Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Personal Style and the Bossy People who think I need it (belated post)

There have been a few posts recently on fashionable blogs I am fond of that have gotten a bit accusatory and judgmental in my eyes: on how we dress ourselves to be perceived by others and not making an effort is some sort of a. failure or b. a sign that we are not interested in how people perceive us, because people ARE judgmental and we HAVE to dress our best at all times.

What really boiled it down for me was this quote and the (brilliant) response in the comments:

"But for my money (gimme your money!), personal style isn’t frivolous; it’s a right we all deserve, whether we choose to exercise it or not."

Nonsense. Contrary to popular myth, women are under no obligation to be decorative, or good consumers. Health care is a right. Education is a right. Privacy is a right. Personal style is something one may or may not be interested in, like gardening or Egyptology.

Now, I've already hit on this a time or two. I like reading these blogs, and I enjoy dressing up. But I am not a failure if I don't do it every day. I don't really want to get soil or acid or basically anything on my good clothes (other than maybe red wine if it was a really good party, I can deal with that). I have replaced my Glamour subscription with what I thought were well-written, fun blogs but when they get bossy like that I get very cranky and want to go put on a Slanket. I am not going to wear a skirt and high heels in the greenhouse, I'm sorry. I like the idea of personal style as more of a hobby. I wouldn't do any of my other hobbies at work either.

So I have cut down my blog list a bit now. The stuff I've got over there is either people whose writing I am fond of, which may or may not have anything to do with fashion, or the occasional shopping blog. I am over the how-to blogs, which seem to tell me how I can dress like the blogger, and what a slob I am if I don't, or what a triumph they had out shopping at x store. And I kind of love the lifestyle-y ones that do occasional outfits mixed in with everything else. Can anyone recommend some fun fashionable blogs that are a bit less preachy? The one I always go back to for some reason is Bunnyshop (or Forever Chic if she isn't too busy to post ;) they are honest about just showing me pictures of pretty things so I don't have to go buy a Lucky or some other junky magazine and waste paper.

3 comments:

scb said...

Excellent points! Style as a hobby -- I think I like that approach. I just don't have the energy to do Full Bore Polished and Together all the time these days, anyway.

I rarely read fashion blogs, except when I notice an interesting topic on that list that shows latest posts, over on Wende's blog. I'm more of an eclectic-blog reader. So I have no recommendations for you -- sorry.

drwende said...

If pants and a shirt are what's appropriate for work, then wearing them in a reasonably flattering cut and color *is* your personal style. Love it, live it, own it.

I rarely dress up in an omigawd-accessorized-outfit way.

Marianne said...

It can just get so oppressive sometimes, can't it. I've been enjoying lookbook.nu for its complete lack of dictatorial advice - it's young and funky and gives me faith in the creativity of today's youth, haha.

And yes, I need to blog more :D