In a message dated 2/8/2000 6:01:43 PM Pacific Standard Time,
lthomas1@uswest.net writes:
<<
I think that particular scenario will be a self limiting problem. When
model types are a dime a dozen, they lose their appeal, both as a
"fashion statement" and as a sex partner. If everybody looks the same,
the ones who get all the attention will be the ones that look different,
exotic... intriguing...>>>
I hope so. I truly do, but may I remind you that when it's a "street" fashion
(like tattoos) ii's intriguing, and gets attention, BUT it is usually
considered too daring for most. Only the fringe elements: gangsters, hoodlums
and artists (and the first transhumans?) will wear anything radical at first.
99% people DO want to look the same and fit in, *not* to get attention based
on uniqueness. Their choice (looks, car, etc.) is made by judging how "cool"
they are in the current trend.
Even within the street gangs and hipster cults there's a HUGE element of
sameness. Look at the hipster/rockabilly, punk or Gangsta looks, all have
rules, all have conformity now as their base.
And:
If a street "look" catches on in Mainstream America, it has long before been
watered down to the point of boring, sedate, sameness. It isn't until
"everyone's doing it" that it becomes fashion. By then it's pabulum. Fed to
the masses for mass consumption.
<<Eventually, everyone will want a "unique" look. Body mod designer
houses will spring up to fill the gap... and like the fashion industry
today, their biggest successes will come from commercial interpretations
of "street" fashions.>>
You said it yourself: "commercial" interpretations. Packaging. Marketing.
This is what we are responding to when we, as a trend, grab onto a particular
look, not the uniqueness of it. God forbid we should do something "uncool"
and look foolish.
<< Perfect "model" looks will become the sign of a person who lacks taste
or isn't able to afford the good stuff. >>
Yeah except in the world of cars, and in fashion, this tasteless lemming
formula has been already been proven time and time again. Money is no object
when it comes to selecting the largest and most expansive S.U.V.'s , and they
are in incredibly bad taste when driven in a crowded city setting, yet our
streets and parking lots are full of them. Being "perfect" is merely doing
what others do, but more of it and bigger.
Harleys ceased being cool when all the lawyers and accountants bought them.
Body art has now become cliche and housewives and business women sport roses
on their asses. I see them at the spa on lawyers and professionals. Los
Angeles is now suddenly sprouting full-lower-back flower tattoos. I am
grinning when I think of all these chicks thirty years from now all wearing
hip huggers to show off their tats at sixty years old, and people will say
"Look! She's stuck in the nineties".
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Jul 27 2000 - 14:03:34 MDT