what does style and fashion mean to you? (awei)

sam and i thought it would be cool to start presenting two different perspectives on our blog: a point/counter-point on divers 9tailors-related subjects. as our faithful audience, you will finally be treated to posts filled with truly witty musings instead of posts filled with a bunch of sam-generated sagets. at the very least, you will gain two worthless viewpoints instead of one.

since most of our 9tailors blog deals with deal with style and fashion, we wanted to first clarify these terms. i consider that style is the aesthetic manifestation of one's attitude and approach toward his or her own environment. i'm somewhat lazy and very, very tolerant. as a result, i end up wearing the same pair of mesh pants and a raggedy sweater several days in a row; while most people consider this style scrubby or Mugatu Derelict, i think of it as time-efficient or spendthrift.

yet, style is a fluid property. as one's attitude and approach to the environment change, the aesthetic manifestation follows. faced with the specter of meeting potential in-laws, i have a revitalized attitude and renewed approach toward my environment. a shower, a crisp shirt, and a pair of matching socks yield an entirely different image.

obviously, one does possess a tendency - a chronic style, so to speak. having uncomplaining, olfaction-less computers as the primary form of companionship over a number of years fortified my own hygienic approach to style.

while style is particular to a specific individual, fashion is the collective agreement of the individuals in a group as to what is aesthetically pleasing. just a few centuries ago, manchurian chinese tacitly agreed that long braided ponytails (queues) on men looked nice. nowadays, individuals swimming in hip-hop culture consider that drowning in oversized, loose-fitting clothes is cool. each group has its own agreements.

fashion, like style, changes. agreements on what was aesthetically pleasing are broken and new agreements are made, thus ushering in a new fashion. celebrities, whose clout and visibility are far-reaching, can often times marshal lots of individuals into some unspoken agreement that some thing is now cool - a fashion trend is born. accepting that fashion trend is a matter of personal style.