Ugly Beauty: What're You Looking At?

Ugly Beauty – What’re You Looking At?

Ugly beauty is making waves in the fashion world, but just what is ugly beauty? Ugly beauty is the act of using apparel that does not normally fit into the standards of what is acceptable. Ugly beauty has started to climb in popularity in the fashion world, and is blurring the lines of what is and is not permissible in fashion.

When you ask yourself what ugly beauty consists of, you must first ask yourself what the standards for regular beauty are. Clean cut clothes, shiny jewelry, perfect makeup and a colourful wardrobe are the first things that come to mind, and ugly beauty is all about changing that up. Ill-fitting clothes, abstract designs that morph and manipulate your silhouette, dented and stained jewelry, and makeup that makes you do a double take. These are all things one should be considering when looking at ugly beauty.

When looking at ugly beauty one must understand the difference between ugly beauty and non-conventional fashion. Non-conventional fashion is about using pieces that are not intended to fit into the outfit or style, but still making it work with statement pieces, while ugly beauty is about using garments or styles that are generally not seen as fashionable or beautiful, and styling them into outfits that are coherent and display a message.  Some examples of non-conventional fashion would be wearing clashing colours, loud accessories, or loud patterns in order to make an outfit work – making yourself stand out while still having a coherent and presentable outfit. When one is thinking about ugly beauty they should be using garments that are generally unflattering, unique and send a message. Some examples of this would include extremely distressed clothing, wearing an outfit that drastically alters the silhouette of the wearer, or wearing makeup that accentuates features that are generally not sought after.

Ugly beauty has seen a breakthrough in popular media in recent years. Designers such as Rick Owens, Demna Gvasalia, Rei Kawakubo and others are utilizing these looks and aesthetics more and more in their runways and every day designs. Gone are the days of the stereotypical runway model – it is time for ugly beauty to shine. While ugly beauty becomes more and more mainstream, it opens up more potential for people to enter the modeling industry, as well as the increased accessibility of joining the fashion world, as ugly beauty is much more forgiving than conventional fashion is.

         I sat down with runway enthusiast and aficionado Olof Hofner and asked him some questions about his thoughts on ugly beauty and how it has affected pop culture, as well as runways and modeling.  “Ugly beauty is definitely becoming more mainstream than before” Olof tells me. “The classic conservative beauty of old has changed into a more attainable look”, and furthermore, he believes that “Ugly beauty has impacted runways in a positive way, I feel like it’s more approachable, more attainable”. Olof has been an avid runway fan for many years, and he believes that the changes have been happening more frequently, and he welcomes the wave of ugly beauty in high fashion. Olof believes that because ugly beauty is becoming more and more mainstream, that it opens up more opportunities for models and other people to get into the fashion industry, as you no longer need to fit a certain aesthetic or body type, but rather they are looking for more unconventional looks.

             Ugly beauty is also having a major impact on the makeup artist field. No longer are makeup artists required to stick to a specific palette, but rather now they have much more creative freedom and are able to flex their creative muscles without being shunned from their industry. Unique and innovative makeup looks are coming into popular media, which is excellent for the industry as it opens up more opportunities for growth, as well as to show your skills.

While ugly beauty has had a large impact on the fashion world, there is still the problem of marketing these looks to consumers. The issue with ugly beauty and its marketability is that the designers job is to make garments look good on models, and to get sales based on consumer preference. When articles of clothing are conventionally ugly or don’t fit the preconceived image of beauty, it makes it much harder to get sales. When ugly beauty is absorbed by mainstream media and designers, it removes part of the uniqueness from the idea of creating ugly beauty. Instead of standing out from the crowd aesthetically, you are more likely to look like somebody else because of similar outfits, makeup or accessories. Ugly beauty loses part of its charm when it is being marketed, as it is no longer about uniqueness and using everything at your disposal to create an outfit that you love, but rather is about wearing what is hip, leading to it becoming more conventional and less unique.

              To conclude, ugly beauty has its pros and cons for being in the fashion industry, but I believe that the expression of ugly beauty is good for the end goal of fashion, as well as self-expression, as it allows for a much more inclusive range of designers and consumers to arrive at their end goal of achieving the look and aesthetic that they are working towards achieving.