Heh. You called? *cracks knuckles*
I agree wth Angie’s assessment of “edgy” as something situational that can’t be bought off the peg. It isn’t necessarily an expression of personal style either, but of attitude and charisma. For instance, you could say Helen Mirren is every bit as edgy as Tilda Swinton, because who else could possibly make Dolce & Gabbana look so downright subversive? The style is the epitome of conventional flattery, but the woman herself is dangerously talented and sexy as all get-out, hence the edge.
If you accept a literal definition of avant-garde, you can argue that this concept of “edge” as the evocative expression of a mood or situation, is the main driving force in contemporary fashion right now, and the reason why just about everything on the international catwalks looks like retreads of something you’ve seen before. This is a sorry state of affairs in my opinion, there are all sorts of reasons for it, but I’m hopeful that we’ll get past it and onto something better soon. In the meantime, new contexts in urban styling are food for thought, and almost certainly where we’re heading next. There’s always an avant-garde operating at a different edge, where pushing the boundary is about questioning form, function and the limits to craft - this has never been easy to find, but it’s still out there and it merits seeking out and supporting.
As for minimalism, this is another thing fashion can’t sell you, but that’s not for want of trying. I’ve had the pleasure of hanging out with some very stylish people over the years but the only real minimalists I’ve ever met have been ascetic Buddhists and even then I’m not really sure. If a dedicated spiritual practice is no guarantee, my guess is you’re unlikely to find on a lifestyle blog. On the other hand, we’re all familiar with the thrilling moment when those jeans and that tee were absolutely perfect and you wouldn’t have wanted to wear anything else. Again, it’s purely situational, because life is complicated and tomorrow is another day.
Any one of these ideas in isolation would be very hard to pin down, but all three of them together give an interesting perspective on our expectations of fashion and how we’re socialised to look at style. The fact that none of us can identify aesthetics that we could all agree on goes to show just how slippery they really are, but each represents an elusive quality we all wish we could nail - a vibrant expression of self, an interaction with a wearable piece of art, or a perfectly realised outfit with no need for embellishment. Do any of these things really exist as tangible commodities in today’s fashion culture? Probably not. Does their promise keep us on the treadmill? Most definitely.