From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Normcore is a unisex fashion trend characterized by unpretentious, average-looking clothing. "Normcore" is a portmanteau of the words "normal" and "hardcore". The word first appeared in webcomic Templar, Arizona before 2009[1] and was later employed by K-Hole, a trend forecasting group,[2][3][4][5] in an October 2013 report called "Youth Mode: A Report on Freedom".[6][7]
As used by K-Hole, "normcore" referred to an attitude, not a particular code of dress. It was intended to mean "finding liberation in being nothing special."[8] However, a piece in New York magazine that began popularizing the term in February 2014[6] conflated it with "Acting Basic", another K-Hole concept which involved dressing neutrally to avoid standing out. It was this sense of "normcore" which gained popular usage.[8]
okay, to be fair, it's not new. it was coined in 2009 and entered trendy usage in early 2014. so the word isn't new per se but it's new to me because i don't really follow the trends because i am [wait for it...] normcore.
the word has two nuances: first, liberation through uniformity, and second - a specific application of the first - dressing neutrally to avoid standing out. the underlying philosophy is that it's liberating to fly under the radar.
it is true that you can get away with a whole lot more shit if you are not calling attention to yourself, e.g. if you're planning to get away with robbing a bank, leave your bright orange louboutins at home. wear khakis and a grey sweater with your chucks, and you can move through the world unseen. you can literally stare at other people, and they won't even notice.
when i first read the definition, i found "dressing neutrally to avoid standing out" to have a negative ring because it seems weak to avoid something. but then i turned it around a bit and got "accomplish stealthness through neutral wardrobe" and that sounds better in terms of the power structure but not great in terms of the amount of effort involved. i mean, neutral should be what happens as the result of no effort at all.
for instance, there's me. i am not trying to do anything but make it through the day in clothes that are utilitarian and a least a tidge more than halfway comfortable. i am not purposefully attempting to be normcore. i am dressing neutral because i dress neutral. that's just me. i really can't help it if everyone else is putting untold effort into attaining normcore just to blend in with me.
here is some validation for my normcoreness:
- the ultimate normcore hairstyle is just having some hair. i just have some hair.
- i own khakis of my own free will and wear unbranded fleece.
- my starbucks card is gold status.
that's me. normcore.
but... not stupid.
i know what's going on here. for whatever reason, the glittery people get tired of being glittery and want to pretend they're normal. maybe they're avoiding paparazzi. maybe they are nostalgic for a time when they were normal. maybe they want to rob a bank. who knows. point is, they want to pretend they're normal.
at the same time, they are mocking normalcy by turning it into a trend. trends are by definition the opposite of normal. then, because it's a trend, it's a defacto competition, and all the glittery people are literally competing to see who can be the most normal - who is the most hardcore about it - who is normcore.
thus, in the end, there's no way for a normal person to be normcore because normcore on a normal person is merely normal. normcore is a thing for glittery people to do when they're pretending to be normal.
there's a parallel here between normcore to the lonely web concept (see humming to myself).
the thing about this so-called lonely web is that it isn't lonely for those of us out here in it. "53% of you tube videos have less than 500 views." pssst - guess what - 500 views is a really high bar to a hell of a lot of us. all the blogs in all the world saying all the same things over and over and over again? 50 views isn't lonely. 50 is fine. in fact, 50 is pretty damn good. for normal people, 50 is not lonely.
i just drive my civic to work each morning and just drive her home again at night. i just put on my sweatpants and michigan state logo tee and tippy-type my less-than-500-views blog. i just drink my coffee at starbucks and buy my ink jet paper at target and don't rob banks in my louboutins.
it's not lonely. it's not trendy.
it's normal.
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