Well What Do You Know

April 13, 2007

It is easy to want to be this or that, but it remains to be seen whether we have the power to change into what we would like to be. If such power be lacking, then our pretensions cannot appear otherwise than ridiculous and futile.

-From the short story A Character in Distress by Luigi Pirandello (1857-1956)

It couldn’t be said better than this. There are nasty names for that those whom Pirandello pertains to; ‘pretentious’ is such a nice adjective compared to them. Posers, nag-feefeeling, epal—after taking that risk of having the world’s collective eyebrow raised against you, you realize, too late, that that acid green shirt makes you look pathetic.

 

Check a mall. Any mall. The average Filipino wears a pair of jeans and a printed shirt. Sometimes, though, we find special people whom the entity above has forgotten to gift with the sense of fashion—heck, even propriety! You can’t have possibly missed that mini-skirted, massively thighed creature strutting a little ahead of you. Or were you looking at that fat guy wearing a muscle shirt? Ooh, first one who finds a peeking panty wins a prize!

 

Do I sound mean? Hell, I always sound mean. And I don’t just sound mean, I am mean. And you know what, I’m not the only mean person on this benighted planet. If you know what’s good for you, please don’t do ridiculous things. It hurts. It hurts you know.

 

But what if you don’t know what’s good for you? Well yeah, you might feel cool and not know that you’re not. But really. I refuse to believe that you are that stupid. It’s not that hard to take a look inside yourself, you’re always with yourself anyway. What I’m trying to say is that: can you live up to the challenge of breaking away from the stereotype? What challenge? The challenge of a coldly critical society judging you, first and foremost, from the clothes you wear. You don’t have to say or do anything yet; just wear something stupid, and you’re a dead giveaway.

 

This is not a treatise on fashion. If you want one, get a magazine.


Posted by lizette at 5:15 pm | permalink

Previous Comments

i love Luigi Pirandello. some people are unaware of who they really are. i think that’s where true friends come in. i pity those who don’t have any. then they end up as fashion disasters and more.

Posted by Cheska at April 13, 2007, 7:08 pm

why let anyone else determine whether you’re cool or not? :-/

Posted by marc at April 14, 2007, 9:59 pm

Hehe, we Pinoys sure are fans of conformity… which is not always a good thing.

Posted by Megan at April 15, 2007, 12:42 am

marc: it’s not really a matter of letting. people determine whether you are cool or not, whether you like it or not. unfortunately.

megan: conformity is comfortable. i think everyone is a fan of comfort. however! the most comforyable way does not necessarily mean the best way. quite unfortunately, again. XP

cheska: thanks for visiting! Italians are great yes?

Posted by lizette at April 15, 2007, 12:37 pm

unfortunately.

Posted by marc at April 16, 2007, 12:35 am

You UP people ALWAYS have the best, most thought provoking blog entries. I’ve been doing some thinking if it’s not too late to switch to UP Manila for college. Is Behavioral Studies any good?

As a writer, Luigi Pirandello has his work written in such uncomplicated prose. It draws more focus not to the words itself but the visual image of the text thus it provides clarity and imagery to the reader.:) Anyway, I plead guilty to being a conformist. It is the surest, most acceptable way to fit in in a society where even the adventurous fashion sense is considered outrageous. Growing up with great value for what is morally “correct” and accepted by the “many” has made us shun individuality and bring new light to the meaning of sense of self.:)

Love your entries:) Is it okay if I link you?

Posted by Shang at April 17, 2007, 11:43 am

sure thing shang! i’ll link you too.

BehSci is good in UPM. also, that means we’ll be college-mates because I’m polsci! so do consider UPM. ^_^

Posted by lizette at April 17, 2007, 12:34 pm

Haha this has been obvious in our society yet i never really thought about it. You just made me laugh. On the second thought, maybe most people just don’t have the financial capacity to glam themselves, or just don’t care how they look.

Good thing I’m wearing corporate attire from mondays to fridays and is only compelled to wear smart casuals during fridays. but even then, to be on the safe side, i still wear long/short sleeves polo. I am not attuned to my fashion instinct, heck, maybe im just on denial as my built is not ideal to flaunt muscle shirts and what have you.

Posted by larrybored at April 23, 2007, 5:40 pm