Ugly Aesthetic

It’s been a pretty long while since I last did a purely style post (and it’s been a looooong time since I have finally convinced my brother to start taking photos again). It has been awhile and I have had a little reflections to do. I’ll get to that in due time, but first, about this old man outfit.

People shrink when they grow old, and to me, clothes that hang loosely gape at the absence of one’s youth is just so intricately associated with old age. Many bloggers call over-sized and ugly shirts “grandpa shirts” for the same reason. An over-sized shirt and baggy blazer makes the outfit look ill-fitted, and I need to talk about the blazer a little because I kind of love it alot. Under the influence of one too many youtube thrifting videos, I have decided to thrift my own over-sized blazer. I would have taken a couple more because I can see why people are obsessed over its silhouette, but I was doing this behind my mother’s back and this one blazer is my maximum threshold for being a bad rebellious kid.

And these khaki pants! I have nothing against its colour but if I had to pick one thing in my wardrobe that I have little affection for, it would be this pair. It no longer fits well and has a couple of stains, but maybe because we try to cling on to the past as we grow older, it becomes harder to let go of things. These pants just really tie in the whole ugly aesthetic, especially with the colour clash with the blue shirt.

The Internet is so sensitive about a lot of things nowadays and I feel a need to clarify that this is not me trying to romanticise aging. The idea surfaced like a scene and I was inspired by the laid-back mood it communicates. This brings me onto my reflections doing these kinda style posts.

The last I did was the retro mom look a year ago and I have grown so much in this one year. Upon looking back, I realised that it is literally a theme that any outfit I photograph in I will never wear out. The main issue is that I wasn’t styling an outfit but a costume. I was trying to dress different from everyone else but it did not reflect my personal style nor did it help develop it. Now that I have come back from hiatus, it is something that I will try to work on. I will hold myself to higher standards in putting together something that I love.

The other thing I realise about style posts is that I am pretty darn glad that I started doing this when I was in Sec 3 because I get so self-conscious now to do these. I get a little afraid that people will judge what I wear and I realise that blogging about an outfit just as a description is pretty pointless (people can tell what the pieces are by looking, that’s what the pictures are for). Which is why recently I have been trying to talk about something else along with some pictures of outfits (ie this very moment). I’m still trying to grapple with this issue of content, and I will need some time, but it seems to me that this is a general issue plaguing all the style blogs I have seen: it is either a really redundant description that is inapplicable to the majority of people who do not own similar pieces of clothing, or it has become a profit making platform to fuel the constant need for consumerism and fast fashion (cue those latest trends and 10 spring items you need posts).

It feels kinda challenging but kinda nice to do this again. I will try my best to make it better now that I have resumed it, and honestly fingers-crossed that my brother will remain at least mildly cooperative enough to allow me to test out certain styles!