It’s Sunday, and we’re not talking directly about kicks today. We’re talking about originality and where you draw your inspiration from. Make sure you’ve got your snacks on deck, and get ready for halftime of whatever football game you’re watching, because I’m about to drop some life lessons on you.
We all have someone that we draw inspiration from.
Maybe you’re a big fan of pop art and you aspire to be like Andy Warhol. Maybe you’re a big fan of Southern hip-hop and you look up to Bun B. Maybe you want to have the world’s biggest and most obnoxious sneaker collection possible, and you’re inspired by someone like Mayor or The Perfect Pair.
No matter who it may be that you draw inspiration from, there’s a good chance that the inspiration you draw from them shows through in your daily life. If you’re inspired by A$AP Rocky (like I am), there’s a good chance that you were rocking monochromatic white-and black outfits with Jeremy Scott sneakers a few years back. If you’re inspired by Kanye West, then you’re probably rocking some distressed denim with Yeezy Boosts (or Tubular X’s if you weren’t so lucky to hit on a pair of the Boosts).
Where am I going with this, you may ask? It’s simple. I’m just hear to stress that although it’s perfectly fine to draw inspiration from someone, no matter if they’re a celebrity or just someone you know that’s really knowledgable about a certain topic, you shouldn’t steal their sauce.
“What’s sauce?” you might be saying. Well, sauce is a personality trait that makes someone or something appealing and interesting. One’s sauce could be displayed in different ways, from the kicks they wear to the music they listen to. When someone’s got the sauce, people tend to gravitate towards what that person likes. This is perfectly normal. However, there’s a difference between being inspired by someone and flat-out stealing their sauce. I’ll give you an example.
Say one day I’m wearing a pair of Yeezy Boosts, distressed denim, and a bomber jacket (classic Kanye of course, what example could be better?) Joe Basic sees me, and likes my fit. He talks to me, finds out it was inspired by Kanye, makes a mental note of it, and steps out the next day with a similar fit on. Someone asks him how he put his outfit together, and he says he came up with it on his own. THAT’S stealing sauce, taking ideas from someone (even if that person had borrowed them from someone else) and not giving them the credit.
It’s fine to borrow anyone’s idea, but don’t try to pass it off as your own if it’s not. This goes for anything. Find a cool lace swap for your Jordan I’s on the ‘gram? Don’t try to pretend it’s your own. Someone you know put you on to a cool coffee shop? Don’t act like you’re the one who discovered it when you go there with someone else.
Our culture is a collaborative one. There’s no shame in saying that you got an idea from someone else. There is shame in stealing someone’s idea and trying to pass it off like an original. That’s what herbs do. Give credit where credit is due, and continue to collaborate!
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