markclindsey.com
follow me
  • HOME markclindsey.com
  • digital drawings
  • facesnewyork
  • blogblog
  • thisweekintheculture
  • info : contact

I Hate Bling

6/22/2010

1 Comment

 
Picture

   Traveling the streets of New York City can be a disorienting experience. It is not so much the hordes of commuters, Ivy League bankers, shopkeepers or tourists that get me down (well, for the most part). It is the ever presence of shiny, attention seeking Americans flashing their latest look that I cannot stand. Growing up on old movies taught me that sparkle is definitely an evening wear choice. Well, no more in 21st century America!  Feel free to sparkle all of the time!  Lately none of us seem able to distinguish ourselves without a big, loud designer something on. Must sandals now have long suede ankle wraps attached to them (and 20 buckles)?  Does every young girl have to look like an 18 year old hooker recently let loose unchaperoned at Barney’s?  It’s not just the girls either. Grown men cannot seem to ride the subway without wearing full wraparound beige to white Gucci sunglasses on. I know fluorescents provide an unflattering light but there are limits. So what has happened to style?  Why does fashion only mean risk taking anymore?  I need a break. My eyes hurt.

What disturbs me about the prevalence of a ‘bling’ attitude is the pose it suggests – that of a very insecure, well-off teenager.  Adolescence was never my favorite phase to begin with. I remember walking around like I was untouchable but truthfully I could not have felt more insecure or fag-bashed. Burgeoning sexuality is not a pleasant sensation, especially when you are trying to find a social niche. This is just what I see on the streets nowadays, this same stance: can’t touch this / I don’t know who I am (add  an expendable income). Is this the new America?  I’m not gonna lie - I am afraid.

I do not believe this is the slightest representation of America or the American character. It is however pervasive. Everyone on the street seems to want to be perceived as a slumming pop star. It is a look but don’t touch world. But I don’t think it is style. Style is cultivated - this is bought and boy does it show. Isn’t leisure wear supposed to be leisurely? I am all for a little color coordination and some high end sunglasses but we the USA have fallen into a rabbit hole and everyone on the other side looks bizarre on purpose. Here are some of the apparel I would place in the 'no, please' category: strappy sandals with rhinestones, anything with rhinestones, loud European sunglasses, high heeled shoes at noon, excessive layering, “pocket pants” (jeans with a crotch pouch for men), super high sheen lip gloss, tiny tees, skin tight jeans, oxford shoes without socks, peg leg pants for men, Capri pants for men, summer fedoras for anybody, gaudy handbags held out for display, omnipresent smart phones, “guns” (giant headsets), sleeves (arms full of tattoos), print tees, and labels, labels, labels.

What happened to a distinctive American style?  A casual, modest kind of look designed for walking around during the day?  I love fashion, I love glitter, but I love my sanity more.  Looking at old family photos from the 60s I once asked my mother how she kept us all looking so immaculate on a budget. “Oh I bought everything at Penneys (JCPenney)” she said. “Clothes were not high like they are now”.  I’ll say. Clothes are high! I am not saying that we should all run around in 40s fashions (where every man owned a good suit and a woman wore gloves) but I am not saying I would mind either. How about a touch of modesty in our attire?  Must our clothes sneer at one another?  Extreme presentation is a very isolating experience for the wearer and the viewer. It also defies a classic American ethos of folksiness, even friendliness. If we are all starring in our own show how are we going to get along?  I feel as if we are all running around like Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange – and look what happened to him!  So here is what I say: viva chinos, hello khakis, wear a belt, shoes to match, buy a couple of things and wear them over and over again. If you are working on your look don’t make the public suffer – casual elegance is time honored and worth achieving. This way if someone strikes up a conversation with you it won’t be about where you got your jeans.  Not that you would bother responding. You will just blankly, glamorously stare into space. 

1 Comment
(Archived Comments)
3/3/2012 01:53:26 am

Rachel

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 2:43:48 pm

I was going to leave my lip gloss in London anyway...

Regina Landi

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 3:34:30 pm

This is right on. I think it says something about America's raging insecurity. And no one is getting enough attention these days.

Maria

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 3:44:45 pm

LOL @ "if you are working on your look don't make the public suffer!" This article just reminded me of this girl I worked with in college whose style I was a fan of. She bought everything @ the Salvation Army!

Diane

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 7:22:26 pm

My favorite line in your (shall we just go ahead and call it a rant?) is "Must our clothes sneer at one another?" The irony of all this posturing is that the clothes are not beautiful. They don't make me swoon or feel envious (even of the youth that flashes them about)---they make me feel embarrassed for the wearer(s). What good is an expendable income if you have no taste? But I don't think this is just an American thing...I think it's global. "Working your look" doesn't sound like fun---it sounds like work, which is something style should never be. Style, like any great performance, should come across as effortless and individual---and should delight the viewer. Who has style today?

megan

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 6:32:01 am

oh s***! I just bought some strappy jeweled sandals.

Patty

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 9:31:09 am

Great stuff and sadly true. Although don't mess with my heels at noon. i am a working girl after all (but not the kind i imasgine you are reffering to). And peg leg pants...have to admit they bring back fond memories of the 80s. although then it represented silliness and was not meant to be taken seriously or to impress. an idea lost on this decade. btw, love the print too!

Craig

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 11:29:30 am

Hard for me to blame or judge the young - youth is attracted to fashion -
it represents the new, the exciting, the "adult".

I worked the preppy "to the manor born" look of the early 80's
(straight leg 501s, Bass penny loafers, Polo shirts at $40 a pop and you could not have too many)
It was not a style I created.
I just looked around and followed.
Yet, I felt confident and powerful because of what I was wearing.
No real harm done.

Currently I am fascinated by the concept of spending a great deal of money buying something extremely simple.
"Theory" is a good example of this kind of clothing.
Easy on the eyes but hard on the wallet.
And, no, my 50 year old self does not indulge.
I have, after all, grown up.

Erik

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 2:04:06 pm

I like the idea of "fashion that helps us be friends." Striking up a conversation with somebody is far more interesting to me than being bedazzled by their bling. One lasts, the other does not.

Summer

Sun, 08 Aug 2010 2:12:06 pm

Mark I read something today. Your blog!!! See how much I love you? Honey, you took the words right out of my mouth with this entry. I felt like I was reading my own words!! I couldn't agree more and I'm so tired of outrageous looks that are just screaming, "LOOK AT ME!!!" Not to say that I'm the best dressed person on the planet by any stretch. I have definitely had my fair share of horrific outfits over the years!! Very well said my friend.

Reply



Leave a Reply.



    Author


    Mark Lindsey is an artist and writer formerly from the streets of New York City and now residing in the forests of Connect-icut.  He likes it there. 



    Archives

    June 2022
    January 2022
    July 2020
    August 2019
    January 2017
    December 2016
    June 2016
    January 2016
    January 2015
    March 2013
    July 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    October 2011
    August 2011
    May 2011
    January 2011
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010



    Categories

    All
    Bazaar
    Blurring The Lines
    Bookish
    Certainty
    Cocktail Hour
    Connecticut R & R
    Early Glamour
    Exhale
    Facsimile
    Goo Goo Ga Ga
    I Hate Bling
    Keeping It Fresh
    Michael On The Radio
    My Bowie
    Rabbit Hole
    Savannah Gardens Part 1
    Savannah Gardens Part 2
    Sex And The Rerun
    Slob
    Slow
    Straighter Than Straight
    Tastes Like Summer
    The Middle Ages
    The Plush Moment
    The Rookie
    Unmarried
    Waiters

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.