anything goes with emma chamberlain - minimalism (part 3: fashion)

Episode Date: May 11, 2023

today we're going to be discussing minimalism in fashion. fast fashion is the business model of replicating recent high fashion design trends, mass producing them at low cost, and bringing them to retail stores quickly while demand is at its highest. trend cycles are insanely fast nowadays, and fast fashion is thriving because a lot of people want to participate in the trends as they happen. but i think a lot of people are sick of this. number one, it's exhausting and expensive to keep up with all the trends when they're constantly changing overnight. but also, people are starting to realize the impact that being a maximalist consumer is having on the environment and even their wellbeing. i think a lot of people are ready to dial it back and return to a simpler fashion experience. so let's dig a little deeper on what minimalism is in fashion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we're going to be discussing minimalism in fashion. And to begin, I thought I would share with you the general philosophy of minimalism. In one sense, simplicity eliminates distraction. That is a quote that I could imagine a mom having in their kitchen. You know those like corny plaques that moms love to get from TJ Maxx.

Listen, my mom and I both used to love them. We would literally collect them from TJ Maxx. I had one in my room growing up that was like, live a lot, love a lot, laugh a lot, play a lot, scream a lot, dance a lot, do a lot. You know what I'm saying? But anyway, there is a mom out there right now that has simplicity eliminates distraction

on a fake distressed wood plaque somewhere in their house. I just wanna get that out of the way. I don't want to ignore the elephant in the room, but regardless of how corny that quote might be and how obvious that quote might seem, it actually is kind of profound and true. Simplicity really does eliminate distraction. And that's kind of the underlying philosophy of minimalism across the board in every category, whether it's lifestyle or

fashion or design or whatever. That's sort of the key theme and takeaway of minimalism. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Let's get personal. You know what, every once in a while, I like making things about me. Okay, every once in a while. Like having fun with my makeup based on my attitude or picking out an outfit to express how I'm feeling.

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of maximalism, you know, the complete opposite. Over the past few years, we've experienced maximalism in the form of consumerism and in the form of design and fashion trends. I've discussed this before, but ever since TikTok blew up, the trend cycles have gotten so much faster. You know, something comes into trend one day and two weeks later, it's not trendy anymore. People will see something cute online. They'll order it and by the time it ends up at their house, the internet has already

moved on to the next thing. The trend cycles are insanely fast nowadays. Everything is sped up. And this has sort of fed the fast fashion beast. Fast fashion is the business model of replicating recent catwalk trends in high fashion designs, mass producing them at low cost and bringing them to retail stores quickly while demand is at its highest. Fast fashion is thriving right now because a lot of people want to participate in the trends as they happen.

You know, that's natural. The problem is now that the trend cycles are turning over constantly and so fast, people who are into participating in fashion trends have to constantly be buying more clothes in order to keep up with the times. I think the priority for many people is being on trend rather than having high quality clothing. And I've seen so many videos about how much trash fast fashion is creating because, you know, people are buying, buying, buying, trying to keep up with the trends,

but then within a month or two, the stuff that they bought last month is out. And so they just end up donating it, throwing it away. And the quality of the clothing is not great. So it's not really something that people even want to wear more than once, even if it did stay trendy for like a year. This sort of style of consumption is maximalist to me, because even though there's a way to shop this way, that's actually kind of affordable, you know, utilizing fast fashion, it's maximalist in the sense that

you're just collecting so much stuff. You're collecting so many pieces. And even though they're not necessarily extravagant in quality, the amount of clothes that people who keep up with trends have is extravagant, in my opinion. It's not like their closet is filled with designer, which is even more maximalist, but just the sheer amount of clothing that it takes to keep up with the trend cycles is maximalist. And a lot of times it's made up of fast fashion pieces. But the truth is a lot of people are sick of this. They're exhausted by this. Number one, it's exhausting to keep up with all the trends when they're constantly

changing overnight, it feels like. But on top of that, a lot of people are starting to realize the impact that being a maximalist consumer is having on the environment and even their well-being. Having a lot of stuff can be overwhelming and can cause a level of mental fatigue that is hard to explain, but is definitely present in the lives of people who have accumulated a lot of stuff. I've personally experienced the sort of fatigue that you can feel when you have too much stuff because there have been times in my life where I have had too much stuff.

And I've gone in and I've removed all the stuff that I no longer need. And I've literally physically and mentally felt the relief that stripping down my belongings has given me. And so I think there's a new found interest in minimalism and the useful philosophies that lie within it, especially as a consumer. But we've also experienced maximalism as a fashion trend in terms of clothing design and the way people style themselves. It's been a major trend. I think people were really drawn to eccentric, extravagant, unique,

avant-garde fashion choices after the pandemic, because everyone was so eager to express themselves again. You know, we were locked inside, wearing our PJs every day. We didn't feel like we could express ourselves properly. The most we could express ourselves was on social media, but even that felt kind of weird during the pandemic, because it was like, wait, it's kind of weird that I'm getting all dressed up

and doing this and that when we're all at home and everybody knows that, you know what I mean? So when things started to open back up and return to some sort of normal, I think people were really excited to play around with an avant-garde. You know, we've seen people choose wild colors, play with different types of fabrics that don't usually go together,

play with different patterns that don't usually go together. We've seen interesting layering going on, like people wearing shirts on top of shirts and people wearing two belts and people wearing a skirt over jeans and people wearing leg warmers over their pants with a skirt. It's been an interesting time in fashion. We've also seen people exploring kind of wild hair and makeup, colorful eye looks, eccentric hair looks. Over the past two or three years, I've seen a lot of creativity in this way. And it's been really cool. So when it comes to

maximalism in fashion design and as a fashion trend, I actually don't think there's anything wrong with it. You know, I think it can be fun to go all out and do the damn thing, you know, like just get a little weird with it, mix and match things that don't normally go together and express yourself that way. I actually really appreciate maximalism in design and as a trend. But I will say, I'm feeling a little bit of fatigue around it. It's not necessarily as exciting to me at this point in my life,

because I've seen so much of it and I've even played around with it so much that now I kind of feel like I'm over it and I'm excited to explore the complete opposite, which is minimalism in design, minimalism as a trend. I think a lot of people are kind of ready to dial it back and return to a more simple fashion experience. Not everyone, but I think a lot of people

are regaining interest in that sort of fashion philosophy. regaining interest in that sort of fashion philosophy. So let's dig a little deeper on what minimalism is in fashion. Let's return back to the conversation around consumption. What does it mean to be a minimal fashion consumer? It means to have a minimal amount of clothes in your wardrobe that feel right for you and bring you joy. Minimalism is the antithesis of the modern consumerist narrative and for good reason.

This sort of means to create a general uniform for every scenario. You know, you have a few pieces that you wear to work. You have a few pieces available for a fancy event. You have your favorite pajamas set. You have your favorite outdoorsy set and you're good. You create a sort of uniform for your life and you only own what you truly need and love and enjoy. And I think the beauty of this is that it really frees you up from having to pick an outfit every morning and dig through, you know, an abundance of clothing to find something that makes sense. This frees you up to do 10 other things in your morning routine. This frees you up to sleep for 20 more minutes

in the morning. Having a sort of uniform, and a formula in your closet that's thought out, yet simple, can really streamline your process of getting ready in the morning, which I think is incredibly beneficial for some. Now, minimalism from a design standpoint is different. This has nothing to do with lifestyle and everything to do with design philosophy, the way that a piece of clothing is constructed. So the term minimalism in design originates from the artistic movement that appeared in the 1960s in New York when a group of artists

rejected the traditional representations in painting and sculptures and chose to pursue the new mode that owed as little as possible to the physical existence of an object. Minimalism in fashion design prioritizes stripping the design down to only its necessary elements. And the playful side of minimalist design is much less big, bright and bold. It's more about playing with lines and geometric shapes and a simple palette, usually a monochromatic palette, you know, all one color. I think the key takeaway of all of that is that the idea is to create garments of clothing that serve a purpose and are interesting and cool, but have the least amount of fluff possible. The creativity is in the details.

It's not screaming for your attention. It's whispering for your attention, but I think the biggest misconception around minimalist design is that it's easy to do, because it's simple, right? It's simple. It's not complex. It's not busy to look at. And so, naturally, when you look at something that's more simple, you would assume, well, this couldn't have been hard to create, right? But that is not true. I would argue at times. It's almost harder to create something that's simple yet effective and interesting than it is to create something

busy and chaotic that's interesting and effective. You know, a lot of people use fashion as a way to express themselves. And it's really easy to throw on in over the top outfit that's sort of kitschy and maybe a little bit gimmicky and over the top and loud and to tell a story. It's much easier to tell a story with that type of outfit. It's much easier to express yourself with that type of outfit. Whereas with more minimalist

designs and with a more minimalist outfit, it's just much more subdued. And you can still absolutely express yourself through minimalist clothing. But it's just a little bit less loud. If you want to express your goofy side with a minimalist outfit, you might choose a simple white button-up shirt that has super strong, sharp shoulder pads. That shirt has an interesting shape. That's a little bit unusual. It's subtle, but it's unusual and it's kind of goofy. But yet the design of the shirt is quite simple. The only thing that makes it a little silly, a little goofy

is these sort of extreme shoulder pads. That's sort of expressing your silly goofy side and your appreciation for funny, odd things in a much quieter, more subtle way. But it's almost harder to develop a sort of feeling or vibe with a simple piece or with a simple outfit. It's just, it's much more challenging because being subtle is not easy. I don't know, that's my opinion. Now let's discuss what there is to be learned

from the minimalist philosophy in fashion. Before we get into it, I want to explain something. When it comes to a philosophy like minimalism or maximalism or whatever, I think the best and healthiest way to approach these philosophies is to avoid adopting that label and putting yourself in that box. It can be tempting at times to see a philosophy like minimalism.

And to say, I'm going to dive into this head first and I'm going to label myself as a minimalist and the way that I dress and the way that I consume clothing moving forward will be minimalist. And this is my new lifestyle. And these are my set of rules. And I'm going to live by this. But the way that I like to look at it is I like to look at these ideas.

And I like to take little pieces from them and apply them to my life in order to create my own personal philosophy on these things. Because we are all so unique and we all have individual desires and needs and beliefs and priorities. And I don't think any philosophy is one size fits all. Like I think it's best to sort of keep an open mind and take little ideas from everywhere and create this personalized belief system about a certain thing. But today I want to talk specifically about the lessons that can be learned by minimalism in fashion specifically. From a consumer standpoint, I really love the idea of spending money on

of spending money on staple pieces that are high quality and are heavily considered and analyzed before purchase. Instead of buying a bunch of pieces that are more trendy and lower quality, because I think this is beneficial in every way, shape or form. Obviously, it's better for the environment. You're not buying a bunch of clothes and then throwing them away a month later because they're cheap and trendy.

But also, I think this sort of lifestyle will bring you a sense of calm. Having a concise closet can really help you form a solid routine. It can allow you more time to do other things with your life, instead of spending an hour picking out an outfit in the morning. And you'll end up building a collection over time, building a collection over time filled with high quality pieces that are staples that could last you for years and years to come. I think purchasing clothing in a methodical way is an incredibly beneficial habit to form. And I've really tried to implement this into my own life because when I was younger, I used to buy much more irresponsibly.

I was more excited about being untrained. I was less concerned about investing in pieces that would serve me long-term and were timeless. And I ended up with a cluttered closet and an overwhelmed mind, okay? Not only was I not as excited about my clothes because they weren't great quality,

I couldn't even find shit when I was trying to get dressed. I would be looking through my closet and I'd be like, oh, I don't even know shit when I was trying to get dressed. I would be looking through my closet and I'd be like, oh, I don't even know. There's so much. It's just all packed in here. I can't even find anything. Like, I just was so overwhelmed. I ended up wearing the same sweatpants every day. It had like the reverse effect. Having too much stuff pushed me to a point where I didn't even want to get dressed up at all. So scaling down and focusing on high quality pieces that are staples has been key for me. I have less decision fatigue when I get up in the morning and pick out an outfit because I have less options.

And I feel like my pieces end up getting properly worn. Instead of certain ones getting forgotten and pushed to the back of my closet, never to be seen again, that are brand new and ready to be worn. When you have a more concise, methodical closet, you end up wearing all of the stuff that you have. And that's a good feeling because it feels like a waste

in a shame when you have a piece of clothing that's sitting in the back of your closet, collecting dust instead of being worn because it's just hidden by all the other junk that you have. It feels good to get proper use out of your clothing. And that's what it's therefore. And so having less forces you to give proper attention to the clothing that you do have.

I also think if you consume clothing this way, you end up saving money longterm. Obviously high quality pieces are a little bit more expensive. I mean, I've found some incredible pieces at thrift stores, vintage stores that are in incredible shape, but when buying higher quality products new, at times they can be more expensive. And so I think a lot of people are deterred by that at times, which completely makes sense because there are cheaper options available. And sometimes the cheaper options, the fast fashion options are all that's feasible for you at the moment. That's a completely

different story. But when it's a deliberate choice to consume the fast fashion option in order to get more bang for your buck. That's when I think it's time to consider investing in higher quality clothing pieces. Instead of buying four pairs of jeans from a fast fashion place, maybe invest in one incredible pair of jeans that will last you for the next 20 years. That fit you perfectly, that are your dream pair of jeans. Spend the time and money on finding those pieces. And in the short term, it might feel like you're spending more money. But in the long term, I would argue, you probably will end up spending less money on your wardrobe overall

Because the thing about constantly trying to keep up with the trends and Buying new clothes constantly that aren't high quality is that those pieces don't last you very long Sometimes they only last you two or three wares and then you need to go and buy more So over the course of two years, you probably end up spending more money buying low-quality clothing that doesn't last you than you do investing in really high-quality,

staple pieces. Now, when I'm discussing high-quality, I'm not saying going to fucking Louis Vuitton, Gucci to pick out your pair of jeans. I'm not saying going to fucking Louis Vuitton, Gucci to pick out your pair of jeans. I'm talking about finding your favorite pair of Levi's. I'm talking about buying a pair of really good quality boots. My favorite boots right now are from the brand By Far. I love these boots, okay, wear them all the time.

Investing in a good pair of sneakers, maybe it's a pair of Adidas, investing in a nice sweater. My favorite sweaters are from Mauritio, actually. I love the Mauritio sweaters. But I'm not talking about going full designer mode, okay? No. Just finding something that is made well that you know will last you for a long time. But it doesn't need to be completely unreasonable. Next, let's talk about the beauty of minimalism and fashion design. I think the beauty of it is that you have to look a little closer. It's not as obviously exciting and interesting. It requires a second look. It requires a deeper look in order to appreciate, but that's what I love about it. The first thing I love about minimalist fashion design is how

undeniably timeless it is. Right colors, crazy patterns, weird silhouettes, super unusual silhouettes are all at risk of being trendy. They're all at risk of going out of style any minute. Because things that are too loud and eye catching become stale much sooner. I think of it like this, the person in your friend group who's really loud, exhausts you a lot sooner than the friend in your friend group that's a little bit more quiet and subdued. You know what I'm saying? Like you can hang out with your quiet friend

for much longer than you can hang out with your super loud wild friend. That's how I look at maximalism in clothing versus minimalism in clothing. It's like crazy avant-garde fashion trends, extravagant fashion trends are loud. They're bold. They scream for your attention and they become exhausting pretty quick. But the more subdued, methodical, timeless designs, kind of never get old.

You can spend a lot of time with them and never really get sick of them because they don't exhaust your brain. And I really love and appreciate timeless pieces because number one, I know I'm never going to look back at a photo myself in a timeless piece in cringe. That's number one, I know I'm never gonna look back at a photo myself in a timeless piece in cringe. That's number one. And number two, I can continue to wear them as my style evolves and they can still work. It's like I can take a minimalist clothing piece

and style it a hundred different ways and it'll never get old. It'll always find a way to make sense in my fashion routine. I also love how easy it is to mix and match minimalist pieces. For the most part, the color palette tends to be mild and subdued and simple, which allows for a lot of mixing and matching. If you buy five minimalist pieces that you love from a brand or whatever. Chances are, even if you didn't plan it to be this way, you can probably mix and match all of those pieces. They're

so incredibly versatile and they can be built up, you know, through accessorizing in a way that makes the outfit more interesting, or they can be worn by themselves as a chic, timeless, classic moment. I also think the simplicity of this type of clothing piece allows for the small details to shine. Whether that small detail is your personality as the person who's wearing the clothing, or it's the tiny special details like what type of buttons were used on the clothing piece, or how high quality the fabric is, or how satisfying the silhouette of the piece is, you know, it allows you to share the more subtle yet exciting details. And I think that's really cool sometimes.

And last but not least, I think the priority with minimalist design is craftsmanship. It's all about making something simple, really good. And it's all about stripping the thing down to its bare necessities and fucking doing it right. And maybe adding a little twist or a little something interesting that subtle yet fun in a weird way. And I think the genius and craftsmanship that comes with this type of design at times

can be really inspiring and really cool. When I think of my favorite minimalist pieces and outfits, I think of a gorgeous minimalist pieces and outfits, I think of a gorgeous monochromatic look. I think of classic silhouettes, like a classic turtleneck, a classic buttonup, a classic pair of slacks, a classic pair of straight leg jeans, a classic black boot, a classic brown boot,

all done perfectly. I think of classic silhouettes done perfectly with a little twist, like maybe the buttons are a little bit unusually placed on the garment, or maybe there's an unusual detail like the addition of a shoulder pad that's kind of boxy and weird, or there's manipulation of fabric that sort of adds a level of texture that's kind of boxy and weird. Or there's manipulation of fabric that sort of adds a level of texture that's kind of unusual, but it's subtle. I also think of beautiful neutrals and muted colors,

like an all black outfit or an all brown outfit or mixing brown in black or an all navy blue, beigey blue outfit, like khaki, but just the perfect delicious khaki color. I think of an all white outfit. I think of simple accessories that are effective and chic and fun, but simple and, this is just delicious to me right now. Like this is what I want to wear kind of right now. This is just where to me right now. Like, this is what I want to wear kind of right now.

This is just where my head's at. That is minimalism in fashion. And as I mentioned earlier, there are little bits and pieces of this that you can adopt into your own life without feeling like you have to do it all. You might really appreciate minimalist design, but actually have a more maximalist philosophy on collecting clothing pieces in your closet. So be it. You can mix and match these things to fit your life, and that's the beauty of it.

Anyway, thank you for listening. Thank you for hanging out. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you had fun with me. I had fun as always and I really appreciate all of you who tuned in. Listen today. I love and appreciate all of you go check out the other two episodes I have on minimalism if you're not too sick of me saying the word minimalism I swear to God I've said it a hundred times today I didn't have a choice. I didn't have a choice, but I did say it a hundred times. There's two other episodes out now, one on lifestyle and one on traveling, like a minimalist. Go check those out if you want. Go follow anything goes on Instagram at anything goes or on Twitter at AG podcast.

Follow me on Instagram if you want and Emma Chamberlain. Check out my coffee company, Chamberlaincoffee.com. Use code AG15, if you want a little discount, I'm actually drinking in iced latte right now. I haven't had an iced latte in a while. Sounded really good this morning. So that's what I'm drinking. I'm drinking it in a little insulated beige

in all of green travel mug, which I love. It kind of has a minimalist design, dare I say. Anyway, new episodes of anything goes every Thursday and Sunday, tuning. If you feel like it, I'll talk to you guys very soon. Love you. This episode is brought to you by the all new 2024 Chevy tracks. Pack lightly. It's okay if you did. In the all new 2024 Chevy tracks, you and all your family, all your friends,

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