Those who think fashion is all about fitting in are wrong. Fashion is all about standing out, being different, wearing things that are cool because no one else has them or knows where you got them. These things don’t even have to be attractive (plaid flannels, anyone?) as long as you like them, they make you happy, and you wear them with confidence. Which is why it makes perfect sense for Jersey Shore style to catch on. Those fashion sensibilities haven’t caught on en masse yet, but the kids are, according to the AP, hungry for the Shore look. Such as this tenth-grader.
Zach, whose ethnic background is Serbian, says he’s watched every episode of the show four times and got the Pauly D cut in late January. Since then, he’s been getting up 25 minutes early for school, at 6:25 a.m., so he has time to perfect the style.
It’s worth it, Zach said.
“I’ve noticed now when I go places with the haircut, people just stop and look at me. No one else has it,” he said.
Sure, now no one else has it. But in a year or two it could become like studded leather, which was cool a few years ago until everyone decided they were badasses and latched on to it.
The show has been fabulous for Pauly D’s barber, who has cut the D.J.’s hair once a week for a decade. People are calling and booking appointments for the $12 cut from places as far away as a 40-minute drive.
Young women are mimicking Shore hair too, such as Lauren Lewis, a 19-year-old nursing student at LaGuardia College in Queens.
[S]he doesn’t consider herself a guidette but looks to Snooki and JWOWW for tips when she goes out clubbing.
“I want to be Snooki or JWOWW. Outgoing. I’m not really that outgoing,” she said. “I look at them for inspiration.”
Frightening. And we are only slightly soothed in knowing that J-WOWW — who confirmed to the AP she is working on a clothing line — will ditch her blonde skunk highlights for season two of the program. We blame our nation’s youth’s increasing attraction to not only this show, but what it represents, on women’s magazines failing to promote and support role models who are truly engrossing. What kind of interesting and unusual fashion and lifestyle advice can young ladies gain from another puff piece of Taylor Swift or Jennifer Garner or Jessica Simpson? All lovely ladies, but sparkly dresses, plain tank tops, and unflappable grace (well, maybe not in Simpson’s case) get old damn fast.
’Jersey Shore’ Spawns Style Following [AP via HuffPo]
