall on us, the consumer? As much as I turn my stubby African sniffer up at the Youtubers posting haul videos of their high street - high-end lookalikes, I too drop the sporadic coin on Cos or Massimo… occasionally.

So, in a time where everyone looks like everyone, has individualism died?

Remember belonging to a scene?

Remember loving the soundtrack it gave your formative years? The places you’d party as a result, the holidays you’d take, the clothes you’d wear… Remember growing out of that uniform, suddenly waking up in adult life and having the ‘big clear out’ to finally lean into your more refined self…

But those foundations remained. They coloured the way you wore that dress, that suit, the way you walked in it, the shoes you bought, the attitude you maintained regardless. The style you’d developed because of those foundations, not in spite of them.

Style isn’t some aesthetic you jack from the interweb — it’s a long, awkward slog through bad outfits until you accidentally dress like yourself.

Today, teenagers are dressing like their grandparents because – the internet. Twenty somethings are breaking the bank to look like they work there, because – the internet. Why is everyone in costume, before getting the part?

The pace of content somehow now mirrors the speed of trends being adopted and abandoned, yet we wonder why digital fatigue has become a very real problem.

Today, the ‘core kids’ apparently crave community, and as a result are building real ones offline. Be it run clubs or chess clubs; they’re moving in packs… but can’t help themselves to document the whole thing on TikTok.

I give up.

Personal style shouldn’t be public currency.

How you put yourself together is supposed to be fun, not a game of Am I off trend? Is this still in? What are they saying on TikTok? Are we still doing Evisu ironically? Is it Ironic enough?

Jenna Lyons embodies an antithesis I subscribe to. Her most viral moment came over a decade ago when attending Solange Knowles’ wedding. She combined a Prada fur jacket, a feathered gown (she recycled from the Met Gala weeks before) and a Celine shirt. I repeat. A SHIRT OVER A FEATHERED GOWN. A recycled gown! A moment a one off, did what one-off’s do. Bossed it.

Influences are not references. There’s a world of difference between aspirational and instructional. I never wanted to dress like my style heroes, I wanted to feel how they appeared to. Comfortable in their skin, and by extension – their wardrobe.

I saw Serpico and fell into a wormhole of trying to understand ‘louche’, as displayed effortlessly by a 70s era Pacino.

As a North London kid, I watched ‘the Islington twins’ power walk Upper Street in lockstep. Totally in awe of their matching wardrobe and just how perfect everything looked.

Spotting regular appearances of Nick Wooster on The Sartorialist or Tommy tons blog had a lasting effect I didn’t quite understand at the time.

Years later, meeting Jason Jules who much like Wooster, was a man who exemplified aging with style, but through the black London lens.

And there it was again.

A feeling.

Influences are not references... There’s a world of difference between aspirational and instructional.

Do I have the perfect wardrobe or faultless style? Absolutely not. Has it developed and grown over time? Totally. Sartorially, am I the sum of my experiences? Yes. For better or for worse, my style is my own.

Is yours?

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OVERDUB BONUS…

After such an incredible response to this weeks free essay ‘Bits of Dad’, I had to say thanks and share a little more of what its started… No music, no mix - just me.

TRANSCRIPT BELOW

Happy Sunday everyone,

S’a little Overdub bonus specifically saying thank you for the incredible comments and conversation that's happened around the bits of dad essay that I threw up. I'm calling it an essay when in reality, off the back of reading it and listening to the overdub connected to the article, you will know that it's ultimately the beginning of a book that I've never quite had the balls to write.

And with everything that was said in those words, I think you guys have had an opportunity to see why I've not returned to it or finish it. It's difficult subject matter, but also something that I have endless things to say about, and it appears that you guys are no different, because the comments that you've shared have been so beautiful, incredibly thought provoking, and not emoji ridden nonsense.

You've really spoken at length about the subject matter and shared your opinions. And I'm so glad that you have done so. So everybody that really went for it and and had a lot to share, people like Lydia Rose, thank you so much, Lydia, for what you had to say, Vicky Cox. Molly - Tinkerbell, so many people got involved and and spoke at length.

My friend Basma, who I love dearly, also got into the comments and it just means the world, Daniella, thank you, Laura Lee, Jordan, Naj-Bee, just so many really beautiful things said. Mikel Bailey as well. Thank you so much for speaking from a male perspective as there wasn't as many guys as there was women in the comment section.

Hannah, thank you for your brilliant message as well. They all mean the world and the varied and very different perspectives are all of value to me and I really appreciate them. And the fact that you guys are still here and still sharing at the rate that you are and engaging with the things that I have to say, it means so much.

So thank you so much. This has been a bonus overdub just because I wanted to speak to you directly… Happy Sunday and thank you for being with me on the reset this week.