The Fabulous Forager

It’s a well-known truism that people (usually teens or young adults) going out of their way to dress differently all end up looking the same. People commonly point that out to mock punks, or Goths, or emo kids, or whatever the new “sub-culture” fashion is, but that completely misses the point. These people generally aren’t dressing differently to differentiate themselves as individuals from the greater culture; they’re dressing differently to mark themselves as a member of a larger group that differentiates itself from the greater culture. This serves several purposes: for people who support the status quo, it’s instant, silent, unmistakable cultural shorthand for, “I don’t share your values.” For people who don’t support the status quo, it’s instant, silent, unmistakable cultural shorthand for, “We’re members of the same tribe.”

Several months ago, the celebrity gossip blogosphere lit up over a mysterious new tattoo that Brad Pitt began sporting on his forearm. Originally, it was thought to be an outline of Lara Croft–Angelina Jolie’s Tomb Raider character–but a commenter at one blog noticed that it was actually an outline of Ötzi the iceman, Europe’s oldest natural mummy. Quite frankly, I don’t totally see the resemblance (apparently, the outstretched arm was mistaken for Croft’s braid), and to get a tattoo of a mummy because it reminds you of your girlfriend is… uh… kinda creepy. Not that that’s necessarily why he got the tattoo; no one really knows. Even his publicist admits she has “no idea.” Archaeology Magazine has already taken the liberty of coining the uni-name “Brötzi.”

Yes, it is actually happening. They warned us of it last spring, and now the time is almost upon us. The Geico caveman officially has his own television show.

Men.style.com’s Fall 2007 Trend Reports includes—and I swear to God, I am not making this up—a feature called “Apocalypse Soon.” Apparently, post-apocalypticism is all the rage in New York City. Found via Penny Scout, who graces page 12 of the feature.

Is anyone else reminded of these little gems from Diesel’s Spring/Summer ‘07 collection? Of course, even Diesel was beaten by BMW, who re-imagined New York as a desert, London as a jungle, and Paris as tundra in a series of 2004 advertisements entitled “Mix your playgrounds.”