Universal Mind Control
Image: flickr.com/kampol_likitkanjanakul
My power is great. Fact. But it's all about application. I love the influence I can have on people and I also love when people’s influences rub off on me. I am the number one person for telling people what to wear how to wear it. The amazing thing is, the majority listen.
This is why my career choice is fashion PR, so that the influence I have can be applied in the industry it was meant for - I mean, what is the point if you can’t use what you’ve got? In theory this is what we all want, right? As I child I was the bossy one in the Wendy house and today I want to be the bossy one in a fashion house. This isn’t just about me and my power though – I want to channel a higher power: the power of fashion itself.
Fashion is a deadly power – the power to send you running out blindly to buy something you’ve just seen on another. This is the lowest form of fashion worship - being influenced by seeing others in things you want. The purchase is justified by the worry that you might be missing a trend. But by shopping this way, you’re actually missing the point.
Fashionistas, on the other hand, have far too much pride to dare admit they want a piece they’ve seen someone else wearing - they want the validation of being first. So while fashion ad campaigns transmit subliminal messages urging us to 'buy' and the 'must-have' magazines ram trends down our throats (which seem to change weekly), fashionistas pay attention from the corner of their eye.
Top fashion brands like YSL and Dior have unquestioned and everlasting power: if fashion is religion then they are gods, to be worshipped faithfully by the peasant congregation. When it comes to certain brands, bags are pre- ordered before the season even starts. Without even a glimpse of the product the trust is already there. It's the ultimate form of mind control. Which I love. The most evangelical of the flock dedicate our lives to the cause, saying our vows and never looking back.
These most iconic fashion houses (temples) have power that grows with their longevity. Continuously delivering pieces of couture pieces which stand as works of art and affect and change lives over decades, is why they can do no wrong. They move with the zeitgeist, keeping tongues wagging and the world watching. They have the power to stand up to the most notoriously unforgiving scrutiny. Some began as far back as the 1930’s, outliving many of their worshippers holding torches. Up and coming designers are among them, although they aspire not only to worship but to ascend and become new gods themselves.
Yes, fashionistas might set and wear the trends while blind shoppers follow by buying the brands, but at the end of the day both fashionistas and blind shoppers walk together hand in hand, overpowered by the passion for fashion
The ultimate power of fashion is that it’s a never ending story. We buy according to our favorite characters, but the story stays the same.
comments
Well said dear cousin. Fashion IS a never ending story.
And I can't wait until we get to the part of the story where I can afford Marc Jacobs and afford to pay you to style me! ;)