Is Normcore Really a Thing?
Erica Cerulo
When you think of the 1994 one-season wonder that wasMy So-Called Life, you probably conjure up images of Angela Chase's dye job, Rayanne Graff's shredded denim, and all that was Jordan Catalano, in his flannel-shirted, sherpa-lined, greasy-haired glory. These characters embodied the grunge look, almost as much as Kurt and Courtney did, with their Doc Martens and baby-doll dresses, and everything they stood for (or at least stood in) has popped up in fashion over the last few years-think Birkenstocks at Céline, overalls on Miroslava Duma.
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But another so-called (sorry) fashion movement can also be traced back to the show's characters. Normcore, christened by New York magazine and consecrated in an inevitable HuffPost Live segment, is the idea of embracing sameness as a way of being cool. But to us, it recalls nothing more than Angela's parents, Patty and Graham Chase, with their mock-neck sweaters and mom jeans (yeah, both of them). And just look at our lead's class-attending childhood pals Brian Krakow in his faded oxford shirts and pleated khakis or Sharon Cherski in her scrunchies and argyle sweaters.
Which begs the question: Is normcore actually about blending in and rejecting fashion? Or is it really about looking normal . . . but only if you lived in Pittsburgh in 1994 and weren't rebellious enough to be smoking under the bleachers at Liberty High School?
For the fashion-aware people embracing this look two decades later, it's not ultimately about disappearing into the crowd. It's about going deep on the 90s-about latching onto the things, like Tevas and fleeces, that never had cachet in the first place. And if you can pull that off and still look cool-well, there's a damn good chance Angela Chase would fall for you.
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Of course, this really only applies to those who consider expressing themselves through what they wear in the first place, and sometimes a windbreaker is just a piece of weather-proofing outerwear. Just ask the dudes dreaming about spring-training trips or studying for college midterms who haven't thought for a second about using their clothes to make a statement or a non-statement: these are just the things that their wives or their moms bought them-perhaps in the 90s, even-that they put on each day after they shower.
And how about so-called (yeah, that again) normcore icons Steve Jobs, with his black turtlenecks, and John Kerry with his New Balances? The former is just uniform dressing (courtesy of Issey Miyake, no less) that took hold in 1998 after returning to Apple and never let go, and the latter-well, those shoes were probably purchased for their wide, roomy toe boxes, if we're being completely honest.
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