By Analese Picart

This week’s topic is different styles and the societal idea of having to choose only one. 

The idea of working in the city scared the crap out of me. I am from the suburbs of New York, downstate that is, and don’t you even think about trying to call it upstate. I had never ridden the subway alone before; the train was a piece of cake. I mean in high school you couldn’t have bottomless brunch without Grand Central. But the subway was a whole different beast. Except that it wasn’t, it’s fucking amazing. People-watching has never been so entertaining. You look around and you see all different types of people; all different styles.  It’s beautiful. However, I found myself looking at people and placing them into those stupid boxes that society sets up for us. AKA aesthetics. You have the Indie, the y2k, the ‘soft girl’, the ‘clean girl’, the cottage core, the old money, the baddie, and everything else in between and beyond.  

Putting people in these boxes helps to keep our structure, I mean how can brands be unique if they sell clothes that fit into each aesthetic? They can’t they have to pick just one, right? You see celebrities, and they each have a stagnant aesthetic that they embody, and typically their fan base fits in their societal box too.  

Don’t get me wrong, I love categorizing people too. If you’re not into Western medicine, this is the next best anxiety suppressor. At least for me because when you pre-categorize someone it is so much easier to adjust yourself to them. You can assume how they will respond to certain things; you can assume their likes and dislikes; you are pre-reading them before they even know it.  

What I do not like is that we must choose only one. Why can’t our boxes be open? Like, totally yes categorize people, it’s inevitable, but damn can we allow for migration? I know that for myself I am more than one box, I'm a fucking tackle box. Some days I want to look cute and clean, others I am in red and black leather. My best friend and I were talking about our future weddings, and I remember her being shocked at the type of wedding I wanted. The amount of greenery involved and the fact that I would want to be barefoot during it truly surprised her. I get it because initially, I don’t give that vibe but, again, sometimes I am on the right side of my tacklebox and sometimes the left sounds better.  

I think that personality is the first factor in somebody’s placement. You can be dressed in a floral sundress with an Aperol Spritz in hand but if you curse every two seconds, that’s it you’re going in a different box. But I hate that because someone who prances around flower fields all day can curse too and someone who wears cheetah print can be someone who has never watched Jersey Shore. What I mean by all of this is that we can act one way and dress another. We can act one way and dress the same. We can use more than one box.  

Anyway, I just started watching Sex in the City, which is crazy because according to my societal box, I should have watched that at 14 years old. I am obsessed with it and its sealed tight categorical boxes. Each girl is completely different, and their language, actions, clothes, and mannerisms each depict one aesthetic for each girl. Everything matches up. The ladies rarely step outside of their box and when they do, the show highlights it. Miranda in her skinny jeans, Samantha and her entire relationship with Richard, Charlotte during her groupie moment, and Carrie accepting Aidan’s proposal.  

I was thinking the other day and realized that the four women in Desperate Housewives have the same categorizations as these women. If you have not watched Desperate Housewives you need to, it deserves its own box. I paired Samantha with Gabrielle, Miranda with Lynette, Charlotte with Bree (minus Bree’s initial homophobia because Charlotte would never), and Carrie with Susan (minus the fact that Carrie basically sleeps in Manolo’s meanwhile, Susan could care less). I realized I was categorizing all these people and then realized that when they do act outside of their box, it is so exciting. You need change, no spontaneity is so lame. Sometimes I'm giving Samantha and other days I am giving Charlotte and that is perfectly fine.  
 

Anyways, changing boxes is normal and fun and who’s to say that we can’t?  

So, if at heart you’re a Samantha, it is okay to sometimes want to swap your gold chain for pearls and embody a Charlotte.