Does it bother you when people are wearing the same thing as you?

[originunknown]

Sup peeps, I'm new here but I've been reading this forum alot since Jan this year. Glad to join the club finally.

Anyways, recently I'm seriously sick of what I wear cos everyone follows the same trend, limited edition this and that but hell, alotta them seems to have it al,l like dirt on the streets scattered everywhere. You know the usual suspects like silas, maharishi, goodenoughuk, bathing ape, bounty hunter, stussy, futura labs, surrender etc etc. At least that's what I am (going to be "was") into.

I mean its like, its nothing special no more. The uniqueness is no longer there and it's just more of like a "uniform" like someone on this board said.

But really, am I just weird being the only one who feels this way or you guys are totally cool bout it like it makes you feel like ur part of the whole family? I mean this could apply for all kinds of style, not just streetwear.

Share your views with me!

Edited by originunknown on Sep 11, 2005 at 07:38 PM

[Serge d Nimes]

I have never been into logo heavy clothing because of the very reasons that you have stated. Wearing logos and tracing trends is not what having style is all about.

Carpe Denim! (not the jean brand silly!)

[mouko]

It used to be a double edged sword for me

There was a part of me that enjoys seeing people that have similar interest and taste, but there was another part of me that was very middleschoolish about the whole thing of someone wearing the same thing.

I guess for me it's all about the attitude behind the style.

Especially when I was into street brands, though my style has been eloving to the point where I'm not wearing street brands anymore (I recently sold the last bape piece in my closet) there was something cool about seeing something casually wearing a printed tee I also owned, just sitting and drinking coffee. But when I see those kids lining up outside supreme or bape, decked out just on the sole purpose of showing it off, it left a bad taste in my mouth. (No disrespect meant to those here that camp out)

But to be honest most of the time now when I past by someone wearing something I own, it doesn't stay in my mind for more than 5 seconds. I usually think "oh, hey I have that" and move on.

[Yakboy Equals Nurturer]

Yeah, I'm with Serge on this. No labels (or at least discreet ones) is my preference. About the only things I wear with a print on them are tees, and I'll avoid anything that features a brand name prominently.

[originunknown]

Serge d Nimes : I understand where you're coming from. I'm not too crazy about the logos, although some are nice, but I'm kinda stuck here...like thats currently the style that I personally like.

mouko : So what are you into right now man? What made you not wear street brands no more? I never like to show off my stuff to others, I buy and wear stuff for my own pleasure really for personal satisfaction of actually owning it.

Things like Nike Dunks, Ive always liked them since day one, since the first time they re retroed in 1999. Now everyone wears them. I mean up to this day, I still like them but I just feel weird, everyone's wearing one.

[john11f]

yes. it does bother me.

[adsurgo]

i hate names. sometimes logos make me angry and i wont buy shirts with them, but names piss me off the most. there are very few companies that i would wear logos or names of.

[mouko]

I've gone a bit more designer high end (this has nothing to do with the whole everyone is wearing bape and such now). I wear cloak, dior homme, helmut lang. Slowly getting into more euro brands, especially the belgians like Ann Demeulemeester. A lot of darker stuff, monochromatic blacks/grays/whites.

My taste has just shifted from street to more dressy. I only own a single pair of sneakers now (and they're not even real sneakers sneakers, they're converse jack purcells)..most of the time I wear dress shoes. And to think not even a year and half ago I had almost 75 pairs of Nikes.

I can't pinpoint what really made me change my style, I guess it has to do with the fact that I'm studying menswear design now and I've been soaking up whats going on in the design wold in terms of menswear, whereas before the only mens fashion I was exposed to were those in urban japanese fashion magazines and streetwear culture.

I'm still in more of a transition period. I still wear a printed shirt, but now its under a fitted blazer or military coat, fitted pants and dress shoes.

[djrajio]

It is a double edged sword but invariably that was fashion feeds on. High fashion, street fashion, even mast-ige fashion in the end all feeds off trends. Its why we have this New York fashion week going on and why designers have to constantly "re-imbrace" retro styles/styles from the past and constantly change their image. Its why Diesel was "space-agey" last spring/summer and now cowboy/southern-bell western this fall/winter. People are affected by trends because society has conditioned us through marketing that if its cool and you aren't wearing it, you aren't cool.

I think this was one of the reasons why I was SO DRAWN to the street wear culture back when I first discovered it in 2000 (a little late, yes). It went against everything that high fashion proclaimed was cool, must have, etc. It was utilitarian. It fed off sub-cultures like skateboarding, hip-hop, punk-rock which were ORIGINALLY all about going against the mainstream. I've always been very confident and somewhat of a renegade so these style appealed to me.

But like anything that revolutionaries/first-adopters create and make for themselves, the rest society becomes drawn to it as well because, IMO, the majority of society it drawn to confident individuals/sub-cultures and lack the ability to do it themselves, so they appropriate it for themselves later in the food chain.

I have left street-wear because I feel it has gotten saturated and because I feel it lacks the right individuals who are doing new interesting things for the right reasons. I also tend to be somewhat too far off the fashion-curve, to the point where if I did see someone sporting the same outfit, I'd be very interested in how they thought, what they were into, because I tend to like obscure designers, labels, people doing very new and interseting things. In a sense, I'd be totally estatic. And I also would probably question, how someone could be so manical and crazy of about something as shallow as clothing like I am, lol.

Edited by djrajio on Sep 11, 2005 at 09:18 PM

[ngbetter11]

ya..im kinda like mouko...i was all decked out in "street" clothing and stuff...and now i kinda just stopped wearing it..i dunno why i decided to change, but i just did...i guess its cause i just wanted to dress nicer, and not wear some bright colored tshirt,jeans, and matching dunks everyday of my life...

so ya, its not like im going to school in suits...i just wear more fitted clothing, and i guess more formal type stuff?? i dont know the exact words...like dress shirts tucked in, and blazers, etc....

yup..

mouko is from soompi and TFS??? rightttt...i remember you were like a hero type guy to me on soompi..cause you were schooling everyone on fashion, lol...

[djrajio]

I used to frequent soompi when they use to have the live streaming of all those music variety shows. Didn't understand a word of korean though...lol

Edited by djrajio on Sep 11, 2005 at 09:10 PM

[minya]

How much does this Cloak stuff cost? Should I even ask?

edit: Nevermind. I shouldn't ask.

Edited by minya on Sep 11, 2005 at 09:14 PM

[Serge d Nimes]

If you are interested in why you shop the way you do, you might want to read this book.

Carpe Denim! (not the jean brand silly!)

[minya]

Serge, I believe I saw an article on that book in a local newspaper a while back. Awesome stuff. Definitely the definition of ironic.

[greentalks43]

I dont get too bothered when I see someone wearing the same thing as I am. I wear polos and jeans with some retro sneakers. Its something I found that has works and I look good in, so if I see someone walking around in a similar get up I am not gonna be too bummed since its not really a unique style, perhaps the way it fits is unique but not the style itself.

"Patience, both we and our words are overproduced by influence"

[Serge d Nimes]

Minya,

I saw a link to this article http://www.thismagazine.ca/issues/2002/11/rebelsell.php on superfuture. I read it and it is profound! I am reading the book right now. Very good stuff!

Carpe Denim! (not the jean brand silly!)

[Selegna]

I DONT HAVE THIS PROBLEM ANYMORE..

NO ONE DRESSES AS WACK AS I DO..

BUT WHEN I WAS IN GRADE SCHOOL, YES..

HOPE YOU GET IT LATER...

[minya]

Sweet! That's definitely it then. I live near Toronto, and one of the authors is from Toronto, and I'm pretty sure they were interviewed in a local indie newspaper.

The icing on the cake as far as I'm concerned is Adbusters releasing their own clothing line... ahahahahahahaahaahahahaha.

Edited by minya on Sep 11, 2005 at 09:47 PM

[djrajio]

Serge. I've actually read that book myself. Great book. Speaking of great books, this weekend I blew through Neil Strauss's new book The Game: Penetrating The Secret Society of Pickup Artists. I know it has nothing to do with the original topic, but it touches upon some interesting issues concerning the differences between how pick-up artists dress and "rest of the pack". The guys in this book have slept with hundreds of different women and use "pea-cocking" flashy/gaudy clothing like purple fur coats, platform shoes, eyeliner/makeup, google-glasses, as an edge to meet women. Very interesting because it goes in direct contradiction to what society has deemed attractive to women concerning men's style.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060554738/103-5390268-0921468?v=glance

[verb]

I have an interesting viewpoint on this topic. Up until the last year or so, I dressed totally 'counter-culture' as it has been termed, with a heavy emphasis on streetpunk style. This entailed leather/denim vests w/ tons of spikes and patches, skintight jeans, and gaudy hair that stuck out in every direction. However, what I've noticed after reading these forums and keeping an eye on fashion for the past few years is that there is more group think and uniform mentality going on in those areas than in modern fashion. Especially looking at the European trends, they're much more forward thinking than the punks, scene kids, abercrombie/hollister crowd, etc.

Sure, eventually the rest of the world catches on but as long as you stay ahead of the game, you can wear some great looks and then move on before everyone else even thinks about it.

[Geowu]

Quote: Serge said:

I have never been into logo heavy clothing because of the very reasons that you have stated. Wearing logos and tracing trends is not what having style is all about.

I second you. And I don't care if people wear the same as me.

Edited by Geowu on Sep 11, 2005 at 10:12 PM

[originunknown]

Thanks to all who replied, I appreciate the inputs. I might buy that book Serge, that sounds like an interesting read.

Now how about this... what if you decide to change your style but people around you like all your friends are wearing something different. Wouldnt that be weird? Like if I go all preppy and my boys are all wearing street gear... I imagine myself to feel so outta place.

[evlhunter]

it doesn't bother that much.

[heartsandcrafts]

no labels are really wear it is at

brands like APC, and AA show this with a good, respectable product

at the same time some labels dont really carry such a... something.

for example, i think in a sense, chucks are very unlabeled, as are classic vans, everybody knows they are converse or vans but they dont really carry an image since they are owned by everyone, but still very wearable

and i think nike is almost getting like this too, i carry an old nike airline bag with "nike" written large on the front and i dont really think about that as being all that labeled, its so part of common culture that it is just sort of a graphic element, its actually the only labeled thing i have.

as far as the friends thing - i dont think it would really matter

the whole urban look, and the dressed nice look, punk look, vintage look, they are all part of what is currently fashionable and all sort of reflect each other, i have friends of each of those "looks" and id say we all look pretty similar in the end, ya know?

www.taborrobak.com

[jo3 b]

american apparel?

stop right there. at least get what you're paying for.

[darkanimal]

It would only bother me if someone wearing what I'm wearing couldn't pull it off, or looking like a complete dork. But this issue has made me more motivated to make my own clothes. I have my blazers tailored and I customize my jackets, or anything I can get my hands on. It's more of a challenge, to think forward and be more unique. I do appreciate how brands are designing stuff that don't scream the logos. Hope it will stay that way!

[frogeyes]

devo

[giantreptile]

everyone on this forum is wearing the same thing!

[SongAngel]

I'm in the midwest. So long as I'm wearing socks I'll be more dressed up than 90% of the people here. I have no worries.

[Phrederick]

It doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I would be happy if I found someone wearing similarly obscure brands, because then I could talk with them for a few minutes, perhaps discuss what shops there are around here with good selections.