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What is Street Style? Dr. Kelly Olson Explains

“Street style used to mean that you wanted to stand out. Nowadays, people don't seem to want to do that anymore.”


Dr. Kelly Olson is a Professor in the Department of Classical Studies and Women's Studies and Feminist Research. She teaches a 2000 level Women’s Studies course called Gender in Fashion, making her Western University’s go-to fashion expert.


I turned to her for clarity on the phenomenon of street style.


She defines it as:

“A specific time in fashion in which the clothing that people on the street are wearing sort of bubbles up into designers. It's originally associated with subcultural style. Punks, goths and emos to some extent all embody street style.”

Source: Anarchy UK


Dr. Olson says, “It's really having your own taste in your own style and taking trends and putting your own personal spin on it.”


Ripping, pinning or dyeing secondhand clothing to make it your own? That’s street style.


Dr. Olson credits the late Bill Cunningham as the king of street style. The New York Times photographer would scour the streets of New York on his bicycle to capture images of people dressed in fun, quirky outfits.


“I associate him with street style because he's got great taste,” says Dr. Olson. “He would always find something super interesting to photograph.”


Bill Cunningham New York Trailer (2010)


Dr. Olson says that since people are bombarded with so many sources of fashion, it’s difficult for anyone to have a truly individual sense of style anymore.


“Street style started off as something quirky and different and individual and now, street style seems to be everybody looking alike which is unfortunate.”


According to her, that is certainly the case on Western’s campus.


She says: “All the young women seem to be dressed like cookie cutter imitations of one another. It’s kind of depressing actually.”


It perplexes her as to why this is.


This is something you can tell from the moment Dr. Olson gets up in front of a class to lecture. You can see her cat eye makeup from the back of the class.


Dr. Olson says she believes society is going through a time she likes to call “The Cult of Comfortable Clothing.”


Comfort is of optimal importance to most dressers, which Dr. Olson says makes sense. Historically, clothing was super uncomfortable. Think: corsets, high heels, etc. Discomfort was the point.


Now we’re moving away from that to the likes of normcore and athleisure.


The problem arises when designers look to the street for inspiration and the streets don’t have anything of value to offer them.


It says a lot about the future of fashion. “If they look to the street and all they see are sweatpants and UGGs, they’re probably not going to find much inspiration,” says Dr. Olson. “Nor should they.”

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