Edgy: let's discuss it. - YouLookFab Forum

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Edgy: let's discuss it.

catgirl

Veteran

In Christy's shoe post, Angie wrote:

"Furthermore, edgy does not mean "rough, rugged, studs, UWP and zippers". Edgy just means less mainstream and more fringe - looks that are "on the edge of fashion and not conventional". You can have an edgy bohemian style. An edgy classic style. An edgy arty style. Hope that makes sense."

Of course it makes sense!

So can we talk about how this plays out IRL? I think of edge as a separate factor: i.e edgy + ladylike = edgy ladylike.

What connotes edgy to you right now in your style or in general? And what is NOT edgy?

Dressing

26 replies

Latest reply was from nicoleb

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

More than edgy I go for cool. Hey maybe I need to get myself analysed, I'm in my 50s and I still want to be the cool kid...

I think there is an element of edgy in cool, in that cool is usually not conservative but may incorporate classics in an irreverent way. Even if that means just scrunching sleeves on a button down. Cool especially implies effortless to me.

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

For my personal style, edgy means wearing my Docs with a ladylike dress, or even wearing a midi because I'm short. These are less conventional choices for ME.

jayne

Veteran

I think Anngeby is edgy...but I absolutely cannot describe it

RunnerChick

Sometimes, I wear a silk shirt and a pencil shirt or a floral dress with tights and lace up boots. Good days: I feel edgy; other days, I feel mismatched.

I'm now coming to the half-hearted conclusion that edgy may something to do with the attitude you bring, and how you use your clothes to make a statement about who you are.

Sorry to go off the deep-end, but it's one of those days. I'm wearing troopas with a dress

Jyoti

(website)

Veteran

Right now, I think of edgy as something that's a bit weird and out there. Something that doesn't fit the conventional wisdom that you hear repeated in fashion books and advice over and over (and over...).

I've been thinking a lot about style and fashion overall the last few days and what has recently crystallized for me is that style is much more defined by how one puts pieces together rather than what the pieces are themselves.

So sometimes I feel like pieces are edgy, but what I'm really thinking is how those pieces in a particular outfit will make that outfit edgy.

What is NOT edgy to me is an outfit that is expected and ubiquitous and not 'fresh'. It doesn't bring anything new to the table and is very straight-forward and follows all the fashion rules.

catgirl

Veteran

Jyoti, that makes sense. It's why Angie is saying flats with pencil skirts are edgy - because all the books recommend heels. But the trouble is, the rules change all the time! Skinnies were edgy, now they are not...

And you are 100% wise in saying it's how the pieces go together that can make an outfit edgy. Theory blazer + BF jeans = edgy. Theory blazer + black pencil skirt = conservative.

ironkurtin

Veteran

Unexpected in moderation is edgy.

Unexpected in excess is eccentric.

cciele

Veteran

I'm of a similar mindset as Jyoti: unconventional. But that's compared to your norm or the environment in which you wear the outfit. For example, if I dress up in one of my edgy outfits when going to some alternative bar in SF, it won't edgy at all because there will be lots more people that will be dressed more "out there" than me. But if I wore the same outfit to a suburban bar, it would definitely be considered edgy.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I think "unexpected" is a key word to me in edginess, and I also think edginess is one of those context-dependent things. Edgy in one environment is mundane in another. I totally get what Angie was saying. I like putting a twist on an outfit that takes it beyond what I see around me every day. Today it's a semi-tuck on a top, slouchy cargos, and a mixed-metal statement necklace I wouldn't normally pair with my otherwise black and white outfit, bookended with copper flat sandals. A year ago, I might have worn the same thing, but with the top untucked, a small necklace, and black sandals. It *feels* more stylish to me, a bit more thoughtful. I hope it looks that way.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I agree that leather, studs, etc does not automatically equal edgy. The BF and I were discussing this relating to the typical biker dress code here in FL. Sure, they are wearing leathers and bandanas, and the ubiquitous Harley orange, but there is absolutely nothing edgy about it. It's as safe, in their circles, as a suit in a bank. Expected. Unoriginal. Done to death. Not edgy in the least. Now, a gal on a bike in flowing cream silk might turn some heads lol!!

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Ah, Janet - we cross posted a similar idea!

catgirl

Veteran

Aha, the idea of context is key! Carharrts in Manhattan are edgy, in Alaska, not so much.

rachylou

Veteran

I'll go with unexpected, a little dangerous or unsafe, and just barely missing inappropriate or uncomfortable. Socially speaking. Like girls who wear chokers in this day and age are always edgy... unless they're in Ren Faire costume. In which case, they look in keeping, but are in fact still edgy ;>

rae

(website)

Veteran

I have always thought of edgy as shorthand for "cutting edge" - as in the newest, hippest, freshest thing. What was edgy last season is either trendy/mainstream or passe this season... One of the reasons I don't aspire to be edgy, I guess. Like, if it happens, it happens but I'm with Denise in that I aim more for cool.

Caro in Oz

Veteran

alaskagirl wrote: "Angie is saying flats with pencil skirts are edgy - because all the books recommend heels. But the trouble is, the rules change all the time! Skinnies were edgy, now they are not..." & I really agree.

Is this the fundamental flaw with "trying" to be edgy? Do people who ARE edgy concern themselves with these questions/rules or do they just like change & breaking the rules?
Also I know I like change & I've been known to break the rules but I don't consider myself "edgy". This is really interesting.

christy

Veteran

Una, thanks for bringing this up because I've been pondering it as well since reading Angie's reply. I had been thinking of edgy as being "tougher" somehow but "cutting edge" as Rae points out is probably a better descriptor.

I don't think there's much about my style that's edgy in that case!

Deborah

Veteran

I find "edgy" really hard to define and I think it's because 'edgy-ness' plays out differently on everyone. For me, I have realised how much shoes can play a role in creating a bit of edge. A feminine dress that would 'obviously' suggest pumps, worn with 'shooties' to my eye looks a little edgy and modern. It's often the unexpected element to an outfit that adds edge (again IMO). And again IMO it will be one or two particular elements as opposed to a whole/complete edgy outfit which in my books often can look too contrived. Edge also carries a somewhat effortless vibe about it.
You know I just poppped on my Chanel sheath dress, grabbed my Docs and off I went!

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

Does anyone else feel that edgy is overused? I recently saw the author of this book interviewed:
"Cliches: Avoid them like the plague" (cute using a cliche as the title of a book about cliches). It made me think hard about how often I rely on them!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cliche.....038;sr=1-5

Jonesy

Veteran

I think of it like Rae does: short for "cutting edge" or fashion forward. I agree with you, Denise, that it's overused sort of like "obsessed" is by fashion folk.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

I wrote on Christy's thread that I think of edgy as unexpected and I see IK and others also mention this. I think of it more as unconventional within a context rather than necessarily brand new on the horizon. Challenging expectations - I think I will stick with that.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I LOVE Dana's succinctness:

Unexpected in moderation is edgy.

Unexpected in excess is eccentric.

Brilliant

Aziraphale

Veteran

There are some really interesting responses here.

Like Rae, I had always assumed the term "edgy" is related to "bleeding edge" or "cutting edge", and doesn't just refer to fashion. I have thought hard about those people whom I might describe as edgy, and have come to the conclusion that it is a whole package deal: you can't be an edgy dresser if you're not an edgy person. Edgy people are forward-thinking, and are early adopters. They are a little off-Broadway and there is an element of independence to their attitude. Sometimes it spills over into the way they dress.

Denise: I'm intrigued by the book on cliches. I might look it up!

rachylou

Veteran

Interesting. I don't associate 'edgy' with 'cutting edge.' I associate it with 'edginess' - like a guy who's gone too far away from his coke mirror...

Parsley

Veteran

Interesting discussion!
Denise, I think you're right that "edgy" is overused. I see a lot of people here (myself included) saying that they want their style to be "classic with an edge", but maybe we'd be more accurate in saying "classic but somewhat fashion forward", or "classic with a quirky touch."

At least when I say that I'd like to be a little edgy I mean that I'd like to show some personality in what I wear; I don't mean anything terribly strange, and I certainly don't want to look even slightly dangerous. Really, I'm just saying that I don't want to be boring! I'd be happy if some of the things I wear are a little bit daring, without needing to be cutting edge.

Deborah, I think you're so right that shoes are a great place to add an unexpected touch, and I think accessories are, too.

Since the word edgy has different meanings to different people, maybe we do need to explain a little more what we actually mean rather than resorting to the apparently ambiguous and cliched term "edgy".

Scarlet

Veteran

Do you think it would be fair to say that edgy by definition is going to be a look that fewer people are going to be comfortable with? I mean generally speaking anything out of the ordinary of what people are used to is bound to incite criticism. On the other hand there is often a new look (so by definition edgy, right?) that just strikes a lot of people as right and these become the new trends, right?

nicoleb

(website)

Veteran

I don't think I could say it any better than Ironkurtin! Exactly my thoughts said way better than I could of ever thought to say it.