Name Is Kanem

So picture this; You’re scrolling through Pinterest, looking for ideas on how to elevate a certain look you’re trying to pull off whilst still allowing room for personal teaks and minor touches. As you endlessly flick your finger up and down and up and down, you almost completely give up as nothing if interest pops up for about 12 minutes straight. You can literally feel the muscles in your right thumb start to go numb when you finally stumble upon a picture that catches your attention: a pair of Adidas Sambas Classics pinned to perfection with baubles and trinkets of different cartoons. The shoes, customized by @Secondhand Shawty on Pinterest, are simple in design and minimal with coloring, but when combined with the chunky and colorful enamel pins that were stacked on the long, folded tongue of the shoe it created footwear art. Love at first sight if you will. Inspired, you immediately dash towards your shoes only to find that you don’t really have anything comparable to the Sambas and definitely don’t plan on buying a pair. You try to use a few pins on a pair of Converse, but the look is nowhere near the same and it’s actually quite uncomfortable on your feet. After several unsuccessful attempts at recreating the look and with a final sigh, you wave your white flag and opt for something completely different and nowhere near as interesting as the baubled-up shoes, never forgetting the image as you move on. 

Fast forward maybe 2 – 3 days and you come across a video from one of your favorite fashion content creators on Youtube, Cassie Thorpe (the luxury addict herself), talking about trends within the luxury world. You’re munching on munchkins from Dunkin’ after a 30 minute incline on the treadmill when you start to dive more into her recent videos and come across one that catches your attention, aptly titled “This CONTROVERSIAL 2000’s Bag Trend is BACK”. As you get into the video, now full from donut holes, you’re immediately taken in by the images of handbags adorned & pinned with little trinkets, chains and pins. These bags, all of which are beautifully customized and completely out of your tax bracket, somehow remind you of the Sambas from pinterest; it’s a simple and clean product spruced up with individualized baubles that showcase personality & pieces of the wearer. Images and videos of Hermès Birkin bags as well as other customized luxury bags continue to flash across the screen, and as they do the picture of the Sambas seen earlier that week starts to swirl in your mind, you think to yourself…

“Is the 2000’s fashion era really making a resurgence? Have people finally moved on from this ‘quiet luxury ‘ phase?”

If that’s the case, then that also means more embellishments and stacking of small collectables by way of keychains, pins and studs, clasps and other trinkets that add personal touches to clothes and accessories. It’s very reminiscent of the style expression in the 2000’s and early 2010s where bracelets and necklaces would be stacked, keychains and phones would be equipped with the cutest little charms, and bags were always accompanied with some sort of jingle maker. It even takes you back to your high school days, when checkered skinny jeans were matched with white button ups and a bowtie and then topped off with a fitted snapback and readers with no frames. You can hear the New Boyz as we speak. Fashion was just different then. Keeping this whirlwind of thoughts in your mind you find yourself questioning if this trend of personalization is fairly new, and so you do what anyone would in this situation; you hop on Instagram for the 17th time that day looking for answers and inspiration. Amongst the sea of sponsored posts, celebrity quotes, and thirst traps you start to see reels and pictures showcasing exactly what Cassie described. Plenty of people showcasing their designer bags adorned with little charms and trinkets.

As you continue to go through posts you start to integrate other customized accessories, such as shoes and now hats. As a fellow khat lover yourself your interest starts to grow until you stumble upon a series of pictures from creators & style experts @state.of.dallas & @itsnthabim. These pictures, which appear almost as an omen or answer to your unspoken thoughts, showcase the content creators rocking a slew of effortless looks, and what catches your attention is the pins and clips used to customize their looks while elevating their style. The use of these decorations to personalize the hats absolutely speaks to you as a well known collector, and it seems the spirit of Baublemania has yet again taken over you. Think about it like this; this is your version of putting charms on Crocs. And you’ll never wear Crocs.

Bursting full of fashion inspiration (and maybe still donuts) you fish out a dingy old hat and some pins you’ve been collecting over the past few years. You soon realize you don’t have as many as you thought you did, but hey. We all start somewhere. You add in a few safety pins because ‘Why not?’. And Voilà! Your quick personal project has come to fruition, though not fully. You look upon your creation in admiration because you know that though it is only a starting point, it’s something you can continue to add on to in the future. Truly put time and effort into it, take care of it, and it might be able to carry all of your memories to pass on to a new generation after you. You immediately think about all the places and activities you can do, the pins you’d be able to find and the stories you could tell and pass on to your children, nephews and nieces. Pieces of you, parts of your life and fashion that can transcend trends. Classic.

You sigh in beautiful imaginary bliss before a funny thought comes across your mind. It’s one that you don’t ask often, but when you do you usually know the answer already.

“Have I been influenced?”

And it is at that point that you realize just how powerful social media is, before shutting off your phone and going outside to touch grass. Life is funny.