Being different, just like everyone else

Lenny Kravitz -- Rocker, leading trendsetter

For most men the concept of individuality and variation in their personal style has become an essential part of fashion culture, with people like rocker Lenny Kravitz and sports star David Beckham leading the pack.  To be noticed and to stand out from the crowd is extremely important to the modern man.  From rocking baggy jeans to Gucci loafers to high priced tailored jeans…..we have seemingly become more and more interested in embellishing how different we are from the masses –  in the most stylish way of course.

Individualism, as easy as it seems, is often more easily achieved by people on the margins of society rather than the mainstream. Expanding across all genres, from skateboarders and bohemian cultures to gangster and the gay culture, we have become a melting pot of stylish uniqueness.

Often in our attempt to be fresh and trendsetting individuals, we eagerly undertake the task of creating a look that we feel most comfortable with and that expresses who we are and the implicit message we are trying to articulate. However, too often in this attempt we often take a turn left, when of course we should have taken a right.  Jumping on the bandwagon of trends from backwards caps and skinny jeans and other inappropriate choices – all in the search of personal character and distinction – what we are unaware of is that our attempt has led us not down the road of individuality but straight into the realm of assimilation.  Trying so hard not to be like everyone else we see that, “everyone else,” is what we have become. As men we must take an active and more controlled approach to our dress, carefully addressing every aspect of what and who we are while bypassing the trendy trap.

We are always on a search  to find ourselves so that we often lose ourselves and stray far from what it is that led us on the search in the first place.  Increasingly individuals are taking on the fashion persona’s of those they deem more fashionable, losing themselves in the process.

I want to be different, like everybody else I want to be like. I want to be just like all the different people. I have no further interest in being the same, because I have seen difference all around, and now I know that that’s what I want. I don’t want to blend in and be indistinguishable. I want to be part of the different crowd, and assert my individuality along with others who are different like me. –John S. Hall, American poet, author, singer, and lawyer

Recently, on a warm Saturday afternoon, I found myself strolling through Lenox Mall in search of the perfect piece of style iconography that would most accentuate my most masculine, eye-catching and alluring attributes. In my attempt to outshine and out-style the “competition,” I found myself on a journey from shop to shop to find that which would highlight me, the individual.  This occurrence is a very common and can be found in all aspects of male subcultures, from the high-powered executive all the way to the neighborhood mechanic.  However, lately there seems to be a slight emergence of what is commonly called “swagger jacking.”  Seemingly, individualism for today’s modern-day male has taken on more of a carbon copy effect. In an attempt to advance our own sense of style and individuality, we have begun to take on the trendsetting ideas of others.

Soccer star David Beckham is a style inspiration to men all around the world

Being an individual, however important it may seem, should never be defined on you through the ideas of others.   Confusing? Of course it is.  Let me go a step further to clarify what it is I am trying to say.  We all wear things designed by other people –true– but how we customize these articles is indeed what personalizes them for us. Wanting to be cool and stylish and trendsetting and different –though not uncomfortably different—is a goal we all want to achieve, but this goal must be done on our own terms and conditions. You don’t want to be the guy who has to imitate –completely or stylistically—the creativity of another man. This will without a doubt get you an impending and even more embarrassing “Auf wiedersehen” circa Heidi Klum, Project Runway. Seriously, how many brothers really want to be auf’d–OK I guess I’m rambling here, so I’ll get back to the message.– Though there is nothing wrong with grabbing inspiration from others creativity, becoming someone’s mirror image should never be your objective.

We must all learn to “max-out” our levels of creation and ideology to reach and attain a certain level of style and individuality. Once this plateau is reached we’ll start to care less and less about what others think.  Although some of us may find it necessary to employ the services of personal image consultants—such as the brilliant and always fashion forward artists at Epic Image Consulting—we all possess the basic fundamentals of dress.  As we strive to be different, and to stand out, we have to remember that the average man is probably thinking the same thing.  So what am I trying to say? Step your game up people, and learn to upgrade yourselves for yourselves. Staying true to the one person whose opinion counts….Vogue Magazine Contributing Editor Andre Leon Talley….just kidding, just kidding…Seriously guys,  just be true to you.–Oh yea, one more thing…pull your pants up.  That style and trend has died, so grab your shovels and bury it.

Just Cal, Fashion Blogger