What is Normcore?

Normcore. I had never heard of the word before Tuesday, but it's been a huge part of my wardrobe and Pinterest for a loooooooong time, I just never knew it! It's basically the blandest, most boring, and painfully average trend which seems to have made the fashion world rewind about two decades.





First off, where did "Normcore" even come from? Well, I've been informed by Alexa Chung on her fashion series on British Vogue's YouTube channel and from further research that it was created by K-HOLE. K-HOLE is a "trend forecasting group" (I'll later explain why that's in quotations) founded by Greg Fong, Sean Monahan, Chris Sherron, Emily Segal, and Dena Yago. The whole idea of what K-HOLE is, is quite confusing to my brain, but at the same time, it's extremely interesting. It turns out though, that being a "trend forecasting group" came to be by accident.

The founders had been playing around with the art world and talking about trends, such as the hipster trend, where they realized that by everyone trying so desperately to be different; to be special, they all ended up the same. They then thought (as a joke) that to avoid getting sucked into all the trends and being like everyone else, you can just be so painfully bland, that you are nothing. Thus, the idea of Normcore was born.

Normcore consists of mom jeans, plain turtlenecks, basic t-shirts, and whatever clothing item fits into the bland category. It's what American Apparel thrives off of. It's all over the fashion world and I honestly think there's something about it that looks so effortless, cool, and comfortable. However, what bothers me is the irony of it all.

By trying to break away from everyone being the same while trying to be different, they've created yet another way to for people to all be the same while trying to be different.. It's a bit confusing and feels like I'm talking in circles, but to me it makes sense. So, it happened by accident that K-HOLE became a trend forecasting group and I guess it's up to you to determine whether or not you think it's legit.

Maybe I've fallen victim to the trend of Normcore, or maybe it's just really cool. Some people despise the trend, while others embrace it. You can decide for yourself and I suggest you look in your closet to see if you can find pieces that fit into the Normcore category, I almost guarantee that you'll find at least one thing.

My Normcore outfit: grey turtleneck from T.J. Maxx, Bullhead jogger jeans from Pacsun, black oxfords from Forever 21

I hope that you've found this as interesting as I did and I encourage you to look into it more.

Sarahxoxo