Never Say Never: The art of Over-Sharing

or The Zoot suit and Remaining Mute ....

Two things have been heavy on my mind this week, the idea of 90's bad taste becoming good taste and the abundance of over-sharing I've been seeing online.

Redux
When I first moved to London, it seemed everyone around me was wearing long shapeless coats.

My friend Ben and I call them, "Effortless coats" with extra emphasis on the E, as they're far from effortless. You know the kind of oversize cashmere MaxMara coat one might wear when catching a cab after brokering a deal on Wall St whilst talking on an oversize cellphone circa 1990.
Here they come in all iterations, for males and females and in everything from camel to pinstripe. Maybe it was culture shock, maybe it was all the COS stores here or maybe it was just a longing to fit in somewhere new. It was one of the rare occasions where I actually wanted to buy into a trend everyone else was wearing. I went from store to store and tried on a few, from the cheapest of the cheap polyester at H&M to super luxe wool at Lanvin. None felt right, and I swore I'd never wear one.

I even did some research and found that these oversize silhouettes for men came into fashion when African American men challenged racial boundaries in the early 20th century. In the 1940S the excess of fabric was deemed unpatriotic in wartime (when fabric was rationed), but also came to symbolize everything "hip" as jackets with deep sleeves and outsize fullness were worn by jazz artists. Later in 70's post-war London, Teddy-Boys and their neo-Edwardian subculture would adopt the same style.

I had all my research lined up, and even a first draft of a post, "Why I Won't Be Rocking a Shapeless Coat". But something told me not to hit post.... it sat for months and months.

Fast-forward to a few weeks ago,

Spring has sprung and I find myself slipping into a silk version of the oversized trench. I wasn't sure at first, but once I raced home and watched it blow in the wind behind me, I was sold!

The coat made it's debut at London Fashion week along with another fashion item I'd previously prohibited: the denim onesie, Never say never!

My fashion cred would be like the trench flapping in the wind, had I shared that post months ago.

We've been living in the post-digital age long enough to know that everything we post online is public. Generally, the goal when sharing anything online is for it to be shared and spread. But what happens when we no longer feel that way? What happens when we share too much?

It's like the girl who goes crying to her friends about the guy who broke her heart - a week later when they're back together it's the friends who feel it most.

"Make no mistake: This is not your diary. You are not letting all hang out. You are picking and choosing every single word" - Dani Shapiro.

Whenever I share something on any social platform I always ask myself if I'd be cool with both my mother and future employer seeing this...Thank god snapchat disappears after 24 hours

(Hi Mom!)

The other question to ask when sharing an Op-ed is "Will I still feel like this in a week?"

when it comes to personal things I always err on the side of less is more.

When it comes to fashion, I choose to investigate - and find the beauty in anything that's been well designed.

What's on your fashion "never" list?

at #LFW doing the most, photos by Eye Muse

"Make no mistake : This is not your diary. You are not letting all hang out. You are picking and choosing every single word" - Dani Shapiro.