subtlety is a privilege you don’t have. you must be bold.

There is a reason Gracie Abram’s fame is not bound to the gaudy sequins and Dolly Parton hair Sabrina Carpenters is. It is the same reason Lana Del Rey only took the world by storm in 2012 once she dropped casual nonchalant Lizzy Grant and became the caricature of 50s glamour, old Americana, Lolita - crass, shocking, bold, distasteful. But it made you look, and the music made you stay. Lana and Sabrina had to do what Gracie didn’t - make you look. Why? Gracie had the privilege of subtlety - her parents, already in the industry, gave her a platform - so she could perform in jeans and a t shirt.

The world applauds subtlety and quiet taste in the princess of wales, because she is the princess of wales. You wouldn’t turn heads as a civilian wearing the same as her, because you are no one yet - you don’t have the privilege of subtlety. How many people start blogs, and influencing accounts that present quiet fashion, capsule wardrobes, model off duty outfits and go no where with it? Because they don’t have the privilege of subtlety yet.

When no one before you has broken into the public sphere - or when you have no foot in the game, no name for yourself - breaking in is your primary goal. And that doesn’t come by being bland, quiet, or what you may tell yourself is ‘tasteful’ in order to soothe your fears of judgement. When you are in the process of becoming, you must bring something new. You must be Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall, you must be Sabrina Carpenters Espresso, Lana’s Video Games. You must be bold, raw, provocative, loud, make people stare, make it impossible to look away.

You cannot create what does not move people, shock or surprise people, and sit head in hands wondering why no one cares. You do not have the privilege of subtlety yet - you must be bold.