064 : Genius Opinions : Beth Bentley (Pattern Recognition / Tomorrowism)
Exploring the masculine garment renaissance, the hidden hand of the algo, and authentic personal style with writer/strategist Beth Bentley.
Welcome to the debut edition of Genius Opinions, a new short-ish form interview series where dope creators of all stripes offer their spicy takes on hot button issues like men’s trousers, the culture industry, and spiritual ascension.
This week’s guest is Beth Bentley, the founder of brand consultancy Tomorrowism and the editor of the terrific Pattern Recognition substack. In her former life she was also a bigshot at brands like VICE and Wieden and Kennedy.
At a time when most everyone in fashion goes out of their way to avoid having a point of view, Beth explores the tensions, contradictions and corporatist f*ckery of our modern day algo-sartorial landscape (hellscape?) with humor, empathy, and a very healthy dose of skepticism.
Like me, she’s someone who’s thrilled by the possibilities of personal style, but sick of the clout-chasing, consumerist conformity - a critical dresser.
Inspired by her recent essay “Is the algorithm making us LESS stylish, LESS interesting, LESS...ourselves?” I reached out to Beth to offer her insights on the relationship between platforms, men, and trends. Here’s what came back:
We'll start with a "light one." What's happening to personal (as in, human) style in the time of platform and the algo?
Although we’re all talking about personal style so much right now (my feeds - esp. on TikTok and Substack - have been overflowing with personal style discourse in recent months), I think it’s actually getting harder to define, develop, and hone your personal style, not easier.
Personal style begins with your individual personality/idiosyncrasies/sense of self…but life under the algorithm is conditioning us not to think for ourselves.
The algo, by design, encourages us to spend our time looking at things other people think are interesting. It rewards creators and brands for making formulaic/derivative stuff with mainstream appeal. We’re pushed away from the edges and towards the middle.
You can 100% tell someone’s screen time - and media diet - by what they’re wearing. I can’t help thinking that living and dressing under the algorithm is cheating us out of the chance of discovering who we really, truly are, and deciding what we’re really, truly into.
We’re a good 10-15 years into it being more socially "acceptable" for guys to be into clothes. What was lost and gained as a result of that shift?
Oh, IMO nothing’s been lost and everything’s been gained. Fashion matters - so much more than a lot of people will ever truly understand. How we dress is (sociologically) a vital means of identity formation, of communication, and of community-building. Everyone deserves the right to play around without prejudice.
Re: the timeline, I’d say this goes back further than 10-15 yrs. It has in my life, at least.
The boys I’ve hung out with over the past 20-25 years - including the one I married - have always been even more into clothes, more fluent in their style, dressing with more confidence and consideration than I was ever able to at the same age and stage (and I don’t mind admitting it).
A lot of them came out of Manchester in the late ’90s, where style mattered intensely, especially in menswear. On the surface it was indie bands and football hooligans. But beneath the surface, all sorts of subtle signals and deep knowledge - you really had to know what you were looking at.
Later swapping Manchester for Camden, then Hackney, these guys were the first-wave LNCC, early Goodhood, downstairs at Liberty crowd. Oi Polloi. They shopped at END before the Carlyle group. They were wearing AirMax and Maharishi in the club, Kenzo, Margiela, CDG, weird Vans + high socks.
They still wear all that stuff, plus now they’re in Bode, Visvim, and Snowpeak. They drive campers. They were wearing Salomon the first time round.
I’ve always watched boys create worlds with what they wear. It was just never as visible as it’s become in the late-stage capitalist digital culture young guys are coming up in today.
My guys are grown-up now - dads, bosses, sometimes stressed + strung-out blokes in their 40s. But it’s still there in all of them - they still care deeply about it, you can tell (...exhibit A, the business that one of them runs is Depop).
My heart sings whenever I see a little boy in a nuts outfit he’s obviously put together himself. I think: dude, hold onto that feeling. If clothes feel important to you then you’re right, they are important, and I hope you never feel ashamed of that. I’m pretty sure none of these dads I'm sitting with over here ever did.
What advice would you give the person who wants to explore and discover their style without following weird, super specific microtrends and stuff like that? Is it possible to update your look without being a fashion victim?
Great question. Three things, I think:
Start on the inside. If you’re into fashion, it takes a pretty iron will not to be swept up in the revolving door of trends and -cores. There’s nothing wrong with taking part in trends, it’s how people have always demonstrated belonging, and some of it is subliminal anyway. And it’s fun. However IMO only taking part in trends is not ok. Style starts with self-regard - figure out who you are and let that be your filter.
Invest in good bones. Ok, there are certain wardrobe pieces that are just never not stylish, and you’re gonna need a few. But to identify them you have to look beyond the now. The algorithm would have us believe that everything new is superior and everything old is no longer worthy of our attention. That’s not true. Especially in menswear. Much of the playbook is already written re: strong wardrobe foundations.
Have you heard of the Lindy Effect? It’s a 60-year-old social science phenomenon that I love, and think makes so much sense in fashion, even though so few people seem to talk about it. It’s about how to identify things that are immune to the trend cycle. I explain it here, if you’re interested.
Broaden your mind/feeds/media diet. We all live in an echo chamber, but not all of us realize it. If you want to dress like an individual, you need to think like an individual. Which means going beyond your feeds…read unusual books (especially unusual fiction), watch unexpected movies, listen to music you don’t usually listen to, spend time with off your beaten track video essays, podcasts, Substacks.
Go live somewhere or work somewhere or hang out somewhere where the people are interesting and inspiring. Finding your people will help you find your style because it will help you find yourself.
Oh, and fashion victims? IMO they’re the ones that blend in. Not the ones who stand out.
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Thanks for reading! If you picked up what Beth was putting down here, please consider subscribing to her Substack or hitting her up on LinkedIn.