The Individual in the Community
Jordan Romanoff
I WANT TO FIT IN
I WANT TO STAND OUT
My 59Fifty When I was in my freshman year of Parsons, a friend of mine decided to draw caricatures of everyone in our group of friends. They were crude, relying more on accessories than physical features to describe each person. My character was easily recognizable with my Mishka eye hat, something that I was wearing more or less every day at the time. The hat was what distinguished me. It was what made me me. It became an icon for my identity. All of this isn’t to say that the hat image was limited to my physical identity. Wearing the hat had certain connotations about my preferences. When others saw it, they drew certain conclusions about my personality, particularly as a result of the style of hat. The New Era 59fifty, or fitted, has been adopted by certain subcultures, and sporting this style of hat implies that the wearer is a part of, or interested in one of these subcultures. The style is often seen on wearers interested in hip-hop, skateboarding, graffiti, or any offshoots of these groups. I happened to be interested in all of them (although my passion for skateboarding was waning at this point), and wished to express this. My adoption of this trend signified my wish to be a part of, and be seen by others as a part of these subcultures. While I sought to make myself a part of something through this general stylistic convention, I was
simultaneously trying to stress my individuality in the choices I made about the particular hat I was wearing. By bringing my own interpretation to fill in the specifics of this vague outline, I was able to say more than that I was into hip-hop, skateboarding, and graffiti. The brand that I chose, Mishka, was very deliberate, due to the connotations that it held. Mishka often works with music labels that produce dance music that is often hiphop inspired. In fact, I first saw the design that I chose on the head of a DJ I was a fan of. In addition to this, I chose a hat that did not have a logo on it. A common logo would have been easily recognized and categorized, and this was not what I wanted. The colorway choice, and the small number of hats produced further insured that the appearance of my hat would not be common, and would uphold my individuality. I broke some of the conventions of 59Fifty culture to fit it to my liking. I wore the hat in a way that differed from the usual style sitting it flat on my head rather than tipping it up or to the side. I also took off all of the stickers that came on the bill, considered a cardinal sin by some. I did these things simply out of personal preference, not as an attempt to make a larger statement.
Community I have often heard it said, and agree myself, that even a city with the population density of New York can feel isolating without a group of people with whom you share a bond. Its easy to understand why. In New York, it is impossible to escape the fact that you are surrounded by other people. This can bring up a strong feeling of doubt, that one is too far from any sort of norm. It can produce the idea that one is defective, unable to act like a normal human being, which causes a crisis of the ego. If one does not share any common ground with others, it begins to appear that one’s subjective view of reality is entirely flawed. Our subjective view of the world is what we base our self-image on, and isolation acts as a direct refutation of that view. Believing that one belongs affords validation. With others to corroborate your perspective comes a sense that your beliefs are right, it offers exsistential peace of mind. Trends provide this feeling of confirmation immediately. With a trend, all one has to do is say yes, and one is instantly a part of something. There is a preexisting group of people who have come together under one common term, meaning that by simply making the decision to agree with those people there is already a large base that upholds your beliefs. In this way, trends provide us with an ever ready, limitless supply of stability.
Individuality While essential, the sense of belonging is not an end in and of itself. It is a tool through which one can better one’s self-image, and build a stronger sense of identity. With the affirmation provided by adherence to common framework, the individual is ready to expand on the ideas the community was formed around. Jean-Paul Sartre penned the maxim “ Freedom is what we do with what is done to us”. This stresses that it is not simply enough to regurgitate the key points of an issue in an attempt to gain collusion. One must examine the ideas of others that he or she has accepted and create something for his or herself. The trends that create fellowship leave the individual with space to create a niche. They are vague sweeping gestures that are to be interpreted by the members of the group. In the story of my hat earlier, I brought the convention of the flat brim into my life, but in doing so I was forced to make a number of decisions that would ultimately express my own individuality. I applied my own values to the vague structure that I had taken in, and in doing so asserted myself as a unique person. To participate in the trend, you must communicate with it, whether through modification or refutation. It is impossible to interact with the tendency without imposing onto it one’s personal values, and in that perception, the self is revealed.
My thesis will explore the simultaneous drive to be part of a community while asserting individuality through the creation of Dress Me Magazine and its communication with the online community of bloggers.
Dress Me Mag Dress Me is the perfect form through which the relationship of these seemingly contradictory desires may be investigated. Dress Me examines creative exploration of the music and fashion worlds, specifically how people are choosing to express themselves. As can be seen in the story of my 59Fifty, fashion is a daily display of your sensibilities. When one gets dressed in the morning, you are revealing elements of your persona to the world. Similarly, the music that one listens to represents not only an aural taste, but an overall life aesthetic. Think of an interaction with a stranger. Whether or not we would like to admit it, it is only natural to gain a sense of who someone is through their appearance. Similarly, taste in media, such as music, is often used as a common ground through which someone can get to know someone else. In addition to this, both of these worlds are heavily interwoven with the online blogging community that Dress Me taps into. In these online communities, trends are interpreted and discussed, both as a means of creating, and then reacting to them. By relying on individuals who already not only belong to this world but are immersed in it, we can see on a case by case basis how this conversation takes place. Through communication with our contributors and viewers we will gain new insight into each person’s interpretation of a fashion.