Well, a lot of stuff has gone down lately. Yesterday I was feeling pretty crappy, just about my design work and this blog and how I haven't touched it in ages. I almost considered shutting it down due to spam and lack of interesting material. Until today. Today I feel more inspired. A second wind as it where, and I feel I finally have "figured it out", and by that I mean just the way be with yourself and your work. But putting it into practice is the hard part. Getting over the old hangups and fears and doubts. You see, being a new soul is not easy. There are people in this world that just seem to "get it" right off the bat and they are set on their trajectory of fulfilling their aims to the end. And there are the rest of us, maybe some others too, but for now there are the others who, and I can't really explain it any other way than to say, are here for the first time around. We have no frame of reference. We constantly seek out the old souls for guidance. We rely little on our own grit. It's no biggie, our next time around will be more focused, but I say, "Fuck that!". I won't be ME later. And now, I want ME to have a successful life. So, there is only one option for us. To act like the old souls and follow whatever it is we love to the end. The main difference is that the old souls really know what they want or love. We don't. But that should not stop us. Because it's not about the thing we pursue. It's about the passion and focus on one path. All roads lead to the same place, and success or failure is irrelevant. We must put in the work, put in the quantity, and quality becomes a natural bi-product. If we are truly honest with ourselves, our wants, our lives, our style, our diet, our health, our love, our work then no one, no one can deny our legitimacy. It's those who don't try, those who are untrue to themselves and others. Thats why I love hip-hop. It boils down all philosophy to it's true core. Be real. and the rest falls into place.
Ok, now for the blog... I recently went into UNIQLO to pick up some slacks for school and saw they had just released their big spring line of T's. They collabed with some Major corporations like Kwepie and Mos Burger, and also there's the UT Grand Prix line featuring artists from all over the globe. Some good stuff, some okay. The shirt I picked up however plucked a chord that for some reason set off a chain reaction getting me to think about where my sense of style comes from.
It's just a basic white tee patterned with all these little muscle men in black doing different poses. I basically picked it out because I like whole fabric patterns, but also because like many others out there, I'm bore with center chest placements of designs. Anway, upon checking out, I was handed the UNIQLO brochure and was checking it out this morning. Now, what I observed is nothing new. Trends in fashion have always been known to work in cycles. But I have to say there is something peculiar about this current trend of indie slash revived 80's style that seems to be everywhere. But the thing is, it exists in the demographic that was born in the eighties yet was not really old enough to understand the concept of fashion back then. I am one of these people. Of course we all rocked 80's style gear, we were living then. But I think this semi-recent revival has more to do with deliberately reliving and relishing a period that we somewhat missed out on. Generations seems to be wanting to relive their childhoods at younger ages. There will always be the midlife crisis desire to return to simpler times, but what strikes me as odd, is that most up of us, early to mid twenties are now for some reason looking back. What was the eighties? Its such a weird time in history. The sixties were revolutionary, the seventies were riding on a lot of the rebellion of the sixties and it was about rising up and expanding consciousness. Then the eighties... weird music, a pull towards suburbanism, nintendo and computers. There also seems to be a blend between the eighties and early nineties. In all reality, our childhood took place more in the nineties. I was only eight by the end of the eighties. Far to young to comprehend fashion, music, art. But anyway, here I am. Intrigued by the bright colors, big letters, gaudy designs and the like. But why? Because it's so prevalent? Or because I too wish to gain that sense of nostalgic fashion where you just wore whatever, because you didn't know jack about fashion. I think that's what it is for me. Just rockin what you like and taking it back to a more simple time. Now if only I could just find my ninja turtle shirts and my old bmx bike...
