https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Sat, 25 Apr 2026 08:50:32 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/3#post-308394 Sat, 05 Mar 2011 01:43:19 +0000 catgirl 308394@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Aida, I'm glad my rant was not too off-putting. Didn't mean to be so testy. </p> <p>Hugging you back! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/3#post-308385 Sat, 05 Mar 2011 01:29:44 +0000 Isabel 308385@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Zoe - you answered my question with regards to " compared to what". I guess if I don't know the person, or even if I do, I can't tell whether are doing it because they really enjoy it or because they are being "ironic". So I just get utterly perplexed. So if you have to explain you are being ironic, are you really ? Oh my , my head hurts.</p> <p>And you are right, these things do become trends. Malcolm Gladwell wrote about this in his fab book, "The Tipping Point " where he specifically addressed individual style on the street exploding into a trend. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/3#post-308364 Sat, 05 Mar 2011 00:25:30 +0000 Aida 308364@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Any Futurama fans? The episode "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings" touches on the use of the word "irony" most comically (and in song!); their definition: The use of something other than its literal intention.</p> <p>On a side note, I've a close friend who is VERY good at wearing/doing things in an ironic manner but he's not a hipster. He's a bit like Zoe's college boy example, but without the college :)</p> <p>EDIT: Una your rant makes me want to hug you ^^ </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/3#post-308349 Sat, 05 Mar 2011 00:11:09 +0000 Zoe B. 308349@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I've always thought of it as wearing an item or an outfit, usually associated with a specific period in history, or a subgroup (for example socioeconomic), but wearing it without honestly believing it reflects who you are. In fact choosing something on purpose that is the opposite of what someone like you might be expected to wear. Really what it boils down to is sort of wearing it in a costume-y way. Goes hand in hand with going against the trends too.<br /> Hipsters in the past rebelled by wearing, say, free-spirit type clothes, so that is not ironic, because it is literal. Now in our anything goes world the kids think they are different by wearing old-fashioned suits and mustaches and fedoras, but obviously these items are associated with certain types of people, but they are wearing them not honestly, but ironically, because they subvert the meaning of the clothes... The college-educated affluent boys who wear plaid shirts, john deer caps and drink pabst blue ribbon beer--items associated with rural, working people.</p> <p>I could be totally off... and confusing all hipsters with ironic style.</p> <p>I think this slide show is entertaining <a href="http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2009/12/the-evolution-of-the-hipster-2000-2009.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.pastemagazine.com/a.....-2009.html</a><br /> Also the blog <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/" rel="nofollow">http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/</a> discusses some of the fads associated with hipsters...<br /> But I think eventually, ironic or not, some of the fads have made it into mainstream fashion (fedoras, retro glasses), so that makes it confusing. I read somewhere once that fashion designers have always looked at the young kids in up-and-coming neighborhoods for inspiration, so these trends have a big big influence on what all of us will be wearing eventually. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/3#post-308306 Fri, 04 Mar 2011 23:16:35 +0000 catgirl 308306@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I read a great definition of irony once, along the lines of "buying an Armani suit with an extra pair of pants, and then burning a hole in the coat." </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/3#post-308247 Fri, 04 Mar 2011 22:17:03 +0000 Isabel 308247@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>AG ! I am so glad you chimed in !</p> <p>Poor Alanis.....she doesn't care about being correct, she made A LOT of money.</p> <p>All I want to know is, ironic in comparison to what ?</p> <p>( MaryK, thanks for finally explaining it to me and not telling me that if I didn't get it, then I wouldn't get it : ) </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/3#post-308235 Fri, 04 Mar 2011 22:04:50 +0000 catgirl 308235@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I've stayed out of this discussion because few things irk me more than the way the word "ironic" is misused these days (not by any of you, but in general). WTH is "ironic fashion"? Self-referential? Pretentious? Condescending? </p> <p>ETA: I was in a grouchy mood when I wrote this, and I realize I'm probably sounding like the old curmudgeon I secretly am. Ironic, perhaps, that I'm bitter about not being hip? And also to add a high-five to MaryK re: Pulp Fiction! I am a huge fan also - mainly because it is a great example of a classic story told so creatively. Lots of films tried to imitate it, but completely missed the fact that it's ultimately a very traditional story. A whole separate discussion!</p> <p>But of course you all are sucking me in, being so interesting and articulate, and what a great discussion it is. I have no knowledge of, or interest in, hipster culture or whatever you'd call it - in the pursuit of so-called irony, it seems to have leached out all the fun and joy of just being silly.</p> <p>Remember the Alanis Morisette song, "Ironic"? This is my favorite description of it, from this website:</p> <p><a href="http://www.lyricinterpretations.com/blog/songs-that-may-actually-make-you-stupid" rel="nofollow">http://www.lyricinterpretation.....you-stupid</a></p> <p>"1: Alanis Morissette: Ironic</p> <p>At last, we have reached the pinnacle of our brain-murdering list of song lyrics. Alanis Morisette’s Ironic has earned itself the ire of English majors worldwide since its release in 1996, and for good reason: nothing that she writes about in the song is actually ironic.</p> <p>Which is, you know, .. Ironic.</p> <p>Essentially, all of the lyrics to Ironic are incidences of bad timing, of terrible circumstances, and other unfortunate events. These are called coincidences, and these are not how irony is defined. However, it should be noted that the line “It’s a death row pardon two minutes too late” actually is a form of cosmic irony, which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as being “as if in mockery of the fitness or rightness of things.”)</p> <p>Personally, I blame the song for the flagrant misuse of the word on an almost daily basis by people wishing to sound as though they were even vaguely literate." </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/3#post-308125 Fri, 04 Mar 2011 18:14:08 +0000 MsMary 308125@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>*still sniffling over Pan's Labyrinth*</p> <p>RT, GREAT point about The Silly! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/3#post-308120 Fri, 04 Mar 2011 18:09:36 +0000 Isabel 308120@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>RT - I can' t bring myself to watch Reservoir Dogs....Maybe I am too sensitive and take this all too seriously.</p> <p>I love your thoughts that after a while, you just BECOME silly !!!</p> <p>( RT and MaryK - Benicio Del Torro would love the two of you ! I heard him interviewed and you would've loved it. ) </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/3#post-307899 Fri, 04 Mar 2011 04:26:38 +0000 RandomThoughts (Andrea) 307899@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Some of my fave movies are Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and Snatch. They are ridiculous shows.</p> <p>I will be honest, Pan's Labyrinth only won me over for it's gorgeous monsters. Can't wait to see the Don't Be Afraid of the Dark remake.</p> <p>I find the whole 'ironic' thing funny. If you do it everyday, you're just doing it because you like it, be it an activity or a style. I'm all for being silly for the sake of being silly but at some point you just ARE silly. (And I admit, I'm a total dork.) </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/3#post-307885 Fri, 04 Mar 2011 03:48:10 +0000 MsMary 307885@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I think the reason I loved Pulp Fiction was that it was SO over-the-top that I didn't have to worry about things like whether the cops were going to come after Butch later on, or whether Mia was going to OD some time when nobody was there to save her, or any messy details like that. And the other thing I loved about it was that we saw a lot real, true, honest-to-goodness romantic love among all the comic-book craziness. Butch and Fabienne, Mia and Vincent (on Vincent's part, anyway -- what might have been), Bonnie and Jimmy.</p> <p>On the other hand, I also LOVED Pan's Labyrinth. Nothing ironic there -- just lots and lots of true-blue straight-up honest-to-goodness human emotion! *sob* </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/3#post-307874 Fri, 04 Mar 2011 03:31:42 +0000 Isabel 307874@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>MaryK - I should have picked anther movie as an example. Yikes !! You just saw all those characters as potential clients ! Personally, I loved Pan's Labyrinth, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and My Life as a Dog....none of them ironic, I don't think.</p> <p>R&amp;J - maybe that is why I did not fare well with that movie, I am rather linear - how ironic. </p> <p>Oh, and haven't you heard of "ironic" lung cancer ? </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/3#post-307591 Thu, 03 Mar 2011 19:32:09 +0000 RoseandJoan 307591@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh Isabel, you have made me laugh, does smoking ironically mean you are aware of the health implications but say 'hell yeah' anyway because irony gives you immunity from your silly choices.</p> <p>My brain still hurts when I think of this.</p> <p>I recently re watched Reservoir Dogs and was amazed at how quickly cutting edge can date. I imagine Pulp Fiction to be the same. BTW my favourite part of Pulp Fiction was the fragmented and rearranged plot line. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/3#post-307536 Thu, 03 Mar 2011 18:08:26 +0000 MsMary 307536@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>1. "Pulp Fiction" is my very favorite movie ever!!</p> <p>2. I think Madonna and Sharon Stone look amazing in the slide show posted on the first page, even though apparently they are insufficiently ironic to pass muster with the slide-show authors. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/3#post-307475 Thu, 03 Mar 2011 16:33:52 +0000 Isabel 307475@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I CAN'T believe that I missed this post ! ( thanks Scarlet for pointing this out..)</p> <p>I recently used the term here on the site. It is something that has been haunting since last year ( yes, this is MY life RoseandJoan ! ) ever since my brother-in-law used it. He is a photographer in Hollywood. He also refers to doing things out of "irony" - like his friends were drinking bad beer and smoking Marlboro cigarettes in "irony". </p> <p>I think it is a very silly and funny term that no one can really pinpoint. AND that is what makes it so appealing to people. I find that some people want to be very different from the crowd and part of that is confusing OTHER people. You become "so cool" that no one "gets" it. I think that is what "ironic" style is. Now I don't know if some one is a poor dresser or is ironic. People who think that their style is ironic, also think of themselves as "uber" witty.</p> <p>For example, I didn't get the movie Pulp Fiction. It became almost blasphemy that I would admit it to people. Yet when I asked what was so great about it, I often got the answer, " You can't put it into words. It is of a different level and you don't get it. "</p> <p>These are very important things to contemplate because it gives us a glimpse into the human psyche. I LOVE THIS !!!! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/3#post-200995 Mon, 16 Aug 2010 00:20:41 +0000 taylor 200995@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>So true Maya...and I loved receiving your sweet note on your HK Paris note paper.<br /> It totally made me smile, because it reminds me so much of my daughter, who has spilled her HK love onto my granddaughter who has tons of HK stuff including undies GALORE!!!<br /> You and my daughter are so close in age...this HK love spans all age groups:) </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/2#post-200981 Mon, 16 Aug 2010 00:11:48 +0000 Maya 200981@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Wow Khris. Talk about dream jobs...</p> <p>I don't really wear Sanrio ironically. I guess that's the difference. I'm just genuinely crazed! Taylor has been the recipient of my HK Paris stationery. I am also a big fan of Deery Lou and recently made my mom a new Christmas stocking decked out in Deery Lou stickers.</p> <p>That's right Shana! I had my black glasses as a senior in high school, which was 2001-2002. My history teacher used to say I looked "very professorial" and referred to them as my professor glasses. By YLF standards they were way too huge on my face and much too dark and heavy!</p> <p>To answer your question, Julie, I think by the time the mainstream crowds catch on, most of the hipsters have moved on to something new anyway. Not necessarily even because they have become mainstream, but just because they're always on to something new. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/2#post-200966 Sun, 15 Aug 2010 23:42:27 +0000 shana 200966@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Personally, I find "ironic" style a fringe youth-driven trend similar to say the punk trend in the 80's and the goth trend in the 90's. It starts off fringe, never becomes totally mainstream (although some elements are incorporated) and loses its luster as it becomes more popular. Elements of "ironic" style are heavily used by hipsters but not ever hipster dresses ironically.</p> <p>Julie, to your point, I think it already has become about fitting in at this point. The trendsetters (dare I say Maya might have been one since she was right at the epicenter!) are probably moving on! I see that even the young banker types on Wall Street are wearing the buddy holly glasses now. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/2#post-200892 Sun, 15 Aug 2010 19:41:35 +0000 chewyspaghetti 200892@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I used to work at a Sanrio store! Much of the merchandise is not geared toward children- contact lens cases, $100 necklaces, purse organizers, etc. I think a lot of young adults are so fond of Hello Kitty because they grew up with it, so it's iconic to them. I grew up in a time when Sanrio characters were not very popular in the US yet, but in a place that was predominantly Asian immigrants- so they brought it with them. It was certainly cultural in that time/place, but the Caucasians caught on. I remember begging my mom to take us to the hello Kitty store on Saturdays. I have my share of Sanrio character items still (a Keroppi pill box is always in my purse), so I understand. The Little Twin Stars *always* make me think of my sister- because they were her favorites. I look for their items because of that. I just think it's interesting that you choose to hold onto that one item, even though you refuse the look as a whole. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/2#post-200844 Sun, 15 Aug 2010 18:28:24 +0000 RoseandJoan 200844@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>More interesting thoughts.</p> <p>Taking Maya's example of the black thick rimmed glasses, does this item lose it's irony as it gains popularity amongst a subsection of society. At what point does it become less about irony and more about fitting in. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/2#post-200836 Sun, 15 Aug 2010 18:03:28 +0000 RandomThoughts (Andrea) 200836@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Huh, I have a Hello Kitty t-shirt that is, I suppose, a parody of Kiss' "Rock and Roll Over" album cover. I never thought it was ironic, just kind of funny and/or cute. Hope I'm not being a fashion looser at 40! (I probably am, but hey, I like it.) </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/2#post-200817 Sun, 15 Aug 2010 17:25:30 +0000 Maya 200817@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>It's not that interesting really. It's a choice, as I mentioned, like anything else. </p> <p>As I said in the other thread, I don't see Hello Kitty/Sanrio as being a child's thing. Have you ever been to the Sanrio store in Times Square? There are more adults than there are kids (adults who are not just parents, btw). One of my good friends who is Japanese has virtually her entire house decked out in Sanrio. By "her" I mean her parents. It's cultural as well. As I said, I don't expect everyone to understand, and that's okay. They don't have to. </p> <p>I feel too old for ironic style because the rebellious, snarky element just doesn't appeal to me anymore. It did when I was a teen and in my early 20's, when it was fun to giggle at grownups who just didn't get it, and be able to identify with those who did. But I don't really want to identify with those people anymore. Nothing wrong with it. I have just outgrown it. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/2#post-200813 Sun, 15 Aug 2010 17:11:04 +0000 chewyspaghetti 200813@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Maya- it's interesting that you consider yourself too old for hipster style, but still carry your Chococat bag- and see yourself doing that for a long time. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/2#post-200796 Sun, 15 Aug 2010 16:17:10 +0000 Maya 200796@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Exactly right, bj. It's almost like a signal. The ones who get it are the only ones who are worth your time.</p> <p>When I wanted a pair of thick black glasses in high school, my mom couldn't figure out why I wanted to look like an old man or Buddy Holly. I got a kick out of it. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/2#post-200789 Sun, 15 Aug 2010 16:10:43 +0000 RoseandJoan 200789@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>bj, without a doubt you are right LOL.</p> <p>I'm the absolute polar opposite of a hipster :0) but that suits me fine. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/2#post-200783 Sun, 15 Aug 2010 16:03:20 +0000 bj1111 200783@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>i think wearers of ironic clothing may derive further delight from other NOT getting it. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/2#post-200761 Sun, 15 Aug 2010 15:04:51 +0000 RoseandJoan 200761@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I guess my problem with ironic style is that it expects knowledge on behalf of the audience or requires more thought than I'm really willing to give to give. Do I really want to wear something which will look ironic to five percent of the population but confuse the rest. I think I may stick with wearing fashionable, well fitting clothes which suit my personality.</p> <p>Thank you so much for your responses.</p> <p>Phoebe your outfits sound killer. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/2#post-200585 Sat, 14 Aug 2010 19:48:28 +0000 Maya 200585@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Ironic style definitely has a snarky, sarcastic undertone to it, which is probably why it is a much more youth-oriented style. I think that's why the gramma in the Hello Kitty shirt just wouldn't have the same effect. </p> <p>I hate to admit it but Urban Outfitters definitely has a hipster vibe to it, and plenty of ironic clothing to boot.</p> <p>There are definitely older hipsters like Lou Reed. But mostly I think of it as something for college kids. Even at 26 I feel a little too old for it. Although I certainly have the snarky personality for it. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/2#post-200573 Sat, 14 Aug 2010 18:36:46 +0000 Maya 200573@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh Angie, you need to get yourself a copy of the hipster handbook. I'd loan you mine but I already loaned it to that friend who I mentioned in the "tearing up" thread and he never returned it...</p> <p>And yes you have seen lots of hipsters! I took you to Williamsburg for crying out loud. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/genuinely-confused-by-ironic-style-enlighten-me/page/2#post-200537 Sat, 14 Aug 2010 15:16:20 +0000 Angie 200537@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thank you, bj1111! You are a star! Hipsters are cool bloke folks. Quite young too I see. We have loads of hipsters in my neck of the Seattle woods - along with goth and grungy beauties. Love it all :0) </p>