Are young people wearing military coats and flowered cotton jackets abandoning fashion?

In summer, there are old man vests and cloth shoes; in winter, there are military coats and flowered cotton jackets... Have you noticed that, it seems that since some time ago, this generation of young people is "abandoning fashion", or in other words, they are redefining a new fashion -

Instead of paying too much attention to the empty "premium for good looks", they began to return to the essence of the products, paying more attention to cost-effectiveness and their own wearing experience - whether it is comfortable, convenient, and whether they can be thrown into the washing machine without feeling bad.

Pragmatism, a new philosophy for young people

If we were to select the internet buzzwords of 2023, "It's not that I can't afford XX, but that XX is more cost-effective" would probably be one of them.

In this "more cost-effective" fill-in-the-blank question, the items chosen by young people include grandma's vest, old man's cardigan, military coat, flowered cotton-padded jacket, down lining... and other former "rustic clothes".

Although you can also find various matching guides for these clothes, street-style wear is obviously no longer the core demand of young people. People choose them because they have cheaper prices, better quality at the same price, more comfortable wearing experience, and greater inclusiveness. It is people who wear clothes, not clothes that wear people.

Wearing a grandma vest inside, an old man's cardigan outside, and then wrapping in a thick cotton-padded jacket, when it comes to dressing, young people have put aside their mutual scrutiny and started to care more about their personal feelings. They use their actions to say "no" to stares and stereotypes. After all, clothes are meant to be worn, and one's own comfort is more important than other people's opinions.

This pragmatic shift is reflected in every aspect of the lives of today's young people.

In the past, "exquisite makeup" was considered a manifestation of women's professionalism, and wearing makeup when going out was even seen as a respect for others. But times have changed, and today's young people want to spend as little time as possible on makeup, trying to use the least amount of time and tools to quickly create a face that can go out. Many people even let themselves go - they don't put on makeup anymore. After all, makeup is for others to see, and the time saved is for yourself.

In addition to clothes and makeup, the big-brand bags that used to occupy the forefront of fashion competition have also begun to be ignored by young people. Today's young generation has long been out of the context of "saving money to buy a big-brand bag". Their choice of bags is more economical - canvas bags, non-woven bags, and even take-out bags. They will take whatever bag is light and can be thrown through the security check machine without any regrets. As for what others think, that is their problem. On this point, young people are self-satisfied.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

A change in mindset

It is an awakening of self-awareness

For a long time, behind trendy aesthetics is actually a kind of collective anxiety.
The prevalence of BM style can cause people to be anxious about their appearance. Some people feel that they are not "standard" and not beautiful enough if they cannot wear small-sized clothes, and then they fall into the vortex of weight loss and even ignore their physical health. The saying that "high heels are the battle suits of the workplace" puts young girls' feet into painful shoes, and makes working women fall into the trap of self-proof of their professional ability. Behind the pursuit of fashion and luxury goods is often a herd mentality, thinking "I should have what others have". Some people even connect the value of fashion and luxury goods with their own value, thinking that owning these is success.

Bravely wearing the old "country clothes" and bravely "abandoning fashion" is a rejection of appearance anxiety and herd mentality, and a pursuit of a "low-pressure" state - "they are them and I am me", and today's young people are very clear about this.

Another recent trending search that can indirectly support this point is: "Young people with a monthly salary of 20,000 only shop in discount areas." Of course, we cannot deny the contradiction between current income and prices, but we can also see that this generation of young people is indeed exploring the fog of consumerism.

Image source: Weibo screenshot

Douban's "Don't Buy | Consumerism Reversers" group now has nearly 370,000 "rational geese" who are consumerists. The members focus on "rational consumption and making the best use of things". They will share with each other the hidden consumer temptations in life, make a "no-buy plan" for a year, weed out each other, and look for more cost-effective "substitutes"...

They are increasingly aware that spending money is to meet their own actual needs rather than to show off to others.

Image source: Douban screenshot

There is a sentence in "Consumer Ideology: The Death of Reality in Code Manipulation - Interpretation of Baudrillard's "Consumer Society": "The consumer subject is not the individual. In modern consumption, the real individual is precisely deleted." In a sense, returning to the "practical value" of commodities is also to regain one's own subjectivity.

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Planning and production

This article is a work of Science Popularization China-Starry Sky Project

Produced by: Science Popularization Department of China Association for Science and Technology

Producer｜China Science and Technology Press Co., Ltd., Beijing Zhongke Xinghe Culture Media Co., Ltd.

Author: Likely Popular Science Creator

Reviewer: Mao Lihua, Associate Professor, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, Peking University

Planning丨Yang Yaping

Editor: Yang Yaping