Commentary on artisanal fashion influencers on TikTok and stupidity.

 Recently, a friend and I had a conversation about something we saw online. It was between this person, who is pretty young but is also part of the artisanal community. Yes, I know that the artisanal community is not the most niche thing on the planet, but among the youth, it is pretty irrelevant. Many people do not know about the style, do not care about the way the clothing looks, or just do not have exposure to it. To me, I feel like this is a touchy topic. Because yes, I do want to share the beauty behind artisanal fashion and the processes, but I also want to only have the correct people in the niche. I feel that TikTok warriors or people who do not connect with the medium might taint the practice a smidge. With this being said, I want to go into further detail about what I and my friend talked about. 

The video was about a pair of Number (N)Ine Skull Sweatpants. I honestly do not care about these whatsoever, but it is cool to see someone happy about their purchase and their so-called “grail.” But many people were kind of hating on this guy for liking something. Yes, it is a bit underwhelming, but someone who is into clothing and fashion should not hate on someone else and their stylistic choices. It is not the place for one to judge. Anyway, there was one person who I kind of knew in the comment section as well. He is someone who is pretty revalent in the tiktok artisanal sphere of things. He is young, and he also buys a lot of clothing. Expensive clothing. He commented on the post, “This your grail?” kind of like mocking this guy for enjoying fashion just as he does and just like I do. The original poster comes back and says, “Yeah, ab it worry ab urself?” which is fair to say. There is no reason for this guy to hate what anyone wears. Especially someone as “educated” as he claims to be later on. The person who originally commented then retaliates and says, “I mean, good for you that you got your grail. But sweats aren’t that special, especially one that is so heavily repped imo.” Now, this is also fair to say. But the next few things are just plain ignorance and make zero sense. The commenter and other people start going back and forth, with eventually the commenter saying, "Check my page,” and all of these things that really make zero sense. Another commenter says, “uneducated,” and the original commenter says, “Me? Uneducated? Rofl emoji.” Which is just stupid. If you think you are educated, then you should not even be fighting these fights. If someone is pissing you off, you do not need to indulge in their stupidity. By your standards, you are falling to the level that they are. Which, in turn, makes you look stupid. Even then, he is just fighting with a bunch of online tiktokers that can have an opinion just like him. But the part about it that I realized is that he kind of has a superiority complex. I say this because the stuff he wears and consumes ties it all together. There is nothing wrong with wearing any clothing. But some clothing is considered more niche and upper-class than some other things, and this guy wears Carol Christian Poell. This brand, which over the past few years, especially on social media apps, has been exposed to people who would have never learned about CCP unless it was on their For You Page, has now been exposed to one of the biggest artisanal designers of our time. And this guy must think that he is different. He deserves this knowledge and clothing. He is different than anyone else because he wears CCP! Anyway, there is like an aura that CCP has, and I feel like the original commenter has kind of taken advantage of this and thinks that he is now better than everyone else because he wears a higher-end fashion brand. Which is crazy because I thought people in the artisanal community would be more welcoming. Considering that artisanal creations are more niche and also bring people together. Artisanal clothing is also made by people who think about qualify first and usually have kind hearts and is open about their creations. But some are different. For example CCP. Which is more of a, “I’m in the cool kids club.” Type of deal. And when it comes to consumers it feels like that as well I guess. But not to the point some people like him are. Whom of which are just purely insufferable and really put artisanal fashion under a bad lighting which then pushes people away even more. But then again some people like enjoy his ignorance and rude personality and enjoy him. But then again, it feels like this person wears CCP because he thinks he is the chosen one. The one who is the best dressed. In reality, he is just forcing himself into an eating disorder to fit into clothing that would not fit him if he ate one cheeseburger. It is just quite hilarious to me as well. He is also again very well known in the TikTok sphere, as he is kind of known for being the privileged CCP white boy who buys CCP all the time. Plus, he is also kind of known for being pretentious. Which is again a red flag. I think that is just who he is, though. He buys from Darklands, a place where I was kicked out, as well as a place that is known for being very difficult and hard to deal with by other people as well, and he has also been mean to some of my other friends as well so I guess he fits in. But I also don’t see why the people in the artisanal community care about this guy. I know I don’t. I guess there are other people like him who are pretentious and think that they’re better than one person just based on the fact that they have “better” or “right” clothing. This is just stupid. It takes everything away from what fashion is truly meant to be. It doesn’t help anyone, and it just isolates one’s self even more. Why even comment on something? If all you’re going to do is try to put someone down, then once other people call you out for it, you get all defensive, like you’re the one who’s being attacked. It makes no sense. I think that it is different between his sphere of expertise and my sphere. I think that our differences are vast in what we like, but we still share the same love for artisanal craftsmanship and clothing. But even then, I know people who like what I like and act like him, and people who like what he likes and acts like me. So I don’t know what to say. 

 

I think that in totality, this should not be something anyone who is in the artisanal community should even try to fight. As well as the masses of the fashion community. Anything can be a grail to anyone. That does not mean you need to comment on it. As my friend said, “TikTok is literally meant for you to scroll.” And he is right. You can just scroll past this stuff. I did. That means someone else can as well, especially someone who is so invested in fashion. Also, someone will not instantly change their mind and abide by your rules just because you say so. Which makes no sense! It’s all just pompous and extremely stupid. It made me chuckle, and I hope that with this bit of text, it can make someone else chuckle and have a laugh at the ridiculousness of some people.