Let's Talk About Bookcore

[Understatesman]

I did enjoy the article though I think some of it is very cherry-picked.
"It’s also not a singular aesthetic, but a collection of styles that you’re likely to see at your local independent bookstore." The styles described are so diverse though, that I genuinely wonder whether there are any universal aesthetic principles other than simply dressing like what one imagines a bookstore regular to look like.

All I saw in the attached article was a bunch of old people wearing old people clothes doing old people things. "Movement," my @ss.

 

[London]

The discussion is certainly getting better now it's over here!

And thanks, @Fuuma for pointing out the crucial thing, that all of these trends are as much virtual as material if not more so. The days of urban subcultures is pretty much gone in the west. But it doesn't mean that there aren't trends that play a similar role, but which are founded in online identification and only sometimes play out in real world fashion.

There are still subcultures being birthed but they usually don’t stay underground anymore. They don’t have time to gestate before they are co-opted by industry/corporations/brands.

 

[emptym]

These are the first two people I saw on a walk today. They must be in their 60s-70s, but perhaps the majority of people in their teens and 20s here dress like this too. A couple years ago, most young people would have been in athleisure. A few years before that, it would have been skinny raw jeans, flannel shirts, and wallet chains.

 

[barutanseijin]

All I saw in the attached article was a bunch of old people wearing old people clothes doing old people things. "Movement," my @ss.

You could probably be even more over the top ageist if you put some effort into it.

Kids these days…sheesh

 

[elongatedskull]

Western mans lust for classification truly knows no bounds, we will never live in a 'post-trend' world but at a certain point it's apt to acknowledge that personal style, and most importantly taste exists at the individual level, outside of words suffixed with 'core'. And that the entire genesis of the 'core' is a desire for community or at least a certain kind of 'belongingness'. @Fuuma is more or less right on the nose.

 

[Bradford]

View attachment 1738191
These are the first two people I saw on a walk today. They must be in their 60s-70s, but perhaps the majority of people in their teens and 20s here dress like this too. A couple years ago, most young people would have been in athleisure. A few years before that, it would have been skinny raw jeans, flannel shirts, and wallet chains.

Not sure where you live, but young people in Arizona are still in athleisure.

 

[dieworkwear]

Not sure where you live, but young people in Arizona are still in athleisure.

Photo above is also how young people dress where I live (I live on StyleForum)

 

[am55]

There are still subcultures being birthed but they usually don’t stay underground anymore. They don’t have time to gestate before they are co-opted by industry/corporations/brands.

I disagree, I think decentralisation (both of communication methods, and in time through making things very ephemeral) has happened as a reaction to how this centralisation of information flow has allowed those with power to co-opt movements. But a side effect of that, and the masses of noise drowning all signal except that which is boosted by the powerful (financially, if nothing else), means that those outside the subculture can't see it, won't be exposed to it. It takes a lot of effort to forcefully introduce sufficient randomness in one's life to be occasionally in sight of these groups, and see and understand them however briefly. IMHO.

Funnily enough this is more or less how Derek seems to have stumbled on bookcore, by walking around, going to events, observing, rather than hunting for it online. Most things are not online (in response, principally, to @Fuuma earlier, I guess). Even the inclusion of a totally different social group by accident ("An American in Paris" truly) is interesting in that respect - I would never have made the connection due to my own biases.

 

[London]

I disagree, I think decentralisation (both of communication methods, and in time through making things very ephemeral) has happened as a reaction to how this centralisation of information flow has allowed those with power to co-opt movements. But a side effect of that, and the masses of noise drowning all signal except that which is boosted by the powerful (financially, if nothing else), means that those outside the subculture can't see it, won't be exposed to it. It takes a lot of effort to forcefully introduce sufficient randomness in one's life to be occasionally in sight of these groups, and see and understand them however briefly. IMHO.

Funnily enough this is more or less how Derek seems to have stumbled on bookcore, by walking around, going to events, observing, rather than hunting for it online. Most things are not online (in response, principally, to @Fuuma earlier, I guess). Even the inclusion of a totally different social group by accident ("An American in Paris" truly) is interesting in that respect - I would never have made the connection due to my own biases.

footwork has remained underground in Chicago for years

 

[DoubleDouble]

I've been apartment-hunting in Berkeley and noticed how 90% of the kids I see here at coffee shops, bookstores, etc dress this way.

Back in Italy I hung out in the contemporary art scene and it was full of older women dressing like this at openings and lectures. They mostly leaned left, were into reading and writing, the vast majority of them coming from years in the humanities, either learning or teaching or sometimes both.

I'm not totally surprised that this style is being adopted by young people today. The shapelessness/frumpiness lends itself well to a more fluid approach to gender and to a degree avoids sexualization and concern for physical attractiveness. Despite Derek writing the article suggesting specific brands, you can totally thrift your way into the style, which is what most people do anyway due to being broke and concerned about the environment. I also think that—while people will have trouble putting this into words if asked—all the cultural connections described in the article are there on a subconscious level, and the style ends up adopted mostly by well-educated, conscientious, creative folks.

 

[am55]

RoSaCe is reading this thread!

 

[am55]

CM:

Bookcore:



hold my beer:



this one's for you @Fuuma & @RJman (even has a cat)

 

[Dadacantona]

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[Fuuma]

footwork has remained underground in Chicago for years

It is from the 80s-90s not recent, no? I used to listen to booty house in the 90s. I remember seeing a banking ad at Charles de Gaulle airport where they put forward a footwork dj like a couple yrs ago so maybe not so underground now lol.

 

[Clouseau]

This is pure bullcore.