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YouLookFab Forum » Topic: Normcore: what the...? https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Sat, 04 Apr 2026 08:09:48 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 <![CDATA[Search]]> q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php Lantana on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the/page/2#post-1195398 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 09:40:26 +0000 Lantana 1195398@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Your post prompted me to read up on this term and I found several instructive sites. I gather the term's originators (Khole) mean normcore to denote an ability to adapt to the social milieu one finds oneself in, so it is largely to do with a sense of community and belonging and in that sense it relates to clothing choice. The term has subsequently morphed into meaning dressing blandly, or "normally" and it would seem the original meaning has evaporated. Pity, because I found Khole's introduction to the term fascinating. Neel on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the/page/2#post-1195383 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 07:42:27 +0000 Neel 1195383@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I am stepping out in my unbranded PJs and crocs to support this movement. Scarlet on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the/page/2#post-1195378 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 07:28:50 +0000 Scarlet 1195378@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ " Is the only difference between my life and the streets of Soho a heavily woven cloak of irony?" Ha, I love this. Yes, I also read about this recently following the link love tidbit. Blew my mind at first. Still digesting. I thought the part where someone wrote it was inspired by google street views that showed average people and that they looked pretty good was interesting. I think I read that in a link followed from the ManRepeller site. ETA: so are mom jeans a part of this? I am having such a hard time with the resurgence of mom jeans due to my personal history with such. I wonder where that whole thing is going. Parsley on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the/page/2#post-1195287 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 03:28:00 +0000 Parsley 1195287@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I live in an area where irony would be lost on the locals, too. And honestly, I find irony pretentious and prefer to be straightforward when it comes to clothing. rabbit on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195252 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 02:53:05 +0000 rabbit 1195252@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Love Macklemore too una.   Both of those songs have a lot to say about fashion and consumerism.    Anyone who is interested in lyrics analysis,  this site is kinda fun, you click on the lyrics and it gives you footnotes that help with any cultural references that might go over your head  (not necessarily worksafe/adult language).  <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rapgenius.com/Macklemore-and-ryan-lewis-thrift-shop-lyrics">http://rapgenius.com/Macklemor.....hop-lyrics</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rapgenius.com/Macklemore-and-ryan-lewis-wing-lyrics">http://rapgenius.com/Macklemor.....ing-lyrics</a> rae on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195241 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 02:30:21 +0000 rae 1195241@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I feel so uncool; never heard of this before. Isabel on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195213 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 01:46:29 +0000 Isabel 1195213@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Now Macklemore,  he IS cool...no irony in that.    :  )  catgirl on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195205 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 01:41:23 +0000 catgirl 1195205@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Love Macklemore, love Thrift Shop, and love all his songs with fantastic messages - Wings is another one I talk to my DS about all the time.  <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div>I was seven years old, when I got my first pair And I stepped outside And I was like, Momma, this air bubble right here, it's gonna make me fly I hit that court, and when I jumped, I jumped, I swear I got so high I touched the net, Momma I touched the net, this is the best day of my life Air Max's was next, That air bubble, that mesh The box, the smell, the stuffin', the tread, in school I was so cool I knew that I couldn't crease 'em My friends couldn't afford 'em Four stripes, on their Adidas On the court I wasn't the best, but my kicks were like the pros Yo, I stick out my tongue so everyone could see that logo Nike Air Flight, but bad was so dope And then my friend Carlos' brother got murdered for his fours, whoa See he just wanted a jump shot, but they wanted to start a cult though Didn't wanna get caught, from Genesee Park to Othello You could clown for those Pro Wings, with the velcro Those were not tight I was trying to fly without leaving the ground, Cause I wanted to be like Mike, right Wanted to be him, I wanted to be that guy, I wanted to touch the rim I wanted to be cool, and I wanted to fit in, I wanted what he had, America, it begins [Chorus:] I want to fly Can you take me far away Give me a star to reach for Tell me what it takes And I'll go so high I'll go so high My feet won't touch the ground Stitch my wings And pull the strings I bought these dreams That all fall down We want what we can't have, commodity makes us want it So expensive, damn, I just got to flaunt it Got to show 'em, so exclusive, this that new shit A hundred dollars for a pair of shoes I would never hoop in Look at me, look at me, I'm a cool kid I'm an individual, yea, but I'm part of a movement My movement told me be a consumer and I consumed it They told me to just do it, I listened to what that swoosh said Look at what that swoosh did See it consumed my thoughts Are you stupid, don't crease 'em, just leave 'em in that box Strangled by these laces, laces I can barely talk That's my air bubble and I'm lost, if it pops We are what we wear, we wear what we are But see I look inside the mirror and think Phil Knight tricked us all Will I stand for change, or stay in my box These Nikes help me define me, but I'm trying to take mine, off [Chorus:] I want to fly Can you take me far away Give me a star to reach for Tell me what it takes And I'll go so high I'll go so high My feet won't touch the ground Stitch my wings And pull the strings I bought these dreams That all fall down They started out, with what I wear to school That first day, like these are what make you cool And this pair, this would be my pair of shoe So much more than just a pair of shoes Nah, this is what I am What I wore, this is the source of my youth This dream that they sold to you For a hundred dollars and some change Consumption is in the veins And now I see it's just another pair of shoes</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div> Echo on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195183 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 01:17:50 +0000 Echo 1195183@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ " Is the only difference between my life and the streets of Soho a heavily woven cloak of irony?" YES. You hit the nail on the head with the very first post. And because no one in the areas where people have worn these styles for years will ever see or notice the irony, IMO it is pointless to engage. If I lived somewhere "hip", then someone might notice. As it stands, if I adopted the look, the only thing people around here would think was that I finally succumbed to looking like a local. rabbit on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195180 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 01:13:02 +0000 rabbit 1195180@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ The part of hipster 'irony' that doesn't jibe with my personal experience is the people I know that dress hipster or normcore really don't have any money.  They are often educated, they are often in creative fields, but they are genuinely broke, and of various ages.  And they genuinely get excited about offbeat nerdy clothing and appreciate it on others.   I did a fist pump for Macklemore when 'Thrift Shop' became the first song in 20 years to top the Billboard 100 not released by a major label.  That song lays it all out so succinctly and clearly too, and the rejection of consumerism that underlies these styles for many people.   The fact that the song 'Thrift Shop' has gone about as mainstream as it can, and also that Lorde's 'Royals' and 'Team' with similar sentiments  are hitting huge on radio also points, for me, toward a fringe to mainstream move for what are fairly populist ideas. ('And we'll never be royals / It don't run in our blood / That kind of luxe just ain't for us.', 'We live in cities you'll never see on screen / Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run things' ).  I know the articles are talking about designers and rich young fashion leaders who adopt this look.   I guess I just want to say that the economic competent to it all, which is at least a small part of how it started, is something that gives me pause before dismissing it as completely just an affected trend. ETA:  I also like what Aziraphale said about online information overload (and marketing overload) which in my mind leads naturally to being jaded and overwhelmed.  And also the fragmentation of a shared community part. claracluck on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195168 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 00:56:40 +0000 claracluck 1195168@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ sorry but  my heads spinning I'm just gonna go and lie down in a dark room Laurinda on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195167 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 00:56:20 +0000 Laurinda 1195167@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Meh... I was #normcore before those hippersnappers ever sipped their first Juicy Juice. catgirl on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195160 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 00:45:34 +0000 catgirl 1195160@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ So does that mean it's square to be hip?  I foresee a new Huey Lewis song... Angie on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195157 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 00:43:13 +0000 Angie 1195157@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Yes. We've linked to Normcore and mentioned the phenomenon a few times in blog posts already. It's hip to be square at the moment. I agree that normcore is a form of ironic dressing - and a nod to 2014 fashion that is as inclusive and diverse as ever.  Vildy on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195156 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 00:42:31 +0000 Vildy 1195156@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ See, I look at it differently. I think the Williamsburg hipsters people claim to dislike have adopted typical unfashiony middle class middle age mid-century wear but they have done it ironically, to establish themselves as cool by being able to recognize and exploit squareness. So they're insufferable. But the recognition of "normcore" is just a fear that people who traditionally ignore trends and keep wearing the same old thing they can buy at stores without heritage reputations may be cooler than the fashionable since they always knew what they wanted without being marketed to.  So normcore is very much like what Una describes the folks around her are wearing daily - practical, easily available, easily replaceable, slow to change. It's like the hipsters suddenly becoming afraid that the people they are sending up were one up on them all the time and without even playing the game or any game.  It's very related to Cathy Horyn's last column wherein she says that she's tired of clothes "speaking" and being ideas and just wants to be comfortable, the way she thinks most people who are looking to buy wearable clothes do.  It's a division set up between clothes as unremarkably functional and clothes as art.  Either one is fine when it is the person's own authentic passion. Janet on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195154 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 00:39:41 +0000 Janet 1195154@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ It just makes me kind of laugh and shake my head. It's just another trend, and one I'm not interested in participating in. It's kind of like a silly fashion in-joke. rabbit on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195147 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 00:37:23 +0000 rabbit 1195147@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I'm reading through the comments on the manrepeller article, and finding the back and forth arguments interesting.  I think I agree with the ones that argue that it's just a pendulum swinging thing. The way I see it, nothing exists in a vacuum, everyone dresses both to please themselves, to please their sub-culture/core group, and in opposition to something else.  The hippies opposed their parent's looks, and wanted to look cool and attractive to each other too, just like everyone else does, unless they are embracing true eccentricity, which is fairly rare.   One thing normcore does, which hipster 'fashion' also does very well, is level the economic playing field.  Ironic or accessible?  I think it depends on the wearer and the observer. I like visual biodiversity, so would be sad if all creatives stopped creating imaginative clothes, but since that seems unlikely I'm just kind of watching with interest from the sidelines. ETA:  As someone who was part of a young creative dot com office full of people who would go en-mass after work to the 1$ Pabst happy hour, I have to say, maybe it starts ironically, but it sticks because people can afford it. ;) Aziraphale on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195146 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 00:37:03 +0000 Aziraphale 1195146@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Lol Isabel, I don't mean "do whatever I want," I didn't mean parade through the streets with no clothes on.  ;-) What I mean is, we have nearly unlimited access to information, which expands our choices to something no one has ever seen before. Isabel on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195137 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 00:31:33 +0000 Isabel 1195137@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Az, if you do whatever you want, you could end of on Facebook going viral .  : )  claracluck on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195136 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 00:31:32 +0000 claracluck 1195136@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ sorry but doesn,t this whole thing just apply to anyone under 15..........just saying . Aziraphale on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195135 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 00:30:14 +0000 Aziraphale 1195135@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ What's very interesting about all this is the fact that we are living in an age of accelerated information transfer. Nothing has time to take hold. I had not heard of the term "normcore" until today, but now it's part of my lexicon. Whether or not I think the whole idea is silly or not -- that is, embracing sameness in order to belong, and attaching a "cool" factor to that -- that's beside the point. The point is, nobody can keep up with anything. Ever. And we won't ever again! (Until the zombie apocalypse, of course).  ;-) Information travels too quickly. We are breaking new ground in human history here. I actually think it's kind of freeing. I feel like I am free to literally do whatever I want, and I don't just mean about clothes. But no wonder that engenders a bit of anxiety. If you can do whatever you want, the choices -- and fallout -- are all yours. The problem of connecting with others is a real one, however. I'm not sure how that's going to play out. The normcore folks have that right -- we really don't have communities anymore. Isabel on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195134 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 00:29:12 +0000 Isabel 1195134@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Mo,  I completely agree with you.  This is just "ironic" dressing redux.  Or "ironic" beer drinking.  Like people who drank Pabst to be "ironic".  How am I suppose to know that they are being "ironic" unless they have a t shirt that says   so !  LOL  Deborah on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195121 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 00:17:45 +0000 Deborah 1195121@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I'm with Mo on this. I read the Manrepeller post and despite all the clever words I found myself confused by the end, so Isabel thank you for the definition. The beauty of fashion is that we can wear what we choose to wear. If we we want to be trendy we can, if we want to be alternate or subversive we can etc. For some people the way they dress is what makes them feel they "fit in" . And my clothing is not the only thing that makes me the individual that I am. And for some people clothes are just things to keep them warm and covered and they have little interest in fashion...and that's ok. If Leandra wants to be "individual", which is increasingly difficult because even the most cool people appear to be conforming to something, good for her! But I think we should be encouraging people to be and dress for who they are. I actually found the post a little discouraging and negative. Oh sorry ladies, this became a bit of a rant...trust no one is offended by my thoughts. Mo on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195111 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 00:10:28 +0000 Mo 1195111@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ my comment was in the wanting to opt out by joining in - it makes no sense.  Much like the 'nonconforming' hippies all dressing in a same way to show they're not the same.  Yawn.   EDIT: and the underlying," you'll get that I'm doing this with irony if you're cool, too" is the pretentious part I find stupid.  Because, in the end, you look just like the uncool people you are dissing, but because of some unseen 'intent' it's all different?   rabbit on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195106 Sat, 15 Mar 2014 00:07:00 +0000 rabbit 1195106@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Okay, just to play devil's advocate for a moment, and I'm just theorizing here, I don't have strong feelings one way or the other... Mo is normcore sneeches on beaches?  Or is mainstream fashion? It seems to me capital "F" Fashion is inexorability linked with wealth and consumerism.  (Even though it's an art and craft as well, so it also can bypass and transcend these at times too.)   The one year I went to private school wearing a uniform as a scholarship student I found this out fast.  Even though everyone was wearing plaid skirts, white button downs, and penny loafers I wasn't wearing 'the right' white button downs or loafers.  Mine came from Kmart, not J Crew.  I think about Abercrombie and Fitch and how subversive the reclaiming of it is by some of the groups who wear it now.  Didn't A&F's creator stipulate that it was only for the prom queens and homecoming kings in high school?  Uncool kids or kids of different sizes or poorer kids please stay away, he said in effect.  So normcore -- is it like Marie Antoinette dressing as a shepherdess, oh how rustic to be part of the 1% but slumming it, tra la la.  Or is it an Occupy Wallstreet, I'll join you my comrades of the 99% at the barricades kind of thing? Isabel on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195100 Fri, 14 Mar 2014 23:57:13 +0000 Isabel 1195100@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Nancylee, LOL !!!!   Then that makes you soooooo cool !   ;  ) nancylee on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195099 Fri, 14 Mar 2014 23:56:19 +0000 nancylee 1195099@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Thanks for the enlightenment, Isabel!  Thanks to YLF (and my 22-year-old son) I am keeping a toehold in the modern world.  haha! Isabel on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195098 Fri, 14 Mar 2014 23:53:21 +0000 Isabel 1195098@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Nancylee, a friend of the woman who writes The Man Repeller coined that term...and she used it in her blog.  And today is seems to be all over the web.  Normcore,  being like everyone sartorially.  No individuality.  nancylee on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195096 Fri, 14 Mar 2014 23:51:43 +0000 nancylee 1195096@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Wow. I feel so old!  Normcore?  Wha?  I will continue to watch this thread and learn.  ;) Isabel on "Normcore: what the...?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/normcore-what-the#post-1195093 Fri, 14 Mar 2014 23:47:40 +0000 Isabel 1195093@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ OMG !!!   UNA !  This was word, "normcore" was on my mind all day.  Also because of the link and the posts.   I had to run some errands today which involved the mall and Marshalls and the orthodontist.   I wore brown tall boots with skinny jeans...it seemed as if 90 % of the women that I saw were wearing the same thing.  I told myself, " Yeah, but you have a lovely, large scarf with flowers that tie in all the colors of your boots and blazer ( which adds texture ) and then your hat...you always get compliments on your hat..." blah, blah blah.    Is there anything else ?   Beside Lululemon and Northface ?  ( That's really big here too.  )  Rabbit, interestingly enough, you post made me realize that being "cool" in a school setting  ( at least 5-12 grades ) is the paradox of what you stated :  those "cool" kids all wear the same clothes, right down to the headbands on the girls.  That really started changing, at least for me, in college.   Great link, Rabbit !!!!!  thank you , btw.