Perhaps you will have noticed it, a little doubtfully, in front of your social networks: ugly seems to be on the rise . Between Crocs + socks combos, dress and pants looks, rhinestone caps and mixes of garish prints, there’s enough to put the most orthodox fashionistas in PLS.
But above all there is reason to think about our relationship to fashion , or rather, to the intrinsic absurdity of the frenzied succession of trends, and to what good and bad tastes say about us as a society.
Intrigued? Make yourself comfortable, we’re off to meet the ugly, fashion and Bourdieu .
Is ugly in fashion intrinsically ugly?
ugly fashion
First of all, let’s focus on the very notion of “ugly” in fashion. What’s ugly? What is considered ugly? Is there a universal when it comes to ugly ?
Of course not. No offense to fashion dictators, who would burn those guilty of fashion faux pas, there are no clothes, accessories or outfits that are naturally ugly . In other words, nothing is ugly as such, there are only things that we find ugly , because our culture and our personal sensitivities tell us so.
Ugliness is therefore a cultural construction , based on the notions of good and bad taste, which are also cultural artifacts and not at all innate attributes.
In short, we learn without realizing it to find certain things ugly and in bad taste.
But who determines what is ugly then?
To answer this question, let’s turn to Pierre Bourdieu, a French sociologist who, although he has never really worked on fashion, often mentions the subject in his work. In this case, when Bourdieu speaks of taste, he speaks of it as a fundamental issue in the opposition between social classes . According to him, “good taste”, that which is socially acceptable, is that which corresponds to what the representatives of the dominant social classes do and wear. In contrast, what is “bad taste” belongs more to the working classes, to the dominated classes.
Taste then becomes a sort of sign of belonging, because having good taste cannot be learned. Good taste would be something innate, we would know, instinctively, what is beautiful or ugly, what is done or not.
Typically, this is why the nouveau riche are regularly mocked by the old fortunes, who find them vulgar.
In fact, for a piece of clothing or an accessory to go from ugly to beautiful, all it takes is for the dominant classes to take hold of it. That’s exactly what’s happening with the current ugly trend.
So, is it still ugly? That’s another debate, and it’s never-ending!
Trends that put ugly in the spotlight
In the age of social networks, the world of fashion is evolving at breakneck speed. Every week we witness the birth, the golden age and the disappearance of new trends (we also speak of “micro-trends”) which, for some of them, (re)set the ugly in the spotlight. These are what interest us.
We think in particular of the ketamine chic, weird girl, ugly girl or even Christiancore trends , which all have in common the creation of looks from criticized pieces.
Each of course has its favorite pieces, but all focus on mixing genres, mixing trendy brands (Diesel, Acne Studios, Miu Miu, etc.) and, your choice, ugly clothes or normally wearable outfits.
If you have trouble seeing what we’re talking about, go to the Instagram of Bella Hadid, the iconic princess of weird girls ! In recent months, his feed has taken a frankly surprising turn, even downright insane for the uninitiated, but it is in fact an “ugly trend” turn.
How to add a bit of the ugly trend to your look?
the ugly trend
Tempted by the wind of freedom brought by trends that revolve around ugly or old-fashioned? How we understand you!
But we’re not going to lie: the micro-trends of ugly girls, ketamine chic and the like are not exactly the most accessible there are . In “real life” (understand when you are not a fashion influencer), it remains difficult to create outfits based on ugly clothes, and there is unfortunately little chance that your N+1 or your customers will support you blindly in your stylistic liberation.
However, you can still draw inspiration from these trends on a daily basis, by wearing outfits that you like but that orthodox fashion considers “ too much ”, for example by mixing prints or wearing more than 3 colors on a single outfit. !
What you must remember
Ugly is definitely trendy!
We find this trend in different micro-trends, in particular on social networks: ketamine chic, ugly or weird girls, christiancore …
It’s difficult to adopt the ugly trend on a daily basis, but it’s an excellent idea to take inspiration from the freedom it brings to our wardrobes!
