Fashion is weird. Fashion has always been weird. In fact, one of the oddest trends to explode in the mainstream in a long time… is pretending that fashion isn’t weird. I’m talking about Normcore, of course.
If you’re not sure what Normcore is all about, you’re not alone. It took a while for me to accept that it wasn’t just a huge joke. Kelsey did a great post the other day in which she tested the trend for herself, but if you need a little bit more background, here are the basic pillars of norming:
- Rocking the #nomakeup look (while keeping in mind that that still entails wearing quite a lot of makeup)
- Cutting your hair in a way that would make you blend in with a crowd of suburban moms waiting in line at a food court Sbarro
- Trying too hard to emulate the looks of celebrities/characters who are known for not trying too hard (see: Elaine Benes from Seinfeld, Hermione Granger from Harry Potter, Elisabeth Moss and Ginnifer Goodwin in real life)
- Mostly sticking to the color scheme you see on mannequins at Gap
- Being really hardcore about how normal you are
The important question still remains, though. What do we think of it? Last week, you guys helped me make sense of the new trend of nude eyebrows by weighing in with your own opinions on the look, and I need you to help me out again. Is Normcore just the Pretentious Fashion Person way of saying that it’s finally okay to wear khakis and sneakers? Is it as stupid as it seems? Is it secretly awesome? Are you into it?
Tell Us How You Feel About The Normcore Fashion Trend
- Alana Vincenza: Everyone is calling it normcore and I call it most of my closet so I don’t know what to think anymore.
- Heather: I think that is how a lot of people feel. Normcore is a nice change to people wearing cyborg costumes and pumpkins on their head and taking it super seriously because it’s “high fashion.”
- Hayley: I mean, I kind of want to wear a pumpkin on my head, but maybe that’s just me.
- Samantha: I love it goddammit. I never feel trendy otherwise!
- Alexis: I can’t, I won’t, I will not. No.
- Grace: I HATE IT I HATE IT I HATE IT. It’s just lazy people saying they “don’t care” about fashion yet creating a trend surrounding themselves. It’s super pretentious.
- Abenaa: Love it. It’s not as lazy as it looks, either. There’s still proportion and precise tailoring to think about, which makes it look good vs. sloppy. But it’s accessible to a larger population.
- Anne Marie: I hate it because you HAVE to be willing to shell out big to make it work. Unless you can afford tailored clothes made out of high-quality fabric (and then destroyed by hand ???) you don’t look normcore, you just look normal. I, for one, am not willing to shell out almost a thousand dollars for sandals that are a bedazzled version of my brother’s stupid Adidas flippies.
Throw us a comment and maybe we can make sense of #Normcore once and for all.