Fashion, Style, Context

So I've been trying to pay attention to the choices of attire that European individuals are making throughout my time here and for my purposes here this will have more to do with male clothing. French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent is known to have said, "Fashion fades, style is eternal", this to me defines fashion then more as the current trend of popular clothing choices whereas style is a personal individuals expression through clothing. That being said for the three cities we have visited I attribute Budapest to a sense of fashion, Vienna with an understanding of context, and lastly Amsterdam a place filled with style.

Young men in Budapest can be seeing wearing a number popular clothing choices, white leather sneakers, rolled up chinos, mandarin collar shirts, a shocking number of jorts, as well as the current trend of retro street-wear making waves globally. That being said, although many Budapest clearly stick with inoffensive neutral colors and nicely fitting clothing I didn't see much deviation from the types of outfits you might find on a mannequin at any H&M. By all means the outfits looked "good" but perhaps a little uninspired.

Vienna to me exemplified an understanding of context for outfits. I was given little time to look around but in that time I noticed a vast array of clothing choices all the way from the type of outfit you mind find at 1:00 AM in an American Walmart to the type of outfit you wear going out to a 100 Euro a plate restaurant on the Danube. Yet no one really seemed out of place, the more sloppily dressed individuals were not seen at the upscale restaurants and neither were the dressed-to-the-nines Wieners found at the local burger joint.

Now Amsterdam by all means understands trends, white leather sneakers are everywhere, Levi's branded t-shirts as well. Devoid of a sense of fashion Amsterdam is not, but Amsterdam is also not afraid of looking past neutral colors and just fitted clothing and is more than willing to explore unique directions. One thing in particular is the lack of "pack-fashion" where a group of people are all wearing similar items. The very items themselves are a bit more progressive as well, wherein Budapest a young hypebeast might just stick with the skinny jeans and a t-shirt, in Amsterdam he may opt for a pair of overalls rolled up to expose his hi-top chucks. Even something as simple as a t-shirt is done in so many ways here with some opting for scoop necks, or unfinished hems, or any number of knit materials. Fit is also forward as although many stick with form-fitting clothing, there is a strong presence of looser fits in both genders. Overall to me it feels as though there are more individuals with a sense of creative direction to their choice of attire. No doubt in part a product of being surrounded with a plethora of interesting chains and local boutiques selling styles from all over the world.