Is the Fashion World Still Technologically Resistant?
We’re in the 21st century now – and now our cell phones are status symbols, our Ipods are sleek, and if we aren’t wearing natural fibers of organic cotton and bamboo, we’re wearing something made from recycled plastics or tires. Yet, from looking at blogs and interacting in person with fashionistas, I keep hearing a lot of comments like these:
- “Oh, blogs? Yes, I read a couple of them but I don’t even really know what to do with mine.”
- “I never can figure out how to change the playlist on my Ipod.”
- “Why on earth would I use a scanner for a pattern expansion?”
OK, I’m Wiccan, so I’m used to a whole world of cognitive dissonance when it comes to incorporating technology into daily life and practices: it’s all cool and shiny until it actually makes life easier seems to be the thinking in my particular subculture. And, as many of you well know, I am most certainly NOT a computer programming expert. You’ve all been witness to some spectacular technical errors on this blog.
That said, the world is advancing. But why do fashionistas dig in their well-turned heels at keeping up with that advancement? Geeks have inherited the earth, and chic or not, there are definite benefits to adding in those small adaptations. Many might argue that you all use Myspace, but Myspace, while a great networking tool, is a technological throwback. It relies on old school html standards and while they can be overwritten, most users still resort to the late 1990s design from when the world wide web was a new toy and everything had to be either flashy or flat text.
One example of how fashion is a latecomer to the party is the Bloggies: there is not fashion and style category in the bloggies, and fashion blogs that are nominated get assigned to disparate areas. Yet fashion is an absolute force in Western society, because it is a combination or art, communication and status jockeying – just read between the lines on all those “dahlings.” Technology is the big status-chaser hobby of the 21st century, the way that cars were in the 20th. The reason fashion isn’t considered significant on the Internet is because most fashionistas aren’t plugged in to the big picture, and some aren’t even looking for the outlet.
What I’m speaking of more specifically here is still some resistance to interacting on blogs, and of course a marked fear of Internet shopping. I’m willing to guess that only 20% of even our plus sized fashionistas actively shop online, and while there are good reasons for this – inconsistent sizing, using models that are much smaller than the clothing sold and verifying that the company is authentic and not a scam – ultimately I think that many potential shoppers are missing out on some great fashion opportunities. But I also think it’s because fashionistas aren’t part of the bigger conversation. The Internet is a great democratizing tool, and fashion has most commonly been used as a tool for undoing all that democratization. The closed-clique approach just doesn’t work on the Internet, and we’re the uncool kids now. 1 While much of this is because fashion, rightfully and wrongfully, is perceived as a topic for the chronically shallow, it is also because we have not really taken our part in the big game of Internet – and to do that, we have to start embracing more technology as it happens.
- OK, so not a lot of the fat girls made the “cool” clique anyway. Yet we’re 98% more awesome than all former clique members as adults. [↩]