What Should I Wear: Reflections on Style

Style. What is it? Why are we so drawn to it? Pluralism affords us a superabundance of choice when it comes to style; how then should we think about it in the context of clothing?

The next time you're at the mall take notice of the stores there. Stores like Abercrombie & Fitch, Urban Outfitters, Martin & Osa, or Journey's and Juicy Couture, etc.. Interestingly enough, each of these stores intend to provide a particular image to the consumer. This image can allow you to be whatever and whoever you want to be depending on where you decide to shop. In other words, style and image become the efficacious vehicle by which brands deliver to the consumer. Substance is of no consequence because style is the now.

Many brands rely on producing a complete shopping experience. The experience of being in-the-now of style is were the consumer is invited to invest in the "lifestyle" of their choice. This investment gives a sense of belonging to the individual. The individual can then decide what his or her so called individualism will be. To put is differently, these conditions give the consumer the existential freedom to become whoever they want to be. In his telling book Fit Bodies Fat Minds, social commentator Os Guinness, says that "style is a sort of armor for city life. Wear something and walk down the street and you don't just say, 'I like this,' you say, 'I'm like this.'" Style is a "commerce in appearances. It is the surface that we create for ourselves. It is not simply a mater of taste, it can also be for some people, a way of either transforming themselves or even hiding themselves" says theology professor David Wells.

Are you are a biker? There are clothes for bikers. Are you into hip hop? There are clothes for that. Maybe you are in your late 20's or early 30's. Well there are clothes for that too!
Take for example the popular brand Abercrombie & Fitch; they demonstrate the image-experience illustration quite well . Their website says, "the only way to appreciate Abercrombie & Fitch is to live it through our high quality, collegiate-inspired, casual luxury clothing... Our unique lifestyle is felt through the energy of the in-store experience. With great tunes thumping in the background and our Brand Reps there to help you find exactly what you need, our stores bring to life the Abercrombie & Fitch lifestyle."

Urban Outfitters is supposedly for the eclectic who likes shopping at thrift stores and dressing "urban." You could say it's were the "cool kids" shop. UO boast a "DIY" style throughout the store that changes every few months. Every sort of postmodern novelty can be found there from "little buddha" lamps to "Jesus is My Homeboy" t-shirts. They even sell a line of thrift store clothes that of which they replace the original sewn in tags with UO tags. Employes are also told to be "cooler than the customer" as part of selling the image.

Juicy Couture sells themselves as being both anti-establishment, i.e.. "punk," while at the same time "high-brow couture." They use provocative and cliché slogans on their t-shirts like "Go Couture Yourself" and "Choose Juicy." In fact they made popular velour track suits with the word "Juicy" across the butt of the pants. It is as though, if you buy their clothes, you will somehow begin to live a rebel-royalty-lifestyle.

As silly as it may sound "lifestyle," it seems, is completely relative to the brand and of course you being relevant is key. However, this pursuit for relevance is a fast track to nowhere. It can't be kept up with. Not only can the pursuit of relevance lead us to a superficial self, it can also cause frivolous anxiety and emptiness. Manipulation and self esteem are no doubt a marketing ploy to serve the hungry demands of "the empty self."

Guinness continues to give pertinence to the the topic. "Substance is a matter of who or what someone or something is; style is the manner through which that distinctiveness is presented and perceived. No longer expressive of substance or inner character, style is all that matters now. No longer enduring, it is transient, changeable, and fashion-oriented. As a glance at any magazine rack will show, style is the number one mantra of late twentieth-century America. Used more often on magazine covers than even the word sex, style is a leading source of anxiety, hope, and fascinations for millions. To be up-to-date and in touch with one's style is essential; to be out-of-date is unforgivable. At a time when permanence of personality is as forlorn as permanence of place, change is the order of the day. Identity is now a matter of perception and presentation. And style is the art of skillfully presenting illusions as we walk down the corridor of images that make up modern society."

So what do we do as Christians? How should we think about style and fashion? I honestly don't know. How do we escape modernity? Or rather, how do we live in it? If we are looking for our identity in style or the next big brand to tell us how we should look, then we are sure to fail. Our concern however, should be to discover our identity in Christ and not Louis Vuitton.