Recently I’ve been pondering the disappearance of colour on the streets of Melbourne and the ubiquitous wearing of neutrals. I’ve discussed this with a stylish friend who’s at least as observant as I am and her conclusion is that many people are lacking in confidence so they try to blend into the background for fear of being approached or (heaven forbid!) smiled at by others. Someone else said he thought people did it to try to look ‘European’. His thinking was that Europe is not colourful, though I’m not sure about that… my recollection of Europe is that it is colourful but I guess it depends on the season and where you go.

Another thing I’ve observed is a very common look among women at restaurants: it’s a combination of plumped up shiny faces (ie skin that has clearly had attention paid and money applied to it) sporting very similar makeup looks (ie exaggerated lashes and lips but minimal focus elsewhere) teamed with beige, black or white variations on the tracksuit. As someone who loves checking out what people wear, this has become somewhat monotonous for me!

Again, I’m wondering what’s behind this uniformity…? We now live in a time when really, anything goes: hair can be any style, coiffed, natural or straightened; hem lengths can be short, long or mid; numerous jeans styles are available, despite which one is in fashion; and clothes from any twentieth century era can easily be obtained and styled to look great. So why aren’t we seeing a broader expression of personal style? Well this morning I read an article about algorithms wreaking havoc on personal taste and it all made sense.

Cast your mind back to when you were first developing your personal taste, your identity and your sense of style. Where were you and what were you doing? Following are a few things that influenced me:

I was fortunate to befriend a girl at school (hello Gabrielle!) and through her I discovered a love of op shopping in my early teens. Things that caught my eye then were white antique lace tops, silk scarves and printed 1930s tea dresses.
My first part-time job pay packets were spent on carnelian, moonstone and tigers eye jewellery, having spied them in local shops. I tended bohemian, in the original sense of the word.
I studied art and loved to browse art history books. Again, I was particularly interested in the nineteenth century, and loved belle époque and art nouveau. I devoured these images and they impacted my style.

Following this, but while still a teen, I met an older crew of people when I attended pottery lessons. These people lived alternative lifestyles in share houses. Many of them had travelled to India and loved natural and organic things from India so this also had a big influence on my personal taste.

Eventually it was New Wave and punk, both of whom I encountered via music and wandering around vintage markets.

So as you can see, each of these influences came about via personal encounters and touch points. I either wandered into interesting looking stores, met musicians and other artists or drew inspiration from cultural history. Very few of my peers dressed like me as they didn’t have my experiences; they had their own encounters.

And here lies the difference; young people of my era were out in the world soaking up local culture and meeting interesting characters, all of which impacted them in one way or another. These days, with most people scrolling images online and with an estimated 35% (or more!) of Instagram and Pinterest being paid advertising, we all see the same things thanks to algorithms and big corporate spending. When we are all exposed to such a limited range of things, the way we present ourselves is undoubtedly going to be bland. Even if we’re not scrolling specifically for fashion inspiration, the images enter our subconscious and can’t help but influence how we dress.

The creativity and experimentation that can be so fun and formative as we move towards developing our signature style, or any sense of style at all, is diminished if we don’t see nothing but corporate advertising. As tech bros and corporate sponsors serve up only limited wares to us (the cheaply made ones they’re currently flogging at inflated prices) is it any wonder so many women have the same look these days?!

It can seem like that the advertised products we see online are the only things on offer. But that’s false and it doesn’t have to be this way. There are any number of beautifully made garments, both new and vintage, available from smaller businesses that don’t control the algorithms in the same way. And there are myriad ways to look intriguing, attractive or dynamic if we so wish, instead of indistinguishable from the person at the next table. I love helping people out of their style ruts and towards their unique version of remarkable.

Drop me a line if you’re interested in exploring this!

Influences on young me, clockwise from top left: