Fashion, by its very nature, is grandiose — think Gwen Stefani’s pouty red lips, Beyonce’s heavily kohled eyes or JLo’s shimmery bronzed cheekbones.
Now visualise the exact opposite and you have a novel fashion trend — normcore, meant to sound as bland and boring as the philosophy it embodies. But once you get your bearings, nothing can be more liberating.
Best summed up by Simon Doonan, fashion commentator and creative ambassador for Barneys New York, “normcore is an unlogoed sneaker”. No flashy labels, no statement pieces, no bling and definitely no red-carpet glamour. Normcore is about playing it safe and being intentionally plain. It is, after all, an amalgamation of normal and hardcore.
Comfort is key
A culturally sheltered mainstream consumer would think this is merely a flash-in-the-pan fashion phase, but normcore is here to stay. Fashionistas are giving way to cool hipsters and appear at ease in grungy jeans, flip-flops, lip-gloss and bare luminous skin sans caked foundation.
“There’s something beautiful about feeling comfortable in your own skin,” says Kate Goodwin, a Dubai-based make-up expert and founder of Illumin8 Media MakeUp Studio. “Women who wear the same make-up end up looking like clones, taking away from their natural beauty. I’m not into changing a woman’s beauty, but emphasising it.”
Normcore, whether in fashion and beauty (the two are pretty inseparable), has emerged at a time when there is a deep sense of fatigue from constantly having to try too hard to be different. As a result, normcore is being hailed as a much-needed respite — it’s okay to walk out of the house with “bare, clean skin, a little colour on the cheeks and maybe a swipe or two of mascara”, says Goodwin.
Popular blogger, makeup artist and beauty consultant Huda Kattan is also in favour of the trend and believes make-up and hair should follow suit. “So keeping your skin dewy and lips hydrated is essential. It’s all about comfort and looking effortless,” she says.
It is refreshing to see the acceptance of the uncool-becoming-cool trend on our shores as well.
Dubai-based innovative fashion brand House of Nomad, founded by Ahmad Al Sayed and Saleh Al Banna, just launched its collection, which celebrates normcore aesthetics. “We noticed that the fashionistas in Dubai are slowly embracing this trend,” they say.
“For others it’s all about combining a whole wardrobe look of statement pieces, which can sometimes look very overwhelming to the naked eye. Less is more is a motto that people in this region should start taking seriously.”
Lina Mustafa, founder and buyer of The Luxury Arcade, the first luxury concept store in Abu Dhabi, concurs. “I’ve already started to see the shift happening. There’s definitely an urban, streetwear-inspired feel to the way people are putting their looks together.” ■
