The Fashion Monster

Today lets talk about the Fashion, Fads  and style.

I will start by defining both. From the various things I have read, I will conclude that fashion is a manner of doing something or the latest or newest way of doing something (my extensive reading ends with wiki... just in-case you were wondering). A fad on the other hand is an intense of widely spread enthusiasm for something. A craze if you like and its usually short lived. Style on the other hand is the manner or way in which something is done.

I have been wondering what the idea with all this fads are, esp now that we have social media, everything becomes a craze people do all sorts of things to be seen as ''in Fashion" university Students using their school fees to fund shopping spree and have stuff that's not practical, Today I read on LIB how 3 guys who want to look like big boys go and shop lift from boutiques when they could be using their time to find money to eat. Its not only in fashion that we have lost our individuality but even in  ideas and ways that people are now thinking. Standards are dropping and less and less is being expected of our generation young people are beginning to lack originality even those with loads of talent.

We notice that people who are timeless rarely follow the popular ways of doing things,  in clothing or in thinking, they blaze trails that others follow or the just simply do their thing minding their own business, while everyone else shapes them selves to a particular way. We see this alot in Nigeria, you notice that people with money and style rarely spend their money on flashy stuff you will notice they just simple do what makes sense and makes them happy. The Flashy ones on the other hand want people to notice mostly cos they have nothing else to offer.

I started writing this post concentrating only on the clothes we wear and all that but as I progressed I realised that fashion, fads and style apply to everything we do.

as much as the pool of public opinion is a good thing, it can also create what psychologist call groupthink, when a group of people loose their individuality and all start thinking like the most alike so they don't seem like outcasts, or so they can be liked.

The internet has created an avenue for all our issues to be aired in public and we have taken this as an opportunity but some of us have given up the gift of ourselves to fit in. Now people judge themselves more and more by other people's standards refusing to realise that the smartest internet users only put out what they want you to see, can you really know if that your friend from secondary school in being honest in those posts on facebook? 

our happiness is relying more and more on public acceptance and that's just wrong. Like the popular saying goes "if you don't stand for something you will fall for anything''.

So now instead of concentrating on the fashion and fads of the day, maybe we will be of more help if we contribute our uniqueness to whats out there, so other people see a different side of the story instead if just following the fashion monster where it leads; could be in the way you dress, act or think. You can''t stand out if you are just like everybody else.