Although what I wear stands out
sometimes, I actually do care about whether it fits in with my
surroundings. However, I care because I like things to fit together
aesthetically, not out of any particular urge to conform to social
expectations (although I would probably recognize the practical
necessity of doing so in some situations, such as visiting a country
that has stronger and different expectations of what constitutes
proper attire than my home country.)
A lot of what I like actually manages
to not clash with my campus (which is where I'm spending most of my
time right now), although sometimes it doesn't feel quite right
inside of the more modern buildings (with exceptions--STSS is pretty
nice-looking, for example, although in more of a sci-fi kind of way.)
Casual (by today's standards or by last century's standards),
comparatively modest clothing works well here. Anything that exposes
too much skin is impractical as well as unfitting because they air
condition the hell out of the buildings in the summer. Campus is a
good place to look civilized, if only barely.
Older urban settings are similar to
campus, although not as grandiose. Even more simplicity works well
here--things that might be boring in other contexts become
interesting to me because they fit in better and act like an
extension of the interest I find in urban architecture and decay. In
contrast to campus, vicious works about as well as civilized as far
as style goes. Ripped clothes, fishnets, and thick eyeliner blend in
nicely with the decay of the older and less maintained buildings.
Newer buildings tend to look cheaper,
plainer, and sometimes gaudier. Most importantly, they have not had
time to decay sufficiently, so they are not beautiful like their
equivalent older counterparts. I try to avoid them, or ignore them
when possible. The same applies to suburban areas, which in my
experience are usually revolting, so I would rather avoid them than
try and blend in (not that I always accomplish this).
Supermarkets are the epitome of
suburban ugliness with their nasty fluorescent light, overwhelmingly
huge enclosed spaces with nothing beautiful to focus on, and
redundant products full of weird chemicals labeled as "food".
It is possible to find actual food here, but you have to really look
for it and be careful to check all ingredient lists. I'd describe
places like this as uncivilized except they're actually a pretty good
representation of the values of modern capitalist civilization. I'd
strike "civilized" in the second paragraph and replace it
with "cultivated" or "polished", but the urge to
look that "polished" in the first place is a civilized
urge. So, campus is the place to look cultured or polished and all
the pleasant things civilization brings, supermarkets are the place
to look vicious and wear more fishnets and ripped clothes and
eyeliner. That, or look viciously cultivated in over-the-top gothic
aristocrat-looking stuff. I prefer to find a way to clash with my
surroundings because they are disgusting--I might not be able to
change them, but just because I'm sacrificing aesthetic continuity
doesn't mean I have to submit to the ugliness around me.
Natural settings or older suburbs that
have had more time to decay and sprout enough green things to cover
up the ugliness are trickiest, which I guess fits since paying this
much attention to aesthetics is a civilized thing. Casual seems
best--I find last century's standards preferable. Really just about
anything that isn't too fussy fits, I guess, but at the same time if
it's not beautiful in some way I feel like it marrs the beauty of the
surroundings. Muted elegance might be a good phrase for what I'm
thinking of. A t-shirt can look good, but the design on it might not.
A skirt and petticoat could work, but the skirt with the bustle and
miles of lace won't.
Of course this is all extremely
subjective, and perhaps you don't obsess over visuals quite as much
as I do. Or if you do, you might have entirely different opinions
(which by the way would be super interesting to hear, so please post
them in the comments if you feel like it.) Trivial as it may seem,
this sort of thing does have a noticeable effect on my headspace. It
seems a touch ironic that decayed grandiose manmade things interest
me the most, but I'm certainly not the only one if Tumblr and the
fake ruins at Pfaueninsel are any indicator.
Perhaps its an instinctive reaction against the ways the physical and
mental environment we humans have built for ourselves contradicts our
nature. Then again, it might just be because it's pretty.
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