OUTSIDE THE BOX
Five fresh thinkers deliver their perspectives
Historically, exclusivity in fashion is considered to have been anathema to equality by denoting the social status of the wearer.This is exemplified in Thomas More’s notion of a democratic but very bleak fashion utopia where ostentatious dress was considered taboo and we should all essentially wear brown sacks.
Unfortunately for Mr More, such a boring existence was never likely to be universally adopted. Even if it had prevailed, and More’s “Brown sacks for all” notion had been put into place, I imagine that Maison Margiela sacks, tweed Chanel sacks, vintage sacks and haute couture sacks would spring up amidst the army of brown-sack wearers and provide superiority for the ones who could get their hands on them. The majority of us have already experienced a form of More’s “brown sack utopia” through the turmoil of the character-building experience we call “school”.
Ten years of wearing a uniform every day inevitably leads into rebellion. I recall my first day of school where I fearfully towed the line. My hair was a dark slick-back “Olive Oyl” style, my Clarks shoes were too big so that I would “grow into them”, and my kneelength skirt was modestly skimming my ankles in the hope that I wouldn’t get into trouble. The exact same uniform of modest attire was quickly transformed, as I grew more rebellious. Hair was bleached and straightened into crispy oblivion, the shoes grew a kitten heel, and the skirt was hoiked so high that it would have given the British glamour model Jodie Marsh’s notorious 2004 FHM belt look a run for its money.
My point is that I don’t think fashion is supposed to be democratic. It’s rebellious, aspirational and would, perhaps, lose its magic if it were to be democratic. No matter what restrictions are put into place, fashion is a cultural phenomenon that provides a means of expressing our identities whatever our personal status. Moreover, it allows us to continually construct and reconstruct ourselves dependent on the way we feel and the current image we are trying to project.
Freedom in fashion encourages diversity, but what do we mean by diversity? For me, diversity of ideas is equally as important as its physical attributes.We need to be subjected to diversity in all its forms in order to better understand others. Of course we will encounter disagreement, but if we didn’t, life would be pretty boring and may equate to feeling like a lifetime of school uniform.