Thread by @Delafina777

actually, hang on, I have more to say about this, and I've actually said it before, but gonna say it again

it's fascinating how the expensive jewelry ads I see are usually for very simple, minimalist jewelry, vs. more ornate cheaper jewelry

there's a reason for it & it's gross

https://twitter.com/Delafina777/status/1225135201958776832

so I keep thinking back to an article that ran in Slate almost a decade ago.

slate.com/human-interest…

or take this tweet of a presentation (which seems to approving, ew)

https://twitter.com/MandySaven/status/857151340979642369

Or this blog, which initially I thought was parody, but isn't. gastrochic.com/2009/fashion/w…

This idea goes back to Coco Chanel, or at least she's the one who popularized it:

The true mark of elevated social class is effortless, unshowy simplicity.

And it's changed over the years--at some point, showing the brand names/logos of accessories became popular (when the trend started trending, my mother thought it was very gauche), but the classic Coach bag gave way to the extravagantly branded Coach bag.

But a few little blips like that aside, the main point remains. Classy/high-end usually equals simple/elegant.

So yeah, there's Coco Chanel and her most popular quote:

"Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance."

And her famous instructions to take off an accessory before you leave the house, and all that.

Here's the thing about Coco Chanel: she was a Nazi.

And no, I don't mean Coco Chanel had Opinions I Don't Agree With or Probably Would Have Voted For Trump.

I mean she was an actual, literal Nazi agent.

biography.com/news/coco-chan…

so, it's worth asking, whenever you see a very emphatic fashion trend, "what's it reacting AGAINST?"

and Coco Chanel's gospel of WASP simplicity was, make no mistake, a very emphatic trend

heck, that article I linked talks about it thus,

"transforming sartorial tastes for the modern woman of the 20th century, her name becoming synonymous with impeccable fashion sense."

well, ask yourself, what's the defining aspect of WASP-ness?

it's a lack of "ethnicity" (that's why that P is in there--Catholicism has this unfortunate whiff of... Mediterranean-ness about it)

And those "ethnic" women tended to wear bright colors, lots of jewelry, etc. Immigrant women who'd managed to achieve some level of success their new homes, especially, tended to want to show it off.

So of course WASPs had to find some way to distinguish themselves, to prove that no matter how successful all those non-WASP women might be, they'd never REALLY be equals. They'd be missing some indefinable element that made TRUE people of quality.

You can get a pretty clear sense of this by reading Agatha Christie novels, honestly. There's often a nouveau riche character--sometimes an American, but often an Italian or Greek--who always just... is OFF. Clothing and voice are too loud, doesn't have the right manners, etc.

And, to be fair, *beautiful* simplicity is hard to pull off. So that became the defining characteristic. It wasn't only harder to do, but it doesn't have as many obvious signifiers as to How To Do It Right.

(That's probably why showing the brand became such a big deal.)

Moreover, it's essentially an acquired taste.

If you ask a little kid which is prettier--a brightly colored, fancy ballgown or a little black dress--they're almost certainly going to pick the ballgown.

You have to learn to love plainness.

So that can be claimed as another sign of elevated, rarefied taste. There's the implication that people who'd want to wear something like this are somehow more "primitive" than WASPs in their muted colors.

Now does that mean that simplicity/muted colors/etc. are bad? Of course not.

It means that the WASP insistence on them as a sign of True Breeding And Taste is, though.

So in conclusion, before you leave your house, ADD an accessory that would make Coco Chanel unhappy, just to spite that Nazi bitch.

Live colorfully if you want to. Fuck "taste," frankly. Do you.