Somebody asked me at lunch the other day if I was a “dedicated follower of fashion” or an “individual”. Straight away I had a knee jerk reaction and proudly announced that indeed I was an individual. Different from the rest, my own person and completely unique, when it comes to women’s trends. On the drive home, I started to have my doubts, was I individual, whats makes a person individual and what sets me apart from the rest?
I started to ask myself questions. Why do I wear the outfits I wear? I said to myself, ” Because I like it and because I chose it”.
But then I remembered the scene with Meryl Streep in the ” Devil Wears Prada”.
Yes, you remember, when she talks about the colour cerulean. I admit, I had to Google cerulean as I was not so sure of what it meant. Basically its a Latin word meaning deep blue. Anyway, in the scene she talks about how everything is picked for us to wear by the fashion industry and that we are not individual, even if we think we are! This horrified me for a while. Lets think about it. How do we know what is fashionable? Inputs from the media. We see images in magazines, fashion channels, pop stars and we subconsciously start to believe that this is how we should look. My thinking started to get a little deeper (too deep, this was about fashion, not war and peace). I started to research who was really individual and dressed themselves how they wanted without outside influence.
I took note from the Bana tribe of Ethiopa. A remote uninfluenced east African tribe with a population of only 23,700. Most prominent was although they would not fit into the western idea of fashion, they had there own style none the less. The male tribesmen indulge in elaborate hair dressing and both men and women sport brightly coloured togas, accessorised with their own jewelry. This was their individual identity that set them apart from the other tribes, some would possibly call it a uniform but it was something they had chosen and that’s what made it individual and furthermore it was fun! There was no practical reason to have their hair done in such a way, they just did it because it was fun!
I started to remember that this is exactly what fashion should be, fun!
But still, what about this individuality thing? It then dawned upon me that although the fashion industry suggest colours, styles, shapes, it is us as individuals that chooses what we wear and when we wear it. We as individuals are free to choose how we want to look. Our choice of outfit gives the first impression to new colleagues or associates.
I had started to calm down now and realised that I might still be individual after all. I have learnt that although I want my clothes to be on-trend and cutting edge I also want my outfits to say something about who I am. I am want them to reflect my personality or enhance my mood. Like a thumb print, nobody is the same and its not always about the clothes you wear but how you wear them.
By: Ceri Anne Heathcote
About the Author:
