The Beige Epidemic

The Devil Wears Prada 2 was capturing the funeral for a version of style we did not realize slipped away. While the first movie was an iconic coming of age story set against a backdrop of glamour, the second captures a world where the art of the magazine has been swallowed by doomscrolling.

If you walk into any popular clothing store today or scan a crowd, you are met with a haunting lack of color. It is an endless sea of black, white, and beige. Everyone is dressed in the same three shades and shopping at stores that carry the exact same mass-produced silhouettes. This haunting abundance of identicality has been carried off the racks and into our bodies and faces. There is a widespread fear of aging that has led to a surge in botox and plastic surgery. Many are striving for an unattainable physique, fueled by the rise of GLP-1's and diet culture.

This all goes back to the most basic principle of being alive: difference. Art, life, and fashion only become interesting when there is friction. Different bodies, clashing colors, and wild, dissenting opintions are what make life vibrant. That variety is exactly what makes art actually feel like art.

In the sequel, we see a bittersweet evolution of the industries we fell in live with back in the early 2000's. The heart and soul of fashion used to be about the "cerulean" monologue and the history of a stitch. Now, it has been taken over by business metrics and dollar signs. People dismiss fashion as frivolous. They think it is a waste of time to invest throught into what we wear. But fashion is how we translate our internal worlds into physical language. Even when financial barriers exist, the clothes we wear tell a story of who we are, where we come from, and how we view a world constantly trying to flatten our individuality.

The most biting irony captured in the sequel is how the industry has turned into a money circus for businessmen. There is a staggering disconnect. The fashion world, built by and fueled primarily by the labor of women, is increasingly goverened by men who have no interest in fashion. When you place a rigid profit making system around an industry thriving off of creativity, you limit what is daring and different for safe and repeatable.

We must stop being afraid of clashing colors, of wrinkles on our forehead, stretch marks, and of clothing that makes you question if it's a little bit strange. Most importantly, we must stop letting corporate spreadsheets and businessmen dictate what beauty if defined by. Let us bring back fun and weirdness because that's what makes life fun!!!