How to NOT Copy & Paste

Plus injecting color into my closet

Have you read Geri Hirsch’s well-circulated post from a few weeks ago about Personal Style? If not, pause here and read this tout suite and then come back.

Is the Art of Personal Style Lost?

Geri beautifully explains that “It seems that there’s always a handful of uniforms circulating at any given time, copy and pasted by many.” And goes on to point out that while “adopting trends isn’t anything new…but it was different pre-social media and pre the explosion of fast fashion. It was less manufactured, less contrived, less algorithmic, less ubiquitous.”

The phrase less algorithmic REALLY spoke to me. Even as someone who is not on Instagram, I still utilize Pinterest and check-in on my favorite influencers via TikTok and public Instagram. And I have found that as it relates to higher-end fashion there is a true echo chamber of content.

Take, for example, the following photos;

The first photo is clearly Leandra Medine Cohen who- I believe- is one of the truest trend setters of our time. Not only is her reach extensive but her ideas on clothing are unique and eventually reach the masses. She eschewed the virtues of a mesh flat before everyone else. It took over a year but her post on red socks with ballet flats has now shown up on two influencers in a matter of weeks in my echo chamber.

I struggle with seeing something that I like on someone and fighting the urge to copy and paste the whole look and I know I’m not alone. One thing I find difficult in social media is the way that someone can post an outfit and their comments immediately fill up with requests for links to every item they are wearing. I’m sure we all recall the way “gatekeeping” became an insult for someone who wasn’t sharing an entirely linkable life.

One influencer who has caught my attention recently is Tori Shilney (via TikTok). Tori seems to really make outfits her own despite being inspired by other influencers (she is also a shameless Courtney Grow fan). BUT what I love about Tori can be summed up in this TikTok where she brilliantly says;

We don’t want to copy and paste, we want to channel

Which she did well here;

She took the INSPIRATION of long short + feminine top + leather jacket and created an outfit that can be traced back to the source without being too (painfully) obvious.

And speaking of Leandra, she is an absolute master at channel inspiration from the runway into everyday looks (see here and here). Again, she manages to spot something unique from the runway and search her own closet and wear the trend with a sense of self-identity.

I believe the secret to this is to have a strong closet built for yourself; a closet full of pieces that feel true to yourself in a variety of silhouettes that allow you to see something you like online and translate it without copying and pasting.

One thing I am looking to channel in the coming months, is my newest influencer find- Tori- and her color-forward wardrobe! Tori seems to have a strong personal sense of what she likes and isn’t afraid to buy colors and patterns. I love to see it, especially since my outfits this week were starkly monochromatic or neutral-heavy.