Move over Justin Timberlake, nobody cares about sexy anymore, although, some would argue that elegance IS sexy.
Way I see it, styles come and go and where we are at now in terms of what’s hot to wear/do, or rather what the masses are doing when pretending like they don’t care about the image they portray, a cultural shift is bound to happen in the “style category”. I should also add that some people genuinely don’t care if they look like slobs while others actively pursue the hideous or shock aspect of being as disgusting as possible. I know about them, and they’ll be fine, they just have a longer road to travel.
Third to be noted is that I’m not preaching for being elegant when you feel like dressing down casual, or when you feel like slapping on the leggings to quickly go run an errand, infact elegant spins can be placed on this too. I’m just saying the leggings-for-pants every damn day look is nearing its end, and there is little left to return to beside a classic, timeless and elegant base.
Much in the same way that Uggs trend all but disappeared (I used to call it fUGGly at trend peak, and I’m proud to say I never owned a pair), and the walking marshmallow look of jumbo puff jackets has thank-heavens relaxed, so too will we soon see a diminished fascination with all things ugly. After all, everything looses its lustre eventually and it takes just as much effort to be preoccupied with how to look bad and piss off your parents/society as much as it does to make yourself feel good.
Yes I may be naive, or consciously with all my morsels be attempting to manifest reality through the power of attraction, but a girl dream can’t she?
Now to debunk a few myths:
Its pretentious. It’s not pretentious to look and feel good about yourself. All body shapes and sizes can be made up to flatter them. I’m not saying to wear evening gowns everywhere you go, I’m simply saying to put in a little effort for your own sake, no one else’s. As for men, we’ve gone past the jeans-beneath-your-ass look, so too can we just stop with the skinny jeans for you.
It’s not my style. You can make any style look and be elegant if done properly. The trick is to stay away from a complete aversion to anything deemed acceptable by anyone in their right mind; further, you can maintain a unique look with your own personality reflected throughout without stepping into territory bordering on grotesque.
It costs too much money. Its not more costly than what a person would do to look tacky. As I alluded to earlier, someone will spend just as much money bleaching out their hair to turn it green or some other god awful neon colour, than it would to pick a colour that compliments them. Also for those folks, I don’t know that they’re aware of how much damage they are reaping on their hair to get it looking like vomit ?. It takes stripping the hair to do so, and repairing it will cost even more money. So you see, the time, energy and financial resources allocated to looking like caca will eventually balance out to what will be spent on looking presentable.
Now I strayed away from offering advise on exact styles because what can look elegant on some people will not work on others, and there are many different kinds of ‘styles’ that need to be addressed. For a small example of the past: the man bun. For some, mainly those with an abundance of hair, it was passable and even looked pretty good. For others, it looked like a sad palm tree that failed to sprout, or like a dogs ass. You have to find what works for you, and play on that.
If you start to become aware of yourself, you can find elegance.