What do we stand for anymore?

A long time ago, youth culture and rebellion meant something. There was a cause. In the sixties and the seventies people protested against the war; the clothing connected with the hippies symbolized their belonging to a certain cultural group. In the summer of 1967 over 100,000 people flocked to the San Francisco area to celebrate the cultural and political revolution that had they, the youth population, had begun. Celebrating the freedom of youth, hippies created an unprecedented cultural phenomenon.

Nowadays American youth sit locked in their bedrooms spending mindless hours on Facebook and texting. Everything is hand-fed to us and no one appreciates any of it; we really are the 'teacup' generation. Political activism is no longer for the hipsters, but for the debate geeks. Fashion itself is an entire new culture thanks to online blogging and sites like Lookbook.nu.

It may just be that I feel guilty (guilty!) writing and blogging about fashion when people in Haiti struggle to find a clean water source. But this is a call to arms for the fashion world, an encouragement to make fashion the vessel through which you promote your cause. Because without a cause, what do we stand for anymore?

In defense of fashion

Italian Vogue's "models in rehab" editorial is the perfect example of fashion as social commentary.

In theory, I shouldn't have to do this. Defending fashion on a fashion blog? It's a tad ridiculous. Despite the obvious absurdity, I remain with the feeling that every once in a while we should defend what we do, just to make sure we can defend what we do.

Recently, someone accused my writing of being shallow, useless fodder for teenage girls who have nothing better to occupy themselves with. This made me reread my past articles searching for any flagrant superficiality, and while I do apologize for some mediocre writing lately, I'm not going to change any material posted.

Fashion doesn't have any rules. It's a work in progress, just like this blog. It's funny too because if this blog were about music instead of fashion no one would question me, yet it's not. I chose fashion for a specific reason, I wanted to show the quirky alternative side of a too often generalized industry. And because whether you think it's shallow or not, I care about what I wear. We all have to wear clothes anyways so why not make it memorable? Everything you put on your body becomes a reflection of you; fashion is unavoidable.

Some people abhor the idea of supporting something so reliant on aesthetic, so they wear the same shirt and jeans everyday or simple look sloppy because they can. This is one end of the spectrum. I, along with all the other fashion lovers in this world, am at the other end. Fashion isn't about who wears the most expensive dress to the formal or who has the designer bag, fashion is about creativity. The fashion world's greatest visionaries experiment, recycle, take risks. Fashion itself is a reflection of society, just like music.

This blog isn't about mainstream fashion. This blog is about street style, experimentation with clothes and colors, and most of all creativity. Many people look to art or music as their creative outlet, I look to fashion.