Have you ever made the mistake of reading the cartoon things she does in the guardian weekend listings thing? fucking hell.
Twees're Good (except they're not)
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- big chill forum 2004
Have you ever made the mistake of reading the cartoon things she does in the guardian weekend listings thing? fucking hell.
slowtrain
Well-known member
EDIT: I mean no, I don't think so.
I think Steve Albini and Nick Cave and Michael Gira (not Henry Rollins though) would make better presidents and prime ministers than that girl with doe eyes. Although I think that Morissey is pretty cool.
bob effect
somnambulist
Yes because the decision to wear a cardigan and have a side parting is less the fuckwit stylings of people who would have trouble breathing if you took away their iPhone and more the plaintive yearning of sensitive, creative souls for a slower, more gentle time, people left cold by the hustle and bustle of modern life who just want to return back to when life was simpler like er...I dunno the seventies or maybe the eighties err obviously leaving out the strikes and class warfare and eerr yeah like didn't they have some excellent cardigans in those days....
mistersloane
heavy heavy monster sound
I was trying to get round that kinda of Dennis The Menace/Walter the Softie dichotomy but implying the inherent normalcy inside the desire for niceness; slagging off the consumer desire for couples and mortgages and weddings I think gets away from just beating up Weeds, cos ultimately it's the advertisers we hate more than the stupid fucks who think that craft markets are to be enveloped and envied.
Just blame capitalism and all should be fine.
rubberdingyrapids
Well-known member
twee people/hipsters dont seem THAT nice in my experience. so this idea that theyre all just lovely softies caught up in a horrible modern world doesnt really hold. theyre just as aggressive. theyre not proper hippies.
Slothrop
Tight but Polite
Quick thought from the dynamic world of UK midrange high street fashion...
White Stuff, Fat Face and All Saints, possibly some other stuff in the middle - there's a continuum at work. White Stuff is definitely twee in the marketing and the presentation, even if tweeness isn't worked into every item of clothing (there's only so twee you can make a pair of socks). Fat Face is a bit twee - kind of pseudo surfer vibe, faux-handmade, lots of over-saturated pictures of Volkswagen campers around the place, but at the same time it's a different thing they're harking back to. All Saints is definitely not twee - they're after urban-goth-punk, wannabe Rick Owens, wannabe edgy and dark. But I think that they're equally good examples of the Other Concept that's haunting this thread - conspicuous pseudo-individuation, the off-the-self-lifestyle, individuality through consumerism...
Is this ringing any bells? Where does SuperDry fit in?
White Stuff, Fat Face and All Saints, possibly some other stuff in the middle - there's a continuum at work. White Stuff is definitely twee in the marketing and the presentation, even if tweeness isn't worked into every item of clothing (there's only so twee you can make a pair of socks). Fat Face is a bit twee - kind of pseudo surfer vibe, faux-handmade, lots of over-saturated pictures of Volkswagen campers around the place, but at the same time it's a different thing they're harking back to. All Saints is definitely not twee - they're after urban-goth-punk, wannabe Rick Owens, wannabe edgy and dark. But I think that they're equally good examples of the Other Concept that's haunting this thread - conspicuous pseudo-individuation, the off-the-self-lifestyle, individuality through consumerism...
Is this ringing any bells? Where does SuperDry fit in?
connect_icut
Well-known member
May the problem isn't twee per se but its appropriation by advertising "creatives" and the like.
Also, I still think there's a misconception about the core twee aesthetic going on here e.g. the idea that it's sexless. As I may have previously mentioned, Beat Happening and Belle & Sebastian have loads of songs about sex.
But even within the twee scene, once you get to the second generation, things start to get pretty heinous. I vaguely remember Stephen Pastel describing Sarah Records as "a bunch of paranoid virgins" or something like that.
So, basically, if this aesthetic gets adulterated AT ALL it starts to stink really fast.
Slothrop
Tight but Polite
There's a truth that extends beyond the twee thing to, well, almost any scene you care to mention there, I think. The steamrollering out of nuance and ambiguity and interest by an overexcited second generation jumping on the form without getting their heads around the intent...
Edit: and I think that you're also right that there's a further level of fucking up when something goes from being some sort of self-expression for someone - however cliched or overstylized or whatever - to being a bunch of buttons pushed to make people feel good in the context of advertising something to them.
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SecondLine
Well-known member
Yes because the decision to wear a cardigan and have a side parting is less the fuckwit stylings of people who would have trouble breathing if you took away their iPhone and more the plaintive yearning of sensitive, creative souls for a slower, more gentle time, people left cold by the hustle and bustle of modern life who just want to return back to when life was simpler like er...I dunno the seventies or maybe the eighties err obviously leaving out the strikes and class warfare and eerr yeah like didn't they have some excellent cardigans in those days....
sorry, your decision to (I think) couch your response to my ironic statement in a further layer of irony has left me unable to understand your point.
SecondLine
Well-known member
Who is the Skrillex of twee?
Yeah I'm not sure if you can have twee without passive aggression
mistersloane
heavy heavy monster sound
I think Fat Face started as a surfer brand? They're all around beach shops in OZ anyway.
There's definitely a pull toward the retro and 'handmade' in fashion - see fairisle jumpers this and last season. This thing is bigger than just advertising...
I quite like All Saints. I met a guy at a party once who was wearing a T-shirt with an enneagram with an upside down pentagram highlighted in it, and I went up to him to talk about the occult and he just went 'Dunno what you're talking about m8, I just bought this at All Saints cos it was cheap', and I quite liked that, that watering down of the occult.
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
Slowtrain, i think you're having a turn. You usually say very sensible things, but this is madness. I've said some pretty mad things in this thread, so I feel qualified to point this out.
Skrillex of twee = John Lewis?
Is Hello Kitty Japanese twee?
i like All Saints the band. I thought the shop was really expensive though? That guy sounds quality in isolation, but guess it bleeds quickly into 'The Ramones? Who? Oh yeah, this T-shirt. Urban Outfitters, mate". Fine in isolation,.terrifying when it becomes a trend to use culture in this way (not a huge Ramones fan or anyhting). I remember seeing someone wearing a 'Revolution Will Not be Televised' T-shirt when I went to look at a potential houseshare. "Ah, Gil Scott-Heron!" I said. "Who?", he replied.
Can someone explain The Killing to me? Why when discussing it, do people primarily talk about jumpers? Is this a twee interpretation of a gritty crime drama?
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baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
genius.
SecondLine
Well-known member
I would be absolutely fascinated to find out how you came to this conclusion.
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
now, now, the cattiness is getting out of control .
I meant just that this thread was premised on twee becoming ubiquitous, and I think the John Lewis ad was the first thing cited as evidence of that ubiquity. So Skrillex has become a symbol of dubstep's ubiquity.
. I meant just that this thread was premised on twee becoming ubiquitous, and I think the John Lewis ad was the first thing cited as evidence of that ubiquity. So Skrillex has become a symbol of dubstep's ubiquity.
S
simon silverdollar
Guest
guilt for all this should also lay heavily on the shoulders of radio 1's Live Lounge. they popularised the concept of shit indie bands doing bloodless covers of pop and RnB bangers.
this list is a roll-call of evil:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Live_Lounge_cover_versions
this list is a roll-call of evil:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Live_Lounge_cover_versions
SecondLine
Well-known member
now, now, the cattiness is getting out of control
I meant just that this thread was premised on twee becoming ubiquitous, and I think the John Lewis ad was the first thing cited as evidence of that ubiquity. So Skrillex has become a symbol of dubstep's ubiquity.
Sorry, cattiness was not intended! Just amused by the idea of equating a kid from an emo band w/ a giant worker co-operative.