THE ENIGMA OF "SLOPPY CHIC."

Zoey Kravitz : follower of "sloppy chic." 

In my French class there is this one guy that always looks very put together.  His style is simple: black rimmed glasses, a nice v-neck sweater with an oxford underneath, and dark denim jeans. One day I noticed something peculiar when he got up from his desk; his dress shoes appeared to be talking.  The soles of his shoes were so worn out that they were partially detached and when he walked they flapped up and down in rhythm with his stride.  The sight of these shoes left me puzzled.  It was not possible to overlook soles that loose and therefore the guy's decision to wear those shoes was most likely  intentional.  But why?

Sights like talking shoes are surely not an idiosyncrasy.  It is common to see women dressed in haphazardly arranged clothes filled with holes and shoes that are so dirty and worn in that it looks like the owner has walked through the Sahara dessert in them.  We now buy any item and intentionally mistreat it anticipating its artful ruin and "stylish" decomposition.  1,400 dollar YSL Muse bags are bought only to be neglectfully strewn onto the dirty classroom floor in order to achieve that perfect "worn in look."  We are now able to buy everything in a distressed or aged version from shirts to leather bags.  Whatever happened to patiently waiting for the beautiful and gradual darkening of brown leather that  tells the  history of a bag?  Instead we buy a contrived replica of this process in any store. 

Audrey Hepburn: the antithesis of "sloppy chic."  

This idea of "sloppy chic" wasn't always part of our culture.  Not too many years ago the sight of hole ridden clothes, unkempt hair, and excessively baggy clothing would have appalled women who would not be seen in pants in a public place.  During this time elegant clothes were still considered a luxury.  Events that we take for granted today such as travel were an elaborate affair filled with immaculate attire, trunks, and luggage.  This is a stark juxtaposition from the proclivity of sweatpants clad travelers that we see in airports today.    

So why has "sloppy chic" become such a norm today?  I believe this backlash against a more polished way of dressing stems from the complete lack of appreciation of luxury.  Simple but special items such as a perfectly tailored dress or constructed shoe made of the richest leather are marginalized due to people that constantly seek something novel without treasuring what is timeless. This lack of respect for clothes allows the mistreating of clothing to become completely acceptable.  

Sloppy dressing has become part of the relentless attempt to appear unique. Elegant dressing has been wrongly associated with pomposity, conformity, and inauthenticity. To escape these connotations people flock toward the sloppy end of the spectrum.The amount of people trying to achieve this disheveled look ultimately leads to the same unoriginality that sloppy chic followers are desperately trying to escape.. However, no one wants to admit that their beat up Balenciaga bag is the same as the one thousands of girls around the country carry.  

The movement towards sloppy chic is  one that reveals a great deal about the always changing aesthetics and values today.   Coco Chanel once said that "old clothes are like old friends" and I 'm sure you wouldn't treat an old friend like a piece of trash.  Or would you ?