Copy Copy Copy Copy - Topic of the day 4/30/25
Yohji Yamamoto posited that the way to find your "self" is by copying others first- do you agree with this? More importantly, do you copy fits from other people/sources? If so, to what extent? How do you deal with any differences that come up?
11 Replies
To some extent we're just copying whatever we see/are surrounded by (magazines, ads, instagram, everyday people, street style, etc.)
But Yohji also rambles in the most random way possible so IDK what he really meant
no its true, the process for just about any credtive pursuit is socially influenced and therefore copying what you see around you
to make it into a music metaphor, the music you listen to informs your idea of what music is what what should sound like, when you write you're inescapably influenced by that
it's all analysis > repitition! sometimes it's intuitive and subconscious and sometimes you're using analytical tools to actively carry out that process
this isnt even counting one taking influence from the things that appeal to their personal tastes which is a more directed version of that
When I first joined this server I would see outfits posted by people who had styles that aligned with how I wanted to dress and attempt to copy those outfits.
What I learned is that trying to copy an outfit exactly for me was a fast track to being disappointed with the result because the way clothes sit, drape etc on my body wasn't the same and I couldn't achieve the result I wanted by copying.
Now I would approach it less as trying to copy something exactly and look at it more in terms of fabric, colours and so on.
As art said “copy other people until you wake up one day and find you’re copying yourself”
Maybe he was quoting someone idk
my style is an island, it was not influenced and it does not influence
I pretty much just constantly copy like 4 people.
I'm a big fan of emulating the essence of an outfit as opposed to going full send on what the garments actually are
Less similar than I remembered but this was primary inspiration recently
No I invented this
I’ve copied people on the internet in ways you wouldn’t believe
i think copying is a great way to learn about actual properties of clothes - drape, proportion, harmony, etc - especially as they relate to your body, which may not be as easy to grasp via an article or short video
while i focus more on vibes or interpretation, i think sometimes there's something meaningful in intentionally copying someone's fit, fully aware of and embracing the differences in wearers, whether it's to change the vibe or send a message