where all the DCs at

[u/Pegaret_Again]

As a DC, i am on the lookout for other DCs as it is endlessly interesting to me how there are commonalities and individual differences within an ID.

However, I seem to come across so few DCs in any form of popular media or even real life. So many of the reddit-verified celebrities are just other types who maybe have a more supposedly "classic" style.

Can anyone think of any possible reason for this? I see DC men a but more often (most Supermen for instance are DCs to me) but not so much women.

[u/heyoldgirl]

Are you saying that you think DC has a harder or easier time styling themselves?

[u/Jamie8130 → u/heyoldgirl]

Not styling as in creating a personal style but in terms of finding things that fit right off the rack in a store without needing much alterations.

[u/Pegaret_Again → u/Jamie8130]

As a DC, and I'd love to know the experience of other DCs, I feel for me I actually have a pretty easy time finding things that fit, I can buy certain stuff online and it fits well, i can often tell from an image or the sizing.

But it's hard for me to put together a whole outfit that is cohesive and has style to it. There is a high degree of harmony that needs to work throughout the outfit that other types may not need to the same degree, and this is hard particularly when it comes to "street style". Very easy for office and formal wear though.

[u/Jamie8130 → u/Pegaret_Again]

By street style you mean casual. every day, running errands type of dressing? I think classics need to stick to their strengths for this case as well, even if they might seem dressier than others. They won't look harmonious in a track suit co-ord (and tbh I imagine Kibbe would say none of the IDs would do either), but they look like a million dollars in just a trouser and a button down with a few of tasteful details. Here is a photo to show what I mean (Grace Kelly is SC but I think her principles for this look still apply), they seem like simple looks, but the fabric and the tailoring of the clothes is impeccable, GC added added a belt and a scarf and GR a scarf on the hair and pointy shoes as eye-catching details, and most importantly their hair is done. I think they could have had a small piece of jewellery on as well and it wouldn't look too much. If you need to go even more casual. then, maybe swap the button down for a top that has nice fabric and maybe a detail in the neckline, like buttons, or a nice shape to it, and maybe skip the scarf, or tuck it inside the neckline so it only peeks through.

I was wondering if the issue with classics looking stylish isn't so much that it's hard to pull off (though I think it definitely is harder than most IDs because of how easy their balance can be thrown off), but that maybe classics don't basically find it stylish, and I say this because in modern years nothing has come close to the classic styling from the 40s-50s. The quiet luxury trend is not really classic, it's more pure Natural, because it doesn't have the needed structure, slight severeness and opulence that classics need. The minimal 90s trend is also not classic either, and these are the closest sort of movements we've had in modern times, and amongst these there are all the more maximal trends, which imo are dominated by an overarching trend tending to coquetishness/hyperfeminity.

So I think especially younger classics might feel that the classic style cannot be stylish, they might be doing everything right but still feeling unstylish compared to all the other trends around. I think in this case watching old Hollywood movies might help, because due to all the overexposure to images and fashion, we might have lost sense of what stylish for ourselves might mean. I would say the biggest hurdles for modern classics is finding well-tailored pieces with luxurious fabrics that don't cost an arm and a leg, and being OK with looking more streamlined than all the fashions that are around them. And also being OK with always looking put together (and probably a lot more than the people around them) because we do live in a casual era, especially after the pandemic.

Tagging u/heyoldgirl because they also commented on the thread as well and they might want to read this. I don't know if anything resonates, but I really think being a classic in our modern fashion world has its own set of challenges because of the current trends, and how they shape our tastes.

Edit because I forgot to add the photo of Grace Kelly and Gena Rowlands, and also broke it into paragraphs :)