Why must style be unpopular?

[jharrison]

I've been reading through some of the forum's archives, and I believe I've noticed a pattern.

It seems that many of you believe that as a shirt, brand, fragrance, shoe, etc. becomes popular, it becomes less fashionable, less stylish. You feel that an increase in popularity leads to a decrease in style. I see that as something becomes more popular, it usually becomes more common. Maybe you don't want to become common.

In one of the posts that prompted me to start this topic, a member deemed Aqua Di Gio "played out". I think he meant that it was too popular, so he wouldn't buy it. Does the popularity of this fragrance make it smell any worse? Am I reading more into this all than there really is? What do you all think?

 

[dan]

To me, style and individuality go hand-in-hand. It's hard to look good when everyone else is dressed the same or smells the same. This doesn't say the quality of clothing or smell of the fragrance becomes any worse, it is just deemed less desirable.

dan

 

[LA Guy]

Individuality is a large part of style. Obviously, we all dress in a similar fashion (unless you are one of the unfortunate few who followed JPG's men in skirts trend), but true style is about self-awareness, and a "uniform" look gleamed from the Prada/J Crew/A&F catalogue makes it look as if you have no imagination. I personally try to not use terms like "played-out", opting instead for factual assessments like "It looks very last season" or "That reminds me of S/S 2000 (not my favorite season - spectator loafers. Ughh.)"

 

[davei]

It sounds like you're describing "trendy" (as I read it), which I sometimes associate with "fashionable", but not "stylish". Most people do not read fashion magazines or check runways for the latest and greatest, they're on the periphery and get cues from the diffusion of everyday life. Move a notch or two above that, be it in some hip designer jeans, or a sleek all black outfit at night, and you're apt to be called "stylish", but it has nothing to do with personal style, which IMHO is highly individual. Hopefully, it's possible to mature to a point where you can say "to hell with it" and wear whatever you want, and not follow particular trends, rulebooks, or in/out lists, etc. Now consider where your innate sense of style comes from; it should reflect your own individuality & personality. If you honestly dislike wearing something because it's "played out" or "everyone's wearing it", so be it - that's part of your personal style. Personally, I hope my choice of clothes, scent, shoes, etc. complements my particular mood, business situation, etc. If everyone else is wearing it, so be it, they have the same great taste as I do

My point is, who cares? It's one thing to dislike something because everyone else is wearing it, but if you can't wear something because you're not the only one in the world (or room) that has it, grow up.

 

[Mike C.]

In one of the posts that prompted me to start this topic, a member deemed Aqua Di Gio "played out". I think he meant that it was too popular, so he wouldn't buy it. Does the popularity of this fragrance make it smell any worse? Am I reading more into this all than there really is? What do you all think?

No, it actually smells really good. I gave my bottle away when I was hitting on a chick one night, and she guessed my cologne. So now, I wear only obscure fragrances that no one will guess (ADP and Creed GIT). Yea, yea,  they may be common among us, but find me 5 people in a college of 25,000 students who can tell what it is by the smell.

  As for the rest of your theory, I can honestly say that I won't wear something because everyone is wearing it. I just don't like to look like everyone else. I like to dress different enough to separate myself, but not going as far as being considered weird. I would say I have my own personal style, enough that other people notice it too. I try to shun trends. Not runway trends, because face it, those don't even pass the catwalk. I'm talking about real trends, like how college age guys are wearing thier hair or a certain item of clothing. However, at the same time I may think it looks nice, but I just won't do it because it wouldn't be congruent with my style/personality.

 

[Dr. Zaius]

A fragrance should do this for whomever is with you:
"Wow, he smells great."

It should not do:
"Oh, he's wearing Aqua di Gio"

That's why fragrances can be undesirable if overused.

Not to get involved in the trend/unique discussion but as far as fragrances go, one should not wear something everyone else wears.

 

[European Interloper]

Style originates from the process of internalizing who you are and then making the neccesary sartorial choices.

 

[Thracozaag]

Very well said.

 

[Timothy]

It seems that many of you believe that as a shirt, brand, fragrance, shoe, etc. becomes popular, it becomes less fashionable, less stylish. You feel that an increase in popularity leads to a decrease in style.

To take a whole different twist to this I would say in a lot of contexts yes to your above statement. This is not only because everyone is wearing said company though, and thus you look like a clone. From what I see as a label reaches a certain saturation point they tend to go overboard with licensing deals that further dilutes the label with lesser quality, style, and exclusivity. You can see this with many companies like for instance Diesel, which seems to have become ubiquitous in metropolitan areas, also releasing 55DSL (though they do also have a designer line Diesel Style Lab, plus produce other designers like Martin Margiela thus moving towards the other end of the spectrum also). Another similar case is with & which is a further diffusion from D&G, and Dolce & Gabbana overall. The problem with all this is that stores that wouldn't carry say either Versace or Zegna, may stock some Versace Classic or Zegna Soft selling it to an uniformed consumer thinking they just bought an item similar to the formers. In my opinion some of these diffusion lines are no better than knock-offs, only difference is that they are approved by the label's heads.

 

[jharrison]

Thanks for all the helpful posts gentlemen. I better understand where some of you are coming from. I especially enjoyed the post by davei.