If you have no interest in style or beauty why post?

[TheDead]

I ask this in all seriousness and not to start an argument but it occurred to me that pretty every post at the moment on S&B has several posters essentially saying 'who cares...wear what you like'.

And we all know that's true and actually exactly what does happen but I think S&B IS a place to talk about....well...style & beauty related things!

I don't see the point in opening a thread about 'what should I wear to x, y or z' to post 'no-one cares, wear what you like'

It's just not in the spirit!

I want to chat to fellow posters about all manner of trivial S&B things without being made feel I'm being trivial! My life is stressful & this is an escape at times.

Does anyone else feel the same or am I just feeling cranky?

Yes that's fair enough but sometimes people make sweeping statements about fashion rules and then it's good to be reminded that people should wear what they like

I think this happens with any board that appears in Active/Trending, as people see the title and respond to it without realising what board its on. I've seen people complain about this on the Christmas, Staff Room, Sex (current thread) and other boards. The only think I think that stops it is getting it removed from showing in Active. I think a SEN board did that, plus Staff Room when they were being attacked in the pandemic

It depends, doesn’t it. It comes up in Active, people don’t look to check which category it is in and they chip in and forget. I find myself replying to Royal Family threads sometimes, and I’m not interested. Or, God Fitbit, to feminist/trans threads.

I think a lot of people just refresh “new” rather than visiting different sections. Most posts are AIBU so everyone’s got their judgment hats on without realising.

People who ask "what's on trend" are not interested in style & beauty- they're asking how to be socially acceptable.

I love dressing up- don't give a shiny shite If it's fashionable because I'm an adult

*God forbid, though God Fitbit is quite funny

But we all know that we wear what we like because that's what each & everyone of us does every single day when we dress ourselves. There are no fashion police!

But it's interesting to discuss shifting fashion / style / trends

Yeah, I assume they see it on the lost of active threads and bustle in with their 'only flighty flibbertigibbets worry about what's in fashion'. If they're actively visiting the S&B board to delight people with that advice then that's a bit yawnsome of them.

The “wear what you like” posts are mostly well-meaning, no?

The comments that I detest are the envious judgey ones aimed at anyone able to throw money at something.

“You can get the same at Asda”. Well yes, but the OP is asking about this specific one from Reiss.

Tbh, I think the board should be renamed “Fashion and Beauty” because personal style that doesn’t fit with what’s trending is usually shouted down and mocked here. I have no interest in fashion but style is different, and it’s not treated as such here usually.

@QuertyGirl I don't really agree with you I'm afraid. I love reading about people's different interpretation of what's current or on trend!
I work in a creative field & my dress codes are v v different to lots I read about here.

I've learnt lots by reading S&B over many years & have discovered lots & lots of brands I might not have known about before

I'm standing with you shoulder to shoulder op. And I'll be right back as soon as I've popped into a gardening thread to say, 'Who cares'.

Again @RichardHeed I have to disagree somewhat. I don't follow fast fashion much & am in my 50s. I have worked out what works for my body shape etc now & I have participated in some brilliant threads on specific styles & it's been wonderful.

Start a thread on style V fashion? I'll happily join in!

I know what you mean but then again, thinking about the 'trendy' trainers thread earlier today ... a few of us posted on that saying essentially 'wear the ones you like' - and for me at least, that wasn't because I don't care about style. It was more because I think a sense of obligation to keep up with trends can be really negative and make women insecure, not to mention actively getting in the way of developing a sense of style.

So ... I don't know. That might be splitting hairs. But it's not always as simple as people wanting to squash interest in the whole topic. Trendy does not equal stylish, and I reckon commenting on that is valid in S&B.

@TheDead

Why though? Why do you care what's on trend?

Isn't that horribly limiting? The stuff on S&B is bland because of this.

There's a vast thread about which pair of identikit, white/pastel trainers are on trend. As if there is anything really to choose between them??!!

It's all very emperors new clothes

It depends, if someone is asking what is acceptable to wear to x or y then the answer "you can wear what you like" is an acceptable answer. If someone asks for recommendations for a knee length dress then where what you like isn't acceptable!

Preconceived ideas over what is acceptable can be challenged

Some people are too rigid with fashion though. They could do with encouragement to trust their gut instinct rather than slavishly follow what others have deemed fashionable.

@Usernamen no I have to say I generally don't find the wear what you like comments well meaning at all.

They are usually meant as 'of for gods sake how can you be so vain/ trivial/ superficial etc etc to waste time thinking about or asking about mere clothes...

At least that's how 99.9% of them come across to me

I'm standing with you shoulder to shoulder op. And I'll be right back as soon as I've popped into a gardening thread to say, 'Who cares'.

😂😂😂

The 'I am stylish, you are merely fashionable' posters remind me of The Two Ronnies' class sketch.

I do know what you mean and I agree to a point. I think some of the responses are well meaning and are in response to when a poster is tying themselves up in knots along the lines of "am I too old for this..?"

• to which there's almost a unanimous reply of 'wear what you like!'

Some people are really angry and just like stomping about as @StrychnineInTheSandwiches says and shouting "People are DYING in Syria, how dare you worry about the length of your jeans!"

Some don't notice the board it's on, and some, possibly the most annoying of all are the ones on threads who just want to mollify the OP by saying 'Oh it looks GORGEOUS!' when anyone with a pair of eyes can see the poor woman looks like a sack of spuds tied in the middle with a bootlace.

@QuertyGirl I care because I'm interested in all manner of things & I'm curious about the world..as I said I work in a highly creative field where design & style is part of the everyday

I also don't really understand the snobbery I see so often degenerating the majority of posters who dare to discuss shifts in fashion as being merely fashionable not stylish

Can someone give me a definition of the two? I think we see both camps represented here

For me, 'wearing what you like' means learning to look past trends and trust your own instincts about what makes you, as an individual, look and feel really good, and choosing to wear things you actively like or, better still, really love.

It definitely doesn't mean 'wear whatever crappy thing is lying around, it's not important, clothes are a waste of time'.

Following trends often seems to be more about an anxiety-driven, competition-winning, one-upmanship coolness mindset. It does strike me as a bit of a weird way of approaching style after a certain point in life.

I’m totally with you OP - I find it tedious when posters trot out the “wear what you like, don’t be a slave to fashion” lines
and I do ask myself why those posters would be bothering to read S&B threads
i love and enjoy fashion, I always have and I still do now I’m mid 40s.
this includes knowing what is currently on trend.
like you OP I enjoy the S&B boards as it’s a place we can come and discuss the frivolities of fashion and trends without shame!

I also love that everyone finds their own style - but we can still discuss style and fashion without it being taken as diminishing people’s individuality
and also not shutting down the conversations in response to the “I wear what I bloody well like-ers”

Fashionable: wearing what the marketing tells you to (I work in a related field and will die on this hill)

Stylish: enjoying your appearance and playing with your image: