On returning to sentimentality
People have had enough in 2024!
I’ve been in Paris for around eleven days now and I’ve forgotten how to write. Just kidding. In the midst of the overwhelming news about the LA fires and the mental gymnastics of a visa-related appointment with my lawyer, I resorted to downloading TikTok as a distraction. I’ve done this twice in the past, only to delete the app a few days later. This time, it remains on my phone, mostly unopened for the majority of the day, but still there “just in case.“ What can I say? I’m only human. My brain needs to rot sometimes. At the end of the day, I know I’ll start to feel overwhelmed and return to platforms (like Substack) that feel a bit slower.
Since returning from Manila, heading to the gym has also been helping bring back a sense of routine. It is also where I listen to some of my favorite fashion podcasts (don’t ask me why), except when I am running on the tredmill, where actual music is needed. A few of my favorite podcasters based in LA have been discussing the surreal decisions involved in evacuating during the fires. What do you take with you when you might lose everything? Chelsea Fairless and Lauren Garroni of Every Outfit, for example, shared that in addition to basic necessities, they would in probably end up grabbing their JW Anderson pigeon clutch—a little silly, yes, but a reminder of a point I will go back to later: returning to sentimentality when things feel overwhelming.
Coincidentally, I was listening to Bella Freud’s Fashion Neurosis episode with Zadie Smith in the gym the week before. Early in the interview, Zadie recounted that in her 20s, she lost all her belongings in a fire, and that later on, certain items of clothing that she had lost would come to her in her dreams. (Another great episode, at least if you are as intrigued with his work as I am, is this one with Karl Ove Knausgaard.)
In an era where TikTok drives micro-trends that quickly find their way into the campaigns of our favorite brands, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. A recent article on Dazed titled “Is basic fashion the trend set to define 2025?” beings up this point, saying that because we know too much, many people are choosing to dress simpler. “Are people simply embracing their inner basic-ness, or is this an indication of a numbing of our sartorial senses, a symptom of choice paralysis, nostalgia and fashion NPC brain rot?“ the author asks. I also recently read this funny piece on Deez Links hating on menswear: “Menswear in 2024—and all its contingent style tribes—all exist within a big, queasy, uninspired mush. Men’s fashion, rather than opening new doors for identities to try on, has instead become the defining identity.”
People have simply had too much in 2024. I’m not sure I believe that everyone will go back to dressing more ‘basic’ after all this overconsumption, but personally, but I do like the idea of sentimental items grounding you, reminding you of who you are. Case in point: after feeling a little lost for the second half of 2024, finding items in my old bedroom during my trip back home to Manila reminded me why I wanted to move to Paris in the first place. When creating a wardrobe, an apartment, or a life that you like, it is important to have items around you that are sentimental, items that tell a story. Anyway, I am trying to recalibrate again—less endless scrolling, more intentionality. But of course, it’s okay to slip once in a while.
P.S.
RIP David Lynch.
Back Row’s report on 2025 fashion predictions.
I recently rewatched Lino Brocka’s Maynila Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag (1975) and I forgot how good the cinematography by Mike de Leon was!
Two places I visited in the 18ème the other day, both with very friendly serveurs/owners: La Traversée and Astoria Bar right across it.
Enjoy your Sunday!
And what have you been watching on TikTok? CHAROT! 😆