Are You Too Hardcore to Normcore?

Let me ask you, did you get ‘glammed up’ for the school run this morning? Did you pick an outfit ever so carefully from your range of designer clothes and uber-expensive shoes to impress the masses in the ‘kiss and drive/stop and drop/unloading zone’? Maybe you chose your most flattering fashion to pop into Woollies or into the chemist? Or a little something sexy to drop hubby’s lunch off at the office or the dog off at the vet? Did you ‘go all out’ to get out the front door? Or are you just like the rest of us, struggling to dress the kids appropriately, let alone doll yourself up to avoid fashion faux pas?

Enter the new fashion: Normcore.

Normcore is defined as as an anti-trendy trend and is meant to be a ‘slap in the face’ to the fashion industry and all the trappings that entails.  Yawn…. I’ve been ‘getting jiggy’ with Normcore since I’ve given birth!

I wear volleys on the school run, and to the shops, and even to coffee at the semi-posh cafe on Friday mornings. If it’s raining or freezing, don’t be surprised if I’m wearing my black velour tracksuit pants. If I can convince my eldest to take my youngest into class in the morning, I am presentable from the waist up only, silently praying I don’t get into a car accident and have to display my leopard print PJ pants or 3-day worn jeans to half the school community AND the local constabulary.

But recently, my daily uniform of cargo/yoga/tracky pants, T shirt (hopefully without accompanying baby vomit or cleaning product stain), minimal footwear, barely-there hair maintenance and non-existent makeup has been attacked. Apparently it’s got a name, and is emerging as a new fashion ‘style’. It’s been dubbed ‘Normcore’, the new trend that is all about not being a trend.  Judging from comments made on a recent post by mamamia.com.au, Normcore is a style you adopt when you just don’t give a shit. An ordinary, no fuss, no ‘label’, comes in a pack of three kind of look that evokes no comment or criticism; it’s just ‘there’. Neutral and designed not to attract attention, Normcore has now become the source of outrage amongst everyday parents , who claim that this anti-fashion trend is not an option for most cash-strapped, time-poor families, but a way of life, and has just been brought into the limelight by those who believe it’s lazy or ‘bogan-esque’.

Don’t get me wrong, I make an effort when it counts. And I make half an effort when it doesn’t. But I’m a Mum, first and foremost, and my priorities changed when I had to get 5 people (including myself) out the door, or at least feed and dressed, every morning. I don’t have the money to be spending big bucks on my daily wardrobe; most of us don’t. I cannot justify spending over $20 on one article of clothing unless I can wear it to several different occasions without the same people around to notice. My kids would definitely freak out if they saw me all prettied up for any other reason than a pre-planned event; my husband would probably think I was getting a bit on the side!

Even the talented Mia Freedman is getting on the Normcore Fashion Wagon. I didn’t realise my Normcore style was a choice, I thought it was a necessity. I’m pretty sure I’m in the majority; I don’t see a lot of women strutting their Sunday best as they meet with the Principal (AGAIN) or run into the bottleshop at 3:15pm to grab a monster sized pack of Smiths and a $5 bottle of Cab Sav.

But then again, maybe I’m just not hardcore enough to care.