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?

Can I also nominate the 'no-one cares what you wear in London' responses when the op has made it perfectly clear that the trip is a special treat, and that part of the treat will be wearing something a bit different from normal.

My question was why does an item of clothing which was apparently gorgeous and desirable one day stop being so just because someone who is a bit of a prat is seen wearing it?

It’s always been this way. As previously posted, look at Burberry.
FWIW I don’t think MC really caused the demise of that brand, it was probably on the way out anyway.

This is an interesting thread. I’ve got a feeling I’ve posted a few times recently along the lines of “wear whatever you want”, so I feel I need to explain/justify.

I’ve always loved clothes, and been fortunate to have been in a position to indulge that love. Not to a crazy extent, but I would always buy two or three new items a month. I’ve read more and more over the last few years about how horrendously irresponsible and unsustainable that is, and I’ve felt terrible. I almost always don’t NEED something new, I’ve just wanted it because my existing, perfectly good stuff, doesn’t have this season’s must-have shape, or feels dated. So I’ve really taken on board that this needs to change. My attitude, our attitude, needs to change, to change our behaviour.

I don’t want to preach to anyone. Fashion isn’t supposed to be worthy, and it’s boring when it is. But joining in with encouraging the mentality that you replace everything every year whether you need to or not, is really perpetuating this issue. And it’s not ok.

Burberry, as PPs have said
Yeezy
Balenciaga
Hugo Boss
Canada Goose

All have had unpleasant associations or problematic allegiances and fallen out of favour at some point. Sometimes it's social snobbery ( Burberry), sometimes it's animal welfare related ( CG) sometimes it's the fact that the owner is a prick ( Yeezy)

So it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest to find that Matt Hancock is the death knell for Stan Smiths.

@LoobyDop IKWYM. I posted on a bag thread about consider looking at vegan options. I was totally ignored, which I suppose by MN replies on some threads, is as good an outcome as you can hope for. The OP was looking for inspiration, rather than specific brand Y or Z, which is why I thought it’s ok to post. I like fashion and clothes, but I’m also bothered by the amount of junk around. I mainly lurk, unless it’s in Active and catches my eye.

This is an interesting thread. I’ve got a feeling I’ve posted a few times recently along the lines of “wear whatever you want”, so I feel I need to explain/justify.

I have been guilty of that, but I still find a lot of advice on the S and B thread interesting and helpful.

I guess in my case that I am simply not the target market for "cool" trainers, but I love reading about how to look smart/expensive and which are the best tinted moiturisers and various other skincare and make up threads.

I have been wearing trainers as casual comfortable footwear since the 1980s, and had never thought of them as a fashion item - in the same way that I don't regard wellington boots as a fashion item. My Nike trainers are very similar to the unfashionable ones pictured upthread

I understand your point @LoobyDop and for that very same reason I buy the best quality I can afford & I wear my clothes for years at a time & its good to be mindful of this.

Having said that if I'm buying something i like to see latest trends for that, whether it's cardigans or trainers & I'll make my choice accordingly to suit my particular needs & body shape etc

I'm not sure I've ever seen a thread saying everyone must replace everything new each year and I also don't think discussing what's new is causing people to do so.

Most people end up buying at least a few things over the course of a year & don't always want to replace with identical to what they have already.

I find the 'new season' or 'what's cool now' threads v helpful & saves me loads of legwork.

@TheDead you’re right up to a point. But it’s also the case that once you’ve bought one pair of jeans that are straight leg or boyfriend cut or whatever, all the skinnies you already own lose all their appeal, and from there it’s a slippery slope and you own 25 pairs of jeans, and 18 coats, and 8 blue and white stripy tops. And the fashion industry is of course worth multiple billions because of that very slope. And then when you add that guilty knowledge to the recent trend for some posters on S&B to be a bit more sneeringly bitchy than used to be the case about “dated, frumpy, mum uniforms”…

I don’t disagree with you that if your interest in clothing is entirely in terms of comfort and practicality, S&B is an odd place to hang out, for all the reasons that you and other posters have given. But I also think the wisest thing Trinny and Susannah said was that there is no such thing in our society as someone who really doesn’t care what they wear, because every clothing choice is a form of communication.

That's an absolutely fair point LoobyDop. I think it's perfectly possible to enjoy clothes without constantly buying new, be it second hand shopping, clothes swaps, altering / customising existing clothes or making / learning to make your own. Etc etc. And there are those kinds of threads already but maybe we should all talk about it more.

But I don't think that explains the attitude we see sometimes towards mums of small children who typically hardly ever get to spend money on themselves. It's not my world any more but I'll never forget being so befuddled I once went to work in my pyjama top, or the feeling that I'd never get the hang of this stuff again. I think the sneeriness towards them sometimes when all they're asking for is a few pointers is gobsmacking.

Do you mean you think only teens or rappers can be cool?

But it’s also the case that once you’ve bought one pair of jeans that are straight leg or boyfriend cut or whatever, all the skinnies you already own lose all their appeal, and from there it’s a slippery slope and you own 25 pairs of jeans, and 18 coats, and 8 blue and white stripy tops

I think we are all adults and can decide ourselves how much or how little support we want to give to the fashion industry. For all we know, people asking questions about jeans could be buying their first pair of jeans in years, could have lost a lot of weight, could have left a relationship and want to change their style - all manner of things - and are capable of deciding for themselves without another adult berating them for buying clothes. It is offensive to suggest that other adults need other posters to curtail them!

As for “coolness” that’s a teen thing. Or a rapper thing. Neither of those groups will be on Mumsnet, surely.

Fascinated to learn that rappers can’t be mothers, or post on a ‘parenting’ forum, even if not parents!

(And I’d be saddened to hear that any teen parent felt they weren’t welcome here.)

Do you mean you think only teens or rappers can be cool?

I'm not fussed about looking "cool", but I do want to look stylish.

@CrkdLttrCrkdLttr have a You know full well that most rappers aren't female and on Mumsnet. And that teenage mums are also unlikely to be on the S&B board asking about trainers. Both those groups will likely know already or be getting their info from TikTok.

Just what is it about spoken music performance that makes you feel the people who do it couldn’t also be interested in this particular forum?

I mean, I assume there are poets on MN? And composers? And fiction writers? And portrait painters? What exactly makes this an impossible online space for rappers?

Oh give over @CrkdLttrCrkdLttr ! I think I did just answer that in my post. But sure, there could be lots of rappers on MN who need this boards' opinion on what trainers they should be buying. I suspect probably not though. But you crack on and worry about the imaginary offence caused by doubting their likelihood of being here instead of the real offence you cause by being needlessly rude to a pp!

The original assertion was not that rappers wouldn’t come to this thread to ask about trainers. It was that they wouldn’t be on MN at all.

(But I wouldn’t want to derail the thread.)

If you don't want to derail a thread, maybe next time let the opportunity to make a snarky remark, for no good reason, pass you by

Heavens!

I’ll decide for myself when and where and how I post, thank you.

Quite right. I really disapprove of people who imagine they can police threads. Most amusing.

And you are?

Not necessarily. They are merely examples and hardly a list, let alone a comprehensive one. One thing I do know, though, is that there are no cool people here. It’s called Mumsnet, after all. 😆

Same. The worst posters just post ‘reported’ on what is clearly a consensual, interesting if a little controversial debate between adults. I feel like saying, who the fuck do you think you are that you should be able to click your fingers and shut down a conversation between grown adults? Just because it ‘offends’ their delicate usually very left wing sensibilities.

Image in my head…!