To End Gatekeeping, You Must Embrace Twinning
To share or not to share? That is the question forever plaguing TikTok's fashion community, where gatekeeping is always in style.
But a humble revolution is brewing, one where young people aren't only freely sharing style secrets but outwardly embracing crossover wardrobes.
On nearly all social media apps, full-time influencers and casual users who post videos of their outfits are asked and, in many cases, expected to share the places they go shopping or brands that made their clothes. But not everyone complies.
And those who dare evade these requests or, worse, refuse to share their shopping haunts are branded the worst thing known to fashion 'Tok: "Gatekeeper," a genuinely nasty insult on the app.
Gatekeepers refuse to share the details of their drip to shut down potential copycats, lest they run the risk of someone pulling up to a function in a matching fit.
The TikTok of it all is just a digital manifestation of a larger societal stigma that marks unintentional matching as one of the seven deadly sins of fashion (Probably nestled somewhere between white after Labor Day and pairing navy with black, IDK).
As demonstrated by raging debates that stretch from pop culture to online forums, the cultural faux pas of wearing the same outfit as someone else has never gone away. Remember the "Who Wore It Better?" features in magazines? Scary days.
There's always been this kind of oversensitivity about shared style. And it's super lame.
Instead, we should aim to make gatekeeping a thing of the past, abolishing the stigma around matching outfits.
Because let's face it, it is entirely pointless to ensure no one else has access to the same clothes as you. (Unless your entire wardrobe is filled with bespoke garments, in which case do your thing, player!)
But if even the rich and famous still find themselves unintentionally matching with other celebs, (I'm looking at you Blake Lively and Kris Jenner) maybe it's time to reel it in with the super-forced individuality plays and lean into the more communal aspects of dressing, like bonding over a shared love for certain designers or aesthetic happenings. After all, sharing is caring guys!
This is a good thing. Self-described TikTok "fashion police" Nicky Campbell, for instance, was "obsessed" with Rita Ora and Eiza Gonzalez's twinning moment on the 2024 Emmys red carpet, describing their identical outfits as both a slay and serve.
The most prestigious of fashion compliments, I'll have you know.
As Campbell noted, both women looked amazing and clearly loved the feather-forward look of Tamara Ralph's gowns. So why shouldn't they both be allowed to wear what makes them feel confident?
Commenters agreed that the matchy-matchy moment was a hit. Some even suggested that it was a win for the brand, saying they "Wish they had taken a pic together to support the designer."
Others were not as enthused. "I'd die," one commenter said simply.
Clearly, not everyone is on board with the idea of twinning away the gatekeepers. But, really, who are these arbitrary fashion rules even serving at this point?
Don't we all deserve to have "let's match" best friends instead of "don't copy me?"
