idle gaze 066: the emerging mythos of the mundane.
In the post-hipster era, nothing is quite as thrilling as being nothing special.
It’s been exactly a decade since K-Hole released ‘Youth Mode’, a report that would famously usher in the notion of ‘normcore’ into mainstream parlance and forever change the cultural machinery of trend forecasting. With this in mind, I’m sharing a short essay I wrote for
earlier this year, exploring the current state of post-individuality, pro-conformity culture in 2024.“Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a f*****g big television. Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose fixed-interest mortgage repayments. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage.”
So begins the iconic opening monologue in Trainspotting, as anti-hero Renton mocks conventional life choices. The scathing commentary on the dullness and futility of mainstream existence succinctly captures one of the defining anxieties of the modern age: the fear of conformity. A fear that fuels the relentless push towards carving out our very own edgy identity away from the herd.
This dogged determination to zig when the ‘sheeple’ zag has underpinned countless iterations of hipster movements in search of differentiation. Coolhunters wade deeper and deeper into the murky fringes of culture, seeking unconquered tastes to territorialise. They forage for obscure music genres, eclectic if you know you know fashion wardrobes, and early adopter artisan goods to adorn their rare vintage shelves.
Layer by layer, this glimmering allure of unique identity creation has begun to fade, dulled by a sense of burnout with the constant need to externalise and commodify our quirks. As Tara Isabelle Burton, author of Self-Made observes: “From the college essay to the dating website to Twitter or Instagram, we’re constantly expected to cultivate our ‘original’ personality: transforming that which is unique and irreducible about ourselves into a source of clickable and monetizable content.”
Beyond the cult of self-making, a counterculture is taking shape - a collective realisation that we don’t need to seek difference to establish an authentic self. There’s unity in ordinary. Within the depths of plainness, we might just find comfort and belonging.
As the cultural pendulum swings away from individuality, the marketing zeitgeist is shifting too. In recent years, we have witnessed millions of advertising campaigns framing personal self-expression as the ultimate goal, encouraging customers to consume, connect and express themselves in their unique way. Yet, a new value proposition is gaining prominence: the promise of fitting in and conforming. With increasing frequency, brands are leaning into the pride that comes with blending in with the sheeple.
The consumer electronics space is usually flooded with shiny new tech for showing off. Yet emerging brands are shifting to design with blandness and anonymity in mind. The aptly named electronics company Nothing offers phones and accessories stripped to bare, industrial uniformity. In fashion, both luxury and high street collections are filled with items and collabs that would once have been embarrassingly basic — from the resurgence of dad-style sneakers and caps to mass-produced Crocs and Stanley Cup water bottles.
On social media, where the algorithm usually elevates the exotic and extraordinary lives of jet-setting influencers and solopreneurs, our feeds are increasingly filled with windows into the radically normal. One champion of normie lifestyle is Tony P, a 25-year-old consultant and bachelor in Washington with a penchant for purple ties, aviator sunglasses, morning walks to work, Miller Lite happy hours, and Subway lunches. Like many of his normie peers, Tony advocates shrugging off the relentless pursuit of one-of-a-kind individuality. “[Life] isn’t some puffed-up, showboating thing,” he says. “Sometimes it’s ok to sit back, listen, and let someone else take the lead.”
When we’re feeling lonelier than ever, trapped within our cages of niche identities and alternative tastes, it’s refreshing to fall in line with the crowd. As we melt into one big, gooey puddle of shared interests, jobs, and outfits, there’s camaraderie in liking what everyone else likes.
A decade ago, the trend forecasting group K-Hole famously predicted the rise of normcore. They identified an emerging cultural mode of ambiguity, “finding liberation in being nothing special”. As the collective fear of conformity resides, the dawn of a new post-individuality era presents itself on the horizon. An era that reconnects us with each other. So go ahead and choose a boring job, choose generic leisurewear, choose to be basic. Choose a mundane life and bask in its communal glory.
This is a fascinating, thought-provoking read...although I'm not sure I agree with its underlying thesis. Are people really opting out of individuality? I see more variety vs. the past, not less (in how people dress, in what music they listen to, in which hobbies they tinker with, etc.).
Now, this is NOT because, all of sudden, society is flooded with true originals or iconoclasts. Rather (I think), it's a product of the the hyper-stimulation we are bombarded with. Micro-trends, micro-aesthetics, fringe interests that pop up in in your own TikTok bubble... and then another, and then another.
People are exposed to a far greater variety of viewpoints and "looks" and this variety is becoming more acceptable, not less so. Naturally so, not because people are actively striving to be "different" or "original" (which was the laughable, performative part of hipsterism; remember people with typewriters on the outside?).
This also links back to the widely circulated argument that "trends" no longer exist because trends only make sense in a society that ends up comforming to 8-10 main "routes". They don't work in a place (time?) in which 8-10 things happen every 4 hours, without the time to coalesce into a "trend".
It's kind of very depressing. Not that I think people should externalize their uniqueness in what they wear or what they like, but there must be some kind of halfway point between that and being mindless office zombies just to fit in.