anything goes with emma chamberlain
fashionable vs stylish (yes, there's a difference)
Thu, 12 Dec 2024
as many of you know, i recently got rid of the majority of the clothing of my closet. i've had many epiphanies from this experience. my most recent epiphany: the real difference between being stylish and being fashionable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What happened while recording the episode?
About 20 minutes ago, I sat down to record this episode. I lit a candle, I got comfortable in my chair, I pressed record, and I started yapping. And everything was going smoothly. Until the unexpected happened. Out of nowhere. I got hiccups. This has never happened before, okay? I've recorded hundreds of podcast episodes.
I've never spontaneously developed hiccups in the middle of an episode ever in my entire life. And I kind of froze. I didn't really know what to do. I was like, well, are they going to go away, like, right now? Like, I'm in the middle of something. Like, are they going to go away right now? So I just kind of kept it rolling. I was like... They'll probably go away in like a minute or two.
They did not go away in a minute or two. I had to turn off my recording equipment and sit and stare at the wall for 20 minutes and wait for my hiccups to go away. As you can hear, the hiccups are gone. I'm back. We're trying it again. Everything's going great this time. I'm actually like kind of afraid. that I'm going to get hiccups again.
It was kind of a, not to be dramatic, but it was kind of a traumatic event because I was so like in the zone. I was so fucking ready to chat with you guys. And then hiccups, it was just, it was unbelievable. It was terrible. But I'm here. The hiccups are over. I fucking hate having hiccups. They hurt a little bit.
I don't know if that's just me and like I have something undiagnosed, like maybe hiccups shouldn't hurt. But for me, they hurt. It's like uncomfortable. It's miserable. So I'm just happy to be here. Anyway, abrupt topic shift alert. As many of you may know, if you listen to Anything Goes, about two or three months ago, I made the decision to get rid of majority of the clothing in my closet.
I'm talking about 90 to 95% of the clothing in my closet donated. You probably know this if you're a listener to Anything Goes because I have unfortunately made it my entire personality. It is a reoccurring topic for me. I cannot stop discussing the realizations and epiphanies that I've had from getting rid of majority of the clothing in my closet.
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Chapter 2: Why did Emma donate most of her clothes?
It's actually kind of sad how profound this experience has been for me. Most people's profound events are a bit more deep, you know? Getting rid of majority of the clothing in my closet, like that's not that deep. I didn't have a near-death experience. Like shit didn't get that real. Like it shouldn't be as profound for me as it is.
However, the experience of getting rid of majority of the clothing in my closet for me has been profound. And objectively, that's kind of sad. But I think anytime anything is profound in life, we should welcome it with open arms and say, you know what? Any experience that invites conversation, I think is positive, no matter how surface level it may seem from the outside.
I've had many epiphanies from this experience, and I've talked about a lot of them on this podcast. So some of these epiphanies may be familiar to you, but I'm going to list the epiphanies I've had thus far. Number one, the true value of quality over quantity in clothing. Something that I was aware of prior to this experience, but I wasn't really living out in my life.
I definitely had quantity over quality before, whereas now I definitely have quality over quantity. And I think only upon enacting it in my life do I truly realize what it means in building a wardrobe to have quality over quantity. Next epiphany, owning more clothing will not make you more stylish or fashionable. If anything, it will hold you back. It will probably make you overwhelmed.
I would say for majority of people, decision fatigue happens. If you have too much stuff, you get exhausted. You don't want to make a choice. If your closet is filled with different options, that doesn't mean that you're going to be more creative and come up with more innovative outfit ideas.
It probably means you're going to get overwhelmed and end up wearing the same thing every single day because you don't want to attack the beast that is your clothing collection. Is that for everybody? Is that true for everybody? No, but I would say for majority of people, it is the case. And it definitely was the case for me.
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Chapter 3: What are the key epiphanies from decluttering?
Next epiphany, the concept of a capsule wardrobe, I would say is underrated. It's not like it's something that nobody is utilizing, but I don't know. It's not like trendy to discuss a capsule wardrobe. I feel like what's trendy more than anything is to be like, look at all this stuff I just bought. Look at this haul, which by the way, I'm guilty of. I've done a lot of hauls in my life and career.
So I'm not saying that there's anything morally wrong with doing a haul or that people who do hauls are evil because I'm not evil and you're not evil. It's not that. But what I'm saying is,
It's not trendy to talk about the concept of having a capsule wardrobe, which is having a smaller amount of things that all go together that can create a number of different unique outfits from a smaller collection of clothing that's more tactically created. Is tactically a word? Oh my God. It is. I love that. I love when I say a word and I don't know if it is a word and then it is.
And now, for my most recent epiphany, drumroll please, it's been brought to my attention the real difference between being stylish and being fashionable. Now, I know what you're thinking. Emma, who gives a fuck, you freak? Who gives a fuck? That's like being like, what's the difference between a turtle and a tortoise? What's the difference between an alligator and a crocodile?
Oh my God, I almost forgot. What's the difference between a frog and a toad? Like, what's the fucking difference? Who cares? They look the same. They're close enough. No, I know what you're saying, but hear me out, okay? The difference between a crocodile and an alligator, the difference between a frog and a toad, these differences are minor, right?
A lot of times it comes down to like their environment. One goes in water, one doesn't. One is like an omnivore, one is a carnivore, whatever. And those minor differences don't really matter to the average person, right? Like to me, to you, I mean, depending on who you are and what your interests are, who cares about that, right?
But to somebody who is really interested in biology, the differences between a frog and a toad, the differences between a crocodile and an alligator, I keep forgetting which one's which and what the name of the other one is. The difference between those two things is very significant.
So my point of that is the difference between being stylish and being fashionable doesn't fucking matter to people who don't care about clothes. If you wear clothes in a utilitarian way, you wear clothes for function, then the difference between fashion and style, it's neither here nor there. Who fucking cares? But for those of us who love this shit, Why do I keep cussing? Let me relax.
Sometimes I'll like get into a mood and I'll just start cussing a lot. And it's very cringe and it to me like reminds me of when I was a teenager and I'd get, I don't know, like I'd feel super badass or something and I'd just cuss a lot or I'd get nervous and I'd cuss a lot because I was like trying to be cool. Like if I was around like a cute boy, I'd start cussing a lot because I was nervous.
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Chapter 4: What is the difference between being fashionable and stylish?
It's about knowing how to create a vibe and knowing how to put together something that no one's ever fucking seen before. That's what I thought it meant to be stylish. And to be honest, I was kind of haunted by what my definition of stylish was. Like this definition of stylish for me haunted me. It was kind of exhausting. I was like, God, it's so much fucking work to be stylish, you know?
Like, I want to be stylish. I don't want to be fashionable. I want to be stylish. This is how, you know, we truly express ourselves and are unique and use fashion to truly show who we are, right? Is to do the fucking most. To take every single thing that you love on Pinterest and put it on you and become that. is to find the things that work for you and then do all of them at once.
But then to also constantly be exploring and actively trying to fix like, okay, what's the next thing though? What's the next thing though? Constantly be on top of it. Be one step ahead. I realize now that my definitions were wrong. Were they completely wrong? No. In fact, they're pretty close. But there are some key differences. They are so minor.
They're so minor that some of you are going to roll your fucking eyes and be like, Emma, I mean, seriously, you're just fucking grasping at straws at this point for podcast topics. Like, what the fuck are you talking about? At this point, you're taking a metaphorical microscope at every single thing on planet Earth. And my God, is it exhausting for you probably, but then also for everybody else.
Emma, please give it up. No, you're wrong. There is a key difference between what my definitions used to be and what I realized the definitions are, what it truly means to be fashionable, what it truly means to be stylish. Okay. What I realize now is that to be fashionable is far less simple. Okay. I thought it was just like wearing designer brands, sort of being a mannequin, right?
Like being a walking mannequin from stores. Okay. So like wearing an exact Louis Vuitton runway outfit. Leaning into the logos, leaning into the brands, right? Wearing exactly what an Urban Outfitters mannequin is wearing. They signal to the world very, very clearly and very loudly, I'm aware of what's trendy. Look at it. It's on my body. I'm into fashion. Look.
What I realized was, in the age of the internet, it's far more complex than just copying what's on the runway, you know, if you have the means to do that, or copying, you know, the Urban Outfitters mannequin. It goes so much deeper than that, okay? Being fashionable today just means being chronically on trend, whatever that means at any given moment. And nowadays...
The internet has such a fucking chokehold on fashion trends. Like the internet has its own trend cycle sort of situation that a lot of times the brands can't even keep up with. Okay. The brands can't even produce fast enough. The fashion kids online are so fucking fast. They're not even waiting for shit to be produced anymore. They're making it happen themselves.
They're, you know, making certain references go viral and then they're making it go mainstream before the urban outfitters of the world even catch on. So like at times, certain individuals may rely on designer brands to be fashionable.
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Chapter 6: What is a micro trend final boss?
It's all kind of falling into one aesthetic that is not really one thing that you can put your finger on, but it's just me. And I would say there are some trendy stuff in there. I don't know. Like I'm not like reinventing the wheel. Like there's definitely some trendy stuff in there. But if it's trendy, it doesn't matter because I'll wear it for the next fucking 10 years.
There's distinct qualities, whether it's a color palette or the fact that like you wear the same types of little pins on your clothes every day or you wear the same staple pair of sunglasses every day. Like these little things add to your personal style. Like it's almost something that you can't even explain. You can only see it and feel it. It's kind of cosmic, to be honest.
So there's my sort of updated understanding of what it means to be fashionable versus what it means to be stylish. It's two completely different lifestyles. It's two completely different sets of priorities. When I was younger, I loved getting dressed up and taking photos for Instagram and, you know, constantly be putting together trendy outfits and stuff like that.
If you love that, if that's how you express yourself, if that's a hobby for you, if you like making fashion related content, if you want to be a fashion influencer, like whatever it may be, Be fashionable. That is the path for you. That is the philosophy to hold near and dear to your heart. However, that doesn't work for everybody. And let me tell you, it did not work for me. I love clothes.
I love paying attention to trends. I love all of this stuff. However, in my own personal life, on a day-to-day basis, I would rather be stylish. I'd rather have a really strong sense of personal style that is distinct to me I don't want to keep up with the trend cycles. I can't do it anymore. I don't want to do it. I want to come up with my own thing.
And that works better for me and potentially for many of you because number one, it takes you off the hamster wheel of keeping up with the trends constantly. You can love fashion and not want to participate in the trend cycles. hold on, stop the presses. Yes, that is possible. Yes, we exist. Okay. That's number one.
Number two, there's something really appealing about having a distinct, consistent fashion personality that is evolving in a much more controlled, tactful sort of way. You may not always look on trend. You may not be the one that people go to to figure out what's going to be hot this summer, but you're going to have your own thing going. And that's fucking cool.
And I think it's also a better lifestyle and philosophy for those who do not like to have a lot of stuff. I'm now realizing, oh my God, I have too much stuff. I don't want stuff anymore. I want less stuff. That is a very, again, that's a privileged position to be coming from to say like, I want less stuff. It's bratty. It's annoying. Listen, I get it.
However, I think it's pretty common because it sort of became trendy to buy more fast fashion, more lower priced, trendy places. That became a trend. It became about having more, having options. And, you know, I'm not really about that life anymore. I just, I don't like that way of spending my money anymore. Uh, I don't like having too many options.
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