This afternoon, whilst walking into Edinburgh city centre, a man in his thirties, happily sauntered down the side of the road in parallel to me. I couldn’t help myself, I just started to grin, like a Cheshire cat. With a wonderfully pronounced wiggle in his walk, said chap was sporting a dapper black dinner jacket. He was also wearing khaki shorts, brown ankle socks with jesus sandals and a bright sky blue knitted beanie hat. Wow.

It was quite obvious that he was enjoying the odd double-take glances he received, and that said get up was a deliberate ploy for attention, or a dare; I couldn’t figure out which. What struck me was in the very uniqueness of his dress sense (or lack of), he stood out like a beacon as he very merrily, dancily wandered his way down the street. He was the extreme exception to the ’standard’ rule of dress.

That having said, in my time, I have worn clothing that has been deliberately selected to incite a reaction. Be it in rebellious youth mode wearing outrageous punk goth chick gear, or later on, the alternative femme fatale provocateur in bohemian silks and modded boots. It seems to me, historically, during past generations – that in dressing up, we aimed to establish ourselves and please and tease – to grab attention. Somewhat like the peacock displaying it’s best ruffled and fanned feathers, humans are capable of tarting themselves up to elicit a reaction. But always in a way of expressing some form of individuality: some self expression – an extension of who you were. Effectively accentuating your own personality to share with others and celebrate the difference.

Except, is it just me, or in recent decades, has the western world gotten a tad more conservative in its’ self expression? Or simply less original? Previous generations have expressed themselves through unique dress sense, make up, hair styles… but the most recent generation of youth I can’t help but notice some degree of bland out. Girls seem to all have shoulder length straight hair, peachy make up, shimmer fake tan, regulation slouch t-shirt, leggings and ugg boots. Boys wander around in sports shirts, slouch jeans and jello stylee hair. Even the little emos seem to pick their designer stripy leggings, rock boots, slogan shirts and dark khol looks off the pre-made, catalogue sourced shop shelf.

Perhaps, in an age of mass media and ready made commercialism, originality seems to have laid down and surrendered to a mass conformity in a pre-made standardised one-size-fits-all identity of not so much self expression, as mass unoriginality. Even in the expressions of so called ‘alternative’ – the spark of indie customisation, has given way to mass accessible off-the-peg attitude. Over commercialism makes it all too easy to access everything pre-selected, pre-made, pre-determined identi-kit.

I admit, there may be resistance pockets dotted around… some rare cases of self expressionism who don’t want to be a clone. But I really wish the spark of human cockyness and the need for rebel excel would come back. Because in the conformity of lack of self expression, there’s a danger that the please and tease of coquetry may be lost, and with that, a little bit of original human expressionism.