Over the first half of Pattern Recognition, we are introduced to Cayce Pollard, a “cool hunter” who works for Blue Ant spotting trends in culture. Cayce helps companies decide on which logo they should use for their advertising. She has a unique ability, as we are told early in the novel, to know whether or not something will be marketable. She likes to think that she helps guide companies in the right direction – this is the direction that companies are heading but may not be unaware of it. Cayce also has a unique allergy that keeps her from wearing logos on her clothing. Because she is allergic to clothing labels, she is forced to cover these labels with duck tape. She even goes to extremes by defacing the writing on her buttons. Cayce dresses the way that she does in an effort to separate herself from the fashion industry, which is undeniably a huge part of her life. By covering the labels, she is resisting the messages sent out by our society.
As we progress through the novel, we get glimpse at Cayce Pollard’s life. Even though she refuses to be trendy in the way that she dresses, she continues to follow trends in other ways. Everything from her ibook to her cell phone to her love for Starbucks coffee reflects trends. While at a coffee shop similar to Starbucks, Cayce makes the comment, “It feels like old times, to sit here with [Damien], diagonally opposite Camden Town station, wearing damp clothing and nursing large multi-shot lattes” (Gibson 197). Later in the novel, Boone Chu asks Cayce, “So why doesn’t Starbucks drive you crazy…if excessive branding’s the trigger?” (Gibson 215). Boone brings up an excellent point here in showing that Cayce is not allergic to all forms of labeling. Why is Cayce allergic to brand names on her clothing but not labels on Starbucks cups, when both function in similar ways? In our high tech, media-filled world, is it possible to separate yourself completely from labels and advertisements? If it is possible, what would this say about an individual who chooses to do so? In the same respect, is it possible to escape trends in our culture? Compare this to our discussion regarding the portability of the ipod and the statements made by Levy and Rey Chow.
Christopher A. Pedicord
December 4, 2007 at 9:30 pm |
I think it is impossible to escape the world of labels and advertising. It’s such a part of our world that I think most people don’t even realize how much they are bombarded by it unless they really sit down and think about it. Even though Cayce has this “allergy” to brand names, to a certain extent her job and her oppinion may indirectly contribute to something becoming a “brand name”. She is a part of creating the world that makes her claustrophobic.
Even in the everyday world there are people who try to rebel against labels. However, more often than not these same people get pulled into the same trap. By trying to be different, they allign themselves with everyone else who is trying to be different. Just think about goth people. The more they try to rebel against “fashion” and the “popular” to be “different” the more they become like everyother goth person out there. Although Cayce’s rebellion may not be as extreme, she certainly alligns herself with everyone else who dispises labels. They may not be as noticible as goths, but in most cases they’re lack of “fashion” is quite noticible to the rest of the world.
-Aimee L. Treutlein
December 5, 2007 at 8:06 pm |
I do not believe that, in this day and age, it is possible to escape labels and advertising. As mentioned in the previous post, labels are so much a part of our world that we don’t even tend to realize it. Even though Cayce removes labels from her clothes, she is still branded by that clothing. The clothes came from somewhere and once labels on them. In addition, unless it was hand made, there are other items of the same clothing out there somewhere that other people are wearing. This is causes a trend in iself.
With respect to escaping trends, I also do not think this is possible. Whether it’s clothing, electronics, or even means of paying tolls (EZPass), everybody conforms to some sort of trend. If you decide to go shopping to buy an article of clothing, you are going to be bombarded with labels and trends. Stores are not going to sell out of date items since a majority of the people shopping want what’s trendy. Also, think about EZPass. Today, it is becoming almost impossible to simply pay a toll with change. There are less and less change lanes at the booths and the lines are interminable. If you want to get someplace fast and without much effort, you’ll buy into the trend of EZPass. Unfortunately, most of our lives today are guided by different trends and labels, whether we like it or not.
-Daniella Menillo
December 5, 2007 at 8:51 pm |
Our society today basically shoves trends down our throats. It is very difficult to escape trends-they are everywhere-from Uggs, to The NorthFace, to ipods. Pretty much every aspect of society is based on some trend or another. As much as we try to shy away from the growing trends, new ones are constantly popping up. After CD’s became obsolete, everyone ran to the stores and bought their ipods. It is very rare to find a video cassette in a movie store now….everything is either on DVD or Blue Ray. I read an article in the Daily Targum on Monday that talked about how students at Montclair State University are required to keep a student cell phone, in addition to the one they already own. Landlines in the dorms are becoming obsolete. Nowadays, people have no choice but to conform to the trends. We are left with no other options.
December 6, 2007 at 4:34 pm |
Ah, to escape trends. This possibility of breaking away from the swaying inclinations of the majority is nothing more than a naive realism, floating on a false cloud of likelihood. To acheive this, is a feat that is basically impossible. I laugh at the idea, for to escape the claws of trends, always ready to pierce deeply into the skin of society, probably will never happen. We live in a society saturated by fads that have been chewed up, swallowed, partially digested, then regurgitated back into American culture in some form or another; trends are constantly being recycled from past ones. Also, everything is a trend. No matter how enigmatic or tucked away in obscurity and eclipsed by what the beau monde considers “what’s in,” everyone is victim of this wrath. I agree with what was stated by a previous blogger that those who consider themselves unique, or different, trying to separate themselves from society, are trendsetters themselves. This is something that has permanently stained the fabric of America. Trends are also multifaceted in a sense that they don’t stop at fashion. The cell phone, no matter what kind, is a trend, right down to texting being a subset of this portable device’s trend superset. YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, iPods: all trends. This could go on and on to so many other things, but this would be a book if I continued. In a nutshell, everyone is a part of some type of trend. I dare any individual to claim ownership over being “trend free,” for that is highly unlikely. Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone.
- Imani Dupree
December 6, 2007 at 8:42 pm |
I also agree with the previous bloggers about the near impossibility in escaping trends. The way the world is today, nothing is really new. Everything is a remix or collaboration of other things with a different spin. That being said it would be hard to avoid a trend. Anything that may seem new or original was probably done before. Cayce in this case reminds me of Andy from The Devil Wears Prada and the scene that was discussed in class. Just like Andy in the beginning of the movie, Cayce doesn’t dress in order to be a part of the newest fashion. In fact she does the complete opposite. What Cayce doesn’t realize is to a degree the way she dresses is a trend in its self. When CPU was first described I thought NY extra cool hipster. That is to say that there is nothing wrong with trends. Everyone in some way is a part of a trend. It is something that makes up the culture we live in today. The only good thing is that there are so many trends that not every two people are going to be dressed alike.
Jess Smith
December 6, 2007 at 8:52 pm |
I agree with the above comments that trends will never be completely escaped. Trends are everywhere in our society, from technology to clothing to entertainment, etc. A lot of people, unlike Cayce, are not trying to escape trends because when one complies with the trends, they are considered normal. People in our society, as much as they attempt to deny it, are dying to be normal, to not stand out from everyone else. Standing out, while it can be a good thing, can also be negative and people normally don’t want to take that risk. Trends let people know what is “in” and what is accepted by the general public; they are the basis for popular culture. Most things that become popular are popular because many people like, own, or participate in them. Is this not almost identical to the definition of trend?
December 6, 2007 at 11:11 pm |
It’s true that it is near impossible to create new trends, or to escape those that are in existence. It seems these days, that there’s so many trends out there, that no matter what you’re doing, it’s been done before, or something fairly similar has. To break out of trends people make their own clothes, and their own looks, but what are the chances they do something truly original? Before a t-shirt is made, it can always be assumed that the color scheme has been used before, or the design on the t-shirt is similar to one which was already created somewhere else. The bottom line is that all people are influenced by the world around them, so we’ll never be completely void of fads, trends, or styles.
December 7, 2007 at 3:05 am |
I agree with the following blogs. Trends are everywhere and no matter what people do to be different they are still part of some sort of trend. Being a rebel is also conisdered a trend. To breaka way from the traditional fashion trend is now a trend on its own. It is cool to be normal andf also cool to be different. So who is to say one thing is trendy while something else is not. If you ask me no matter what you wear, buy, or use it is a label somewhere and is trendy in some places. Some people prefer mp3s and others pregfer ipods one is not a trend over another they are two similar terends but in the end still very the same. No matter what we do today we are surrounded by trends and labels and there is no esacaping this.
Allison Tilbrook
December 7, 2007 at 8:45 am |
Cayce does all that she can to escape brands and logos in her personal life, I agree with the previous blogs, escaping trends is near impossible. One could try their very hardest to look as though they have not invested in trendy shopping or that kind of lifestyle. But Cayce would be trendy in a group of people trying to escape the norm of popular trends. I am sure that other people feeling just as she does about trends would dress like her, and that would all be done before. Nothing is an original anymore, there are no unique looks, just like the punk scene in the 1980s, it was meant to rebel against the mainstream, and guess what…it became the mainstream. People like Cayce want so badly to disappear and stay under the fashion radar, but even they are not originals or unique. Its all been done before…and it was popular before.
December 7, 2007 at 9:26 am |
Again, I would have to agree that escaping brands and logos is seemingly impossible. Living in a society that depends so much on advertising results in the constant exposure to what is “new”, “hot”, and “in”. Although one may not want to give in to the best selling brands and logos, they may still give in to the trend. This notion is similar to our class discussion about Steve and Barry’s. Many people commented on how they purchased the “And-1″ style shoes or the “Lugz” look-alikes. A person is able to avoid an actual brand, but a trend or style is almost impossible to escape because corporations all aim to produce what sells; what is popular. Another example of avoiding a brand but still indulging in a trend is seen in the movie “The Devil Wears Prada”. Anne Hathaway’s character seems to make a conscious effort to remove herself from the fashion industry, which is extremely focused on brands, but in her attempt all that she does is support the industry. Hathaway wears a plain blue sweater, only to find out that the sweater was conceived in the high fashion world and that her version of it is simply a failed attempt to live up to that high fashion trend. It is obvious that one can consciously avoid the logo on a pair of jeans, but the pair of jeans that they ultimately choose is based, subconsciously or consciously, on what they see in advertising; what is trendy. Due to the power of advertising and the goal of selling a lifestyle, people are compelled to desire all that is advertised making it harder and harder to escape what is trendy. Yes, Cayce may eliminate the evidence that a brand name came with her jeans, but that does not erase the fact that it once was displayed on her clothing.
December 7, 2007 at 9:59 am |
When a person wears a piece of clothing with a label, it’s as though they are a representative of the clothing line. They are supporting the company by saying that their public image is best conveyed through the wearing of this piece of clothing. What happens, though, is that through mass production, everyone has the ability to look like each other, cutting down on uniqueness/ the integrity of a personal identity. For a “cool hunter” who prides herself on finding that NEW thing that deviates from the current and mundane, being unique is very important. She buys her clothes from salvation armies and secondhand shops to cut down on the probability of ever running into someone dressed similar to her.
Starbucks, though, does not say something about the person drinking it, other than they spent a couple more dollars on it. Anyone with any sort of “identity” can go into a Starbucks and get a coffee without worrying what people think. They provide a temporary service, not something someone has to represent/back up the rest of the day. When you are done with a coffee, into the trash it goes, along with it’s symbol. The easiest way to disassociate yourself from ads and labels is to just, throw them away, but sometimes it’s not as easy. Unless that person from then on makes their own clothes, grows and cooks their own food, etc, they can escape the grasp of labels and ads.
December 7, 2007 at 11:41 am |
Popular clothing brands or fashion has been around since the cavemen wearing loin cloths. Also the fact that everything is mass produced means that it is inescapable, there is no way to avoid it, sort of how Cayce has no choice but to “succumb” in a sense to the fashion world. Even when she “resists” certain trends, she is still fascinated by them and makes a living off of it. For every point, there is a counterpoint, and both of them have a sense of conformity. Modern society needs us to be available at all times, so a cell phone in necessary, however it can only be provided by a label, due to the fact that there are no independent cell phone brands. It is not necessarily a bad thing, just inevitable.
December 7, 2007 at 12:51 pm |
In our day and age, there is no escape from logos and brands. They are everywhere and we cannot go anywhere or do anything without seeing them and being affected by them. Why? Because different companies and industries put so much money into makes their products known and favorable to the masses. Even Cayce can’t escape all the brands and logos in her life. She makes her clothing as uniform as possible, ridding it of all evidence of brand, yet she can still drink StarBucks and have an iBook. There is no way around it. Especially since Cayce is a “cool hunter” she almost has to walk into the mass advertisting and flashy lights of logos and be recognizable and immune of them at the same time.
-Marina Fishbeyn
November 4, 2008 at 4:14 am |
I disagree and I think it’s possible to go brandless, with hard work.