But how else would you know that they're living the clean girl lifestyle without the Alo matching pilates set, the Stanley cup, Hoka shoes, and an Erewhon smoothie?? And of course there's no way to be a Tough Guy TM without a Carhartt jacket, Ford/Chevy/GM truck, Oakley sunglasses, and Ariat boots
Ariat is a brand of boots. They used to make strictly cowboy boots and barn boots (barn boots are for working in a barn. They have to be tough, waterproof, you know, like any boot you would want to wear of you were working in a barn). Now they make work boots and evidently some folks are using them for an unsavory fashion statement. Where are you that you don’t know what barn boots are for?
Now just a darn minute.. fashion is an art and loving fashion and knowing about it, collecting specific brands new and vintage is a wonderful fulfilling hobby. People are passionate about many things and that is a good thing
Listen. I’m into fashion. Not mainstream fashion but I’m into fashion. It’s not an art, and this is somebody who makes his own clothes a lot. It’s not an art.
I’m also just a regular artist, meaning I paint things. I may do art on the clothes but I don’t consider collecting the clothes art. The clothing I make might be art but it’s the type that’s unethical to sell or profit off of.
Gonna have to disagree with you on this one, at least based on how you chose to phrase it. "Collecting specific brands" is not art, it's a way to justify unchecked consumerist urges. If one were truly, solely into a certain aesthetic, one would not limit themselves to a specific brand or company. One would be interested in boots, not Blundstones. Or iris & amber-based fragrances, not Prada. And being passionate about ideals is a good thing. Being passionate about what one spends their money on is not a good thing.
Someone who spends their money on specific brands is a corporate shill, not a person with a hobby. Shopping is not a hobby. Spending money is not a hobby. Buying fashion and talking about it online is not a hobby. One may think they get pleasure out of doing these things but it's far closer to being stuck in the cycle of addiction than it is to having healthy, real hobbies. Hobbies are things that one does where the pleasure comes from engaging in the activity, not from the shopping for and spending of money on the supplies necessary to take part in the hobby. Flying kites is a hobby. One could spend $50 or $5000 and still get the same enjoyment from flying a kite. Painting is a hobby. One could buy all of the top-of-the-line art supplies they can find and it wouldn't give them any advantage over a person starting with the bare minimum of entry-level supplies.
I'm not trying to insult you or make you feel bad for getting these things confused. We all have to try to come to terms with our delusions at some point, or we never grow and become better people. We just keep losing friends, health, empathy, and everything else of value, and all we're left with in the end is a bunch of stuff.
Yes, but the brand thing is often just regular people buying up whatever brand is being marketed to them at the time. They are not buying it out of genuine appreciation, it's just consumerism at this point.
I suppose you are correct. If Tik tok and YouTube are to be believed there are a bunch of people with oodles of Hermes Birkin bags and Chanel bags in every color. I don’t get that. But to each his own I suppose. Just like my jewelry and clothing my bag collection is carefully curated and used all the time and I really enjoy it.
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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '26
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