It sounds very Beatles! Like Happiness is a Warm Gun / Strawberry Fields- esque stuff.
So last week some of the NS (national service, i.e. military service) guys were on block leave-- that is, they get a week off, instead of just the weekend. Most of my former classmates at school are in NS, so a lot of people took the opportunity to have gatherings. Basically, before the girls go overseas for uni, and before everyone gets busy again. I went out with my friends from elementary school (as I've said) and got to know more about NS than I ever needed to know. >.> Because it was mostly what the guys were talking about!
heh it's just weird because the 2 people from school I hang out with are girls, so they're not in NS= I don't know much about NS, and the different companies and platoons that you get sorted into. So at first we spent the afternoon at a board game cafe, which was fun. After that I went out for dinner with 4 other friends, and entrusted my LIFE to the driver, whom I've never met for 2 years, and who just got his license. xD (The legal driving age here is 18, and he probably started learning after his Alevels were over 4 months ago.) It took a lot of TRUST, especially since I was squashed in the middle of the back seat with 3 other people without a seatbelt. It seems that I'M the straight edge one, haha.
It was a bit surreal, really, since the last time we spent any substantial amount of time together, we were INNOCENT, NAIVE, 12 year olds. Who just happened to like watching happy tree friends. There was a friend who's already gotten his BSc, and he said in primary school he "never expected it to turn out this way". I guess the event just prompted everyone to be nostalgic about our preteen selves and how we were. I was really stupid when I was 12, I think. There is even EVIDENCE of my stupidity on the internet, in the form of blogposts. xD I remember reading a lot, and wanting to become a genetic scientist. I was also really into harry potter. Nothing's changed there, (un)fortunately. I remember wanting to be a "empowered" teenager, not a vapid one who was into makeup and clothes.
One of the guys said that girls mostly talk about makeup and clothes and boys, which I countered with a loud "Excuse Me." It seems that I'm really defensive about sexism. But also amongst my friends who are girls, I seriously find it hard pressed to find *anyone* who wants to go shopping with me. Most of my female friends don't really like shopping: geeru, jacq, avariel, fiona, even lidewij. xD Ironically, amongst my friends, the most likely person to accompany me on a shopping trip would be a guy. What _do_ my friends talk about? Politics, torchwood, the big bang theory, hot girls, fanfiction, photography, pokemon, cheebyes, good films, books, arts events; the list goes on.
It probably depends on the kind of people you hang out with; it wouldn't be hard to find girls who like to talk about clothes and makeup in the general population. Sometimes I think talking about clothes and makeup is akin to... discussing your video editing techniques. Youtubers, you know what I mean. It's like cheating; letting people know how you create your aesthetic, without the fun of figuring out how to do different effects on your own. The basic ones aren't that hard anyway. Reducing videos to techniques-- I once talked to someone who went on and on about common characteristics of the videos of famous youtubers, and how he did his own jumpcuts _all by himself_ :O :O -- it just takes away all the fun of it, you know? The movie magic disappears.
It's the same with clothes. Creating a style or aesthetic is not formulaic. Reducing things to hard and fast rules, "Your hairclip should match your clothes." "Your shoes and bag should be the same colour." "You shouldn't wear patterns on both your top and bottom." results in identical outfits, which is ridiculous. The whole idea of fashion is to break rules, push boundaries, to be creative. It's pretty hard to do that when you have a whole bevy of friends ready to analyze your clothing choices and what you should and should not buy. Talking about clothes and taking it too seriously can inhibit creative freedom.
Gah. People studying fashion in college will probably be taking clothes very seriously. But they talk about it in a different way; they discuss the techniques in clothing; the drape, the material, etc. The artistry of clothes, rather than what kind of clothing is acceptable and what is not. I'm just guessing, mostly.
Regardless of whether you identify as a guy or a girl, do you talk about clothes with your friends? Do clothes matter to you, or are they a non-issue?
I laughed at the "even Lidewij" part :D
ReplyDeleteClothes do matter to me, and with that I mean that I find it important to look good.
We don't really talk about clothes, but I think that is a guy thing (no sexism intended). I myself don't really care if someone's sweater is blue or red, as long as they look good in it.
However, if there's one of my female friends that looks particularly stunning, I would probably say something about it ^^