There was once a time when I didn't mind clutter.
In my ears. In my eyes. Now, the only place I hold clutter is in my mind. That's a work in progress.
The older I get, the less patience I have for overly taxing environments. For a few years now, I've had a problem with crowds. Busy markets, that sort of place, can get very confusing for me. It wasn't always like that, and it's not a problem, as I know to mostly avoid them or pass quickly through them. The trouble with such spaces is that they're very demanding on all your senses. So for me, that's probably peak clutter, if I'm being honest. Places that are loud and smelly and crowded.
If I break it down, the concept of clutter, I'd say I can tolerate audio clutter better than visual.
One prime example of visual clutter for me is today's fashion. I'm not a fan of all the neon colors, but maybe they'd be alright if that was the only thing. Just, the trends that are being promoted now in malls or on the catwalk, seem extremely gluttonous. Like they wanna have a bit of everything all at once. A cluster of fabrics that clash. A mish-mash of short and long, of thick and thin. It's not only unfashionable, I think, it's visually upsetting.
The other day, I was on the bus and saw this middle-aged woman walking along the street. She had on a cream color tight skirt which would've been nice enough on its own. But she also had a top and over her top this net-like thing. Like something out of a fishing store. Not like those net stockings that girls are wearing now, more like the insect net people have on their windows to keep out mosquitoes.
It was just so visually jarring I couldn't help myself staring for a second.
To me, it stood out, but in truth, it's everywhere. People will walk by in like a polo shirt with a glittery short skirt you'd wear at a club. Pair that with one of those dopey hats that kids seem to be wearing that make you feel like they're always off camping with their dad. And a tote bag and giant neon sandals. And like an enmeshment of chains around their neck.
Or you'll see people walk by in oversized sweats, a business shirt and like high heel shoes. Maybe I'm just out of it or something, but when I saw this week's #KISS prompt,
The word "clutter" is defined differently by everyone. What everyday things do you view as being visually stressful that others don't seem to be bothered by?
I immediately thought of modern fashion. So-called. It's an interesting exercise, to try and narrow down what bugs you on a purely visual level.
I'm a fan of minimalism when it comes to how we dress. It just seems to me that a simple, clear-cut outfit, monochrome or with a couple well-blended colors is a lot less visually taxing and in the end, can look a lot sexier and better than wearing seven different trends from seven different eras because some fashion house or mall told you to.
I think modern trends fall into a type of clutter, as they're really just a bunch of separate styles clumped together with no aesthetic grace whatsoever. It's also cluttery, I think, when someone walks by in one of these obviously borrowed trends because it bespeaks a sort of inner emptiness. If you're just throwing on different styles that Zara told you are trending, there's a good chance the real you isn't reflected in there at all, and I don't think that's a very good way to live.
(Thank you to the Minimalist Community, and to @millycf1976 in particular for creating this wonderful initiative.)
Fashion is a statement of wealth where I live perhaps more so than anywhere else I know. I can't stand this cluttered feeling I get when I see young adults covered in balenciaga - the worst possible fashion I've ever seen - showing off about their parents wealth lol.
But the worst thing to me, regarding these fashion brands, is how the companies essentially came out and admitted that they're not targeting the rich people who could actually afford this junk, but the middle class who have to take on debt and dig into savings in order to afford their $20,000 handbags and such.
It's these people who are most desperate to wear their finances on their sleeves thinking people walking around them will be impressed. I just think it looks immensely tacky. My first instinct is to guess how much it actually cost to make the $7,000 plain white t-shirt with black logo print on the front; $2 or $5?
I wish people would focus more on what looks nice and feels comfortable
I enjoyed this post and could feel everything you wrote about. Atm, mental clutter is the one that I'm able to deal with the least.
Now that I'm back in Leicester City it's multicultured, the fashion and trends make me uneasy. I'm from a culture that dresses skimpily, but I think what I see is a lack of dignity and pride and people with no self-confidence who just follow trends regardless of what they look like:)
Thanks for your #KISS
I enjoyed it 😉
lips sealed
Dressing simple honestly sounds best. Ironically, even sounds like a confidence boost to me. Because if you're someone with low self-esteem and you spend 2 hours on this elaborate outfit, your lacking confidence will project through it anyway. You'll just look like someone who thinks they need 2 hours and an elaborate outfit to be presentable.
A simple flowy dress or a loose t-shirt and pants combo takes a couple minutes and looks a lot more confident. Weird, huh?
100%
Confidence is everything. I'm not in the best of shape, but I still feel confident knowing that all I need to do is put in some work and improve my overall health and appearance.
I'm a lover of loose comfortable clothing, and my clothes can all be mixed and matched easily, so it takes me no time to get ready:)
I think we feel same way about this modern day fashion, it's just so crazy what people wear these day, both male and female and oh how they hurt my eyes and makes me wanna puke.
I don’t like busy markets too. The noise of the crowd annoys me a lot and that’s why I always make sure that I avoid the market by all means if it is possible
At the same time, there are some people who are used to it
I couldn't help giggling at this;
This is very funny and you are right. Things like that make me just want to stay indoors far away from the bustling of everyday life.