Homogeneity and the Teenage Girl

Now, I'm not trying to pick on teenage girls. I think they have a hard enough time as it is. Adults distrust them, boys try to pressure them to have sex, peers try to pressure them to do drugs or drink alcohol or smoke, they're applying to college and making decisions about their future...
See, I'm only 22, and it wasn't too long ago that I was in my teens. I had to deal with a lot of that stuff too, so just keep in mind that I'm really not trying to give teenage girls a harder time than they already have.

Which brings me to my rant: I think I dress pretty uniquely as it is, since most of my clothing comes from Ebay, antique stores and thrift stores. It is a very rare occasion that I see someone who is wearing the same item as me. But, at the Deathcab for Cutie concert last night I realized quickly how homogenized the fashion was. See, I wore a grey newsboys cap that I got from an antique mall, a Punk Royal skull t-shirt that I got on ebay about a year ago, hammered gold hoop earrings, distressed jeans, a slouchy "mexico" bag from the thrift store, and grey Saucony running shoes (they didn't match, but they were worn for comfort). I didn't look like anybody else, which made me happy after when I saw that everyone had the same haircut: razored, choppy, angular, mostly short, with unblended stripes of highlights; and the same clothes: layered t-shirts, a skirt, embellished flipflops or Converse, slouchy purse, and layered necklaces. Now, it's not as if they looked bad, they just all looked the same. Some girls traded in the skirt for capris or bermuda shorts, some girls had layered wooden necklaces and some had layered beaded necklaces. Some girls had the razor, choppy highlighted hair, but it was longer.

But seriously, it's still the same look. I could tell that everyone shopped at Wet Seal or Urban Outfitters. It disappointed me. Starting at 15, I discovered the magic of thrift stores. This was before the secondhand clothing craze had hit, and the thrift stores in my area were loaded with treasures. It was at the same time that I started getting really into the local scene. Everyone dressed uniquely back then. I knew girls who were bald, who had mohawks, who wore wigs, who had hair down to their rears, who had multi-colored hair, and who had short choppy hair. I knew girls who wore crazy outfits like they were costumes. People had style, but they also had individuality. I modeled my style after them for awhile until my own emerged. My look mixes vintage, secondhand pieces with modern pieces. I'm sometimes edgy, and sometimes completely boring, but I never look like anybody else.

My advice is to stop dressing like the magazines tell you to dress. Use them for inspiration instead. Find out what emerging trends are and see if you can branch off from there. Find something spectacular in a magazine and wear a different version of it. Make it yourself, even, that way no one will have what you have. Stop dressing like your friends, because honey, I can't tell who you are from the next girl. Buy your clothes on ebay, goodwill.com, from thrift stores and anqtique malls and any number of amazing Independent and DIY sites. Let your self shine through with carefully chosen unique pieces. Sometimes, dressing individualistically puts you at the forefront of fashion. A little over 4 years ago I discovered this really cool antique store that had an amazing selection of brooches. So, I stocked up on them. A couple of years later vintage brooches had exploded, and they were everywhere: in every magazine, on every lapel, even Wal-Mart started carrying them. But, I had been way ahead of the curve. See what can happen when you lead by example?

Threadless shirts

Threadless had a 48-hour sale where they lowered the price of all of their shirts to $10. So, of course, I scored 5 of them! I wanted more but some had run out of the girls sizes, or my size, etc. Here are pictures of what I got (I folded them up so you can only see the designs, but they are all on girls American Apparel tees).





(two separate designs, but the shirts are a similar color so it looks like one)

OOD: Friday, 3/31

I hope everyone has been enjoying their weekend. I certainly have! On Friday, I went out for sushi with some friends and wore this outfit (which got a lot of compliments):



The photo isn't the best because my camera has been giving me problems, but I'm wearing:

1) "Bush" shirt by Threadless.com, or as my friends call "Angry Alice in Wonderland in a Tank".
2) AE distressed bootcut jeans
3) Heart necklace
4) Wooden bangle
5) DIY earrings
6) Lulu turquoise bag from Nordstrom's
7) Turquoise shoes with flower embroidery by Yellowbox from Ambiance SF