What’s my style? I love clothes from The Editor’s Market for their neutral colour scheme, my go-to bag would definitely be my Gentlewoman tote bag that’s so easy to pair, and I’d put on my Charles & Keith sandals to top it all off.
And I’m probably just one out of the many Singaporean girls who dress this way, or what the Internet likes to call ‘basic’. We like popular things that are tried and tested, and fall for mainstream products marketed for the masses. The popularity of ‘basic’ female wear is best illustrated during Chinese New Year – where all the Love Bonito outlets are packed to the brim as women flock to purchase their new clothes from there.
But the Internet seems to hate the label ‘basic’, as if where we choose to get our clothes determines our personality. We are labelled as girls who are bland and afraid to stand out, and would hop on trends mindlessly to gain public — or worse, male — validation. Basically, we’re not quirky, unique, or indie enough, and are ‘just like other girls’.
The recent Gentlewoman bag saga saw people secretly taking photos of girls carrying the tote bag, and posting on Instagram just to shame them. Not only did this saga highlight the people’s collective intolerance to ‘basic’ wear, the fact that the account went viral proved to be concerning simply because it has normalised taking photos of girls in secret, especially when there are already so many men filming upskirt videos.
But what’s wrong with being ‘just like other girls’? Shaming ‘basic’ girls simply pit women against one another, as society encourages girls to steer away from the typical female stereotypes. This phenomenon of internalised misogyny perpetuates women who adhere to traditional definitions of beauty and pastimes as shallow and airheaded, and should be ridiculed in public.
It’s actually not that deep: I choose to carry my Gentlewoman bag simply because it’s easy to pair and I look good in it. It seems as though fashion has evolved to be synonymous with uniqueness, when it should really just be about self-expression and making yourself feel good in whatever you wear. As I scroll past TikTok videos of girls saying that they carry their Gentlewoman bag the other way just to hide the logo, it feels sad to know that what people say online can dictate what we want to wear.
I admit that the Gentlewoman saga has also made me think twice about what I wear; I feel slightly embarrassed now when I see another girl carrying the same thing. Of course, what people say online definitely has an impact on my confidence, as I start to overthink how other people would perceive me. I tried to convince myself that if I feel good, nobody can change that. And that maybe people aren’t even paying attention to me!
Being basic does not necessarily mean that we haven’t found our style, while that might be true for some people. If ‘basic’ just so happens to be the style that makes you look good, strut what you wear with pride!
It’s important to be mindful of our actions especially in the online sphere where comments are amplified and can affect real people. It’s also high time to stop labelling women based on their clothes, and celebrate all types of self-expression! Like Hailee Steinfield preached, I’m just like most girls and I love that!