Wired headphones are a fashion choice, Chanel said so
The case for wired headphones and tech as a fashion choice
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My AirPods always die on me. Like… Every. Single. Time.
I got my first pair as a Christmas present while at uni, and then one of the ears went… so I paid £70 for a replacement. Then it happened again. Then, they went caput after I graduated, so naturally I bought another pair…
Last month, the inevitable happened: the sound started to go on those, too.
Maybe I wear them weirdly, or maybe I use them so much that they wear out faster than expected. I literally don’t know; all I noticed is that I started to lean towards my wired ones for work anyway (one time my AirPods didn’t connect properly to my laptop at work, so Spotify started playing out loud, which made me paranoid), and when my AirPods sounded quieter, I didn’t want to fork out the money for another pair. Instead, I bought a pair of wired earphones with the lightning cable, so they’d connect to my phone.
I’ve always thought that wired headphones looked a lot cooler, and more like a Choice with a capital C – back when my digital fashion mag Loose was in its early days, I wrote a piece about the online love for the humble wired headphone. And, three years later, the sentiment is still the same. Only, now, Chanel’s brought out their own wired headphones.
Modelled by Lily-Rose Depp (possibly the most wired it girl), Chanel’s Première Sound Watch comes with an extra-long strap, making it part-watch, part-necklace. And, if you choose to wear it as a necklace, two Chanel-embellished earphones are attached to the strap, with a matching headphone jack.
But why are we so obsessed with wired earphones? I think it comes in part with the practicality – sure, AirPods are easy to throw into a bag, but if you lose them? That’s a lot of money wasted, whilst wired headphones are cheaper and if you lose them or they break, they’re less of a punch to the bank account.
(There’s also been discussions about AirPods and wireless headphones being bad for you – because of the small amount of radiation Bluetooth causes – but there’s little medical evidence stating this is as bad for your ears as playing your music loudly. So… use them with caution. I’m not a doctor lol.)
I think we like them because they make a statement. You’re not just listening to music through wireless earphones, tucked away behind your hair – you’re actively showing the world that you’re plugged in. As a young teenager during the indie sleaze/soft grunge era on Tumblr, wired headphones cropped up consistently across my dashboard, and they were seen as part of the aesthetic, as much as Doc Martens. They’re nostalgic, whilst making a statement.
Instagram account wireditgirls shares pictures of celebrities using wired headphones, plus memes about the topic. Their bio calls hot girls with wired headphones the practical trendsetters; and, in an interview with the Today Show, the account’s creator, Shelby Hull, explained how “it just sends a message – like, hey, don’t speak to me right now, I don’t wanna be approached.”
She also explained, “A wired it girl is somebody that people look to for taste-making, style – what are they wearing, what are they eating, what are they listening to…?”
Shelby’s idea that wires indicate do-not-disturb adds to the instant nonchalance; you’re running your errands, wired and in your own world. And, in a world where we’re obsessing over the latest tech, maybe using a hallmark of a previous time is a statement. But, then again, is it ironic, that wired headphones and refusing to conform to a trend in tech… is a trend itself?
This isn’t the only time that tech has become a fashion statement. From jewellery adornments for AirPods to iPod Shuffles as hair clips, tech and fashion have an interesting relationship.
Another way we’ve seen this is through phones. A 2007 study found that in cities throughout Japan, Korea, and China, it was trendy to decorate your humble flip phone with stickers and straps, but in Western cities, people only used a case if it protected the phone. Customisation was seen as unnecessary. (Boooooring.)
Since then, things have changed massively. This is partly because of the rise of the iPhone and smartphones in general; maybe it was the bigger phone or the higher price-point that encouraged people to protect their phones, but post-2007, phone cases, accessories, and customisation have become huge trends.
Devon Lee Carlson, co-founder of Wildflower Cases, frequently switches up her phone case to match her outfit, plucking out the perfect one from the WF archives. In her YouTube vlogs, she often shows her trialling out different phone cases and holding them up next to her outfit, in the way you’d decide on what bag to wear. The Wildflower socials create similar moodboards now, mimicking this idea of accessorising your phone alongside your outfit, instead of one set design you keep until the case looks too tatty.
Phone accessories like charms and bedazzled camera covers remind me of that 2007 study. After all, if everyone’s picking a phone case to suit their personality, what are the extra steps you can take to stand out from the crowd?
Wildflower now sell charms, normally alongside new case releases, as do other phone case brands. You can also get DIY kits for beaded charms – or, if you really want to embody the 00s, you can find a myriad of old-school phone charms on eBay, like ones with mini Hello Kitty and Miffys dangling from coloured string.
Maybe it’s weird that something like a phone case can become trendy, same as the humble wired headphone. But arguably, when we leave the house, our essentials are our phone, keys, maybe a purse, and something to listen to music through. If our tech is that high of a necessity, why not make it reflect you and your style?
Add some nonchalance to your outfit like these wired it girls:
