Why I’m in my big headphone era
IMAGE VIA @miaharrizon/INSTAGRAM
Words by Seraphina Nicholls
I’ll see you in auditory heaven.
My wired headphones are tangled (again), my AirPods are full of earwax and I have an overwhelming urge to walk down the street in total surround sound. I’m in my big headphone era, and I can’t hear you because my music’s too loud and noise cancelling is on.
As you’re probably aware, the oversized headphones that were once reserved for obscure Berlin DJs, dorky audiophiles or anyone using an inflight entertainment system are now in fashion. Wear them with a trench, as you leave the gym, or while you’re doing the shopping. Hell, don’t even listen to music, just walk with them curled around your neck and let passersby admire your technological prowess.
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Of course, you’d be forgiven for feeling a little trend whiplash right now. It wasn’t too long ago that AirPods were being left at home in favour of their humble wired counterparts. A symbol of collective nostalgia, wired headphones embodied a carefree innocence – they suggested you were someone who revelled in the simple joy of listening to music on the go.
The wired ‘it’ girls didn’t care that their headphones got tangled or that their sound quality was objectively worse. In fact, these features were essential in cultivating an air of authenticity, which is what brought them back in vogue in the first place.
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Now, we’ve done a full 180. My TikTok is filled with videos about styling Apple AirPods Max – which, if you haven’t seen by now, are designed like a futuristic cup phone. Bella Hadid’s hot girl, big headphone walks around New York City even made me entertain the idea that the $800 price tag is worth it.
While I probably (definitely) will talk myself out of the purchase, the change from micro-wired to macro-wireless is intriguing. Fashion has always been about expressing individuality and cultivating an image, so when an ‘it’ item becomes trendy for its stylistic nonchalance – i.e. wired headphones – its popularity soon becomes at odds with the authentic image it projects.
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Suddenly, wearing wired headphones becomes a copycat act, a type of sartorial emulation that can’t exist if it’s authenticity we’re after. The trend cycle must go back to the drawing board. What excites me about the big headphone era is that their function matches fashion’s desire for individualism.
Listening to music is a deeply personal experience and our music taste can, for many of us, convey a lot about us as individuals (take my curated Spotify playlists that overshare far too much about my personal life). In my books, it’s a major win to have a device that lets me completely immerse myself in my music and that happens to work with my outfit. Where the wired headphones fell flat (audio quality, practicality and ease of use), the big headphones more than deliver.
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Thinking about it, big headphones could be the perfect response to 2022. As the world continues its crusade into economic precarity and imminent climate disaster, we need a device that allows us to tune in, drop out and experience day-to-day life without falling into a pit of despair.
And nothing says that more than a large, over-ear listening device that can literally drown out the world around you. Big headphones, I hope you’re here to stay.
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