What The Basement’s Taught Me…So Far
This is a segment in which members explain how they came to find The Basement, their first impressions and what the group means to them.
To start this segment off, we hear from a new member, Katrina Schollenberger.
I’d heard him say it over and over, and of the few times we had met up, I was sick of it. “Basement” this, and “Basement” that. But what actually was The Basement? “You wouldn’t get it,” he’d answer, and natter on about Nike collaborations and Supreme drops. Our third date, I gave him an ultimatum: either he added me to this group, or he shut up about it. Reluctantly, he agreed. I gave it a scroll that night, and didn’t think about it again. Two weeks later, I searched ‘Basement’ in the Facebook search bar, and found nothing.
“Did you take me out of the group?” I texted him. A quick response- “No, that’s odd…” But in actual fact, he had lied, and blocked me. After a few days of harassment, I came to terms with why he did. The Basement is an integral part of his life, and introducing someone into it was like meeting the family. A big, streetwear-obsessed family.
At first, I could only ever appreciate street wear from a distance, mainly in the culture of the music I listen to. But, it was actually everywhere in my life, I just didn’t notice it.
One of the things being a Basement member has taught me, is the value and investment in what you buy. Selling hyped up brands can be a means to an end for some people. Although it’s controversial, it’s absolutely astounding the lengths and prices people will reach to cop their grail item- maybe just to sell it on a week later. I’m still wrapping my head around why people would set up tents outside a shop for something they may not even get. What happens if the brand were to die out in the next year? Why make, what appears to be, such a risky investment? I suppose that’s the economy of street wear, but I find myself asking questions daily to understand it, and assessing the value of my own clothes.
Its sense of community has also floored me. I mean, to be fair, some of you can be ‘difficult’. But what’s a family without a little dysfunction. Never would I have believed that I could travel to a different country and watch my partner be greeted by random Bape-clad young men on the streets, all because of a Facebook group. Or make friends with a bunch of really sweet, sometimes strange, but always hilarious girls (shoutout 2 prawn talk).
If a pair of shoes or a t-shirt can really bring 46,000 people together, who knows what’s next.
I even catch myself eyeing people’s outfit brands now. It’s kind of an obnoxious, yet welcomed, reflex. I guess my next step is to get my first piece of Supreme…(pink denim jacket pls).
Written by Katrina Schollenberger, edited by Tayler Prince-Fraser
