Dispatch #03: Dresscode Politics

I have always been incredibly conscious and intentional when deciding what to wear. More so pre-COVID, but I still do catch myself ruminating on what pair of trousers would go with this or that top, if I have the right jacket for it and what bag should drape over my shoulder. Each piece, its fabric, texture and every accessory is a layer of who I am, who I aspire to be and how I want others to perceive me. The way I dress is an expression of the zeitgeist we live in, the culture I am embedded in and the politics that run today.

Patterns in taste making constantly shifts in conjunction with evolving generational zeitgeists. At the tip of everyone’s tongue for the spirit of our times seems to be individualism. It’s an elusive concept because it’s hard to define and retrospectively in 10 years, you might look back and see the very evident similarities. The notion of individualism is packaged through acts like thrifting and finding pieces unique to you. Just look at the booming resale market with ‘second-hand fashion’ seeing an increase of 104% since last year.1 It’s really about the rejection of anything alluding to the word ‘mass’, I mean the literal meaning of the word speaks for itself. Who would want to be associated with ‘a large body of matter with no definite shape.’

Let me be clear that this nothing to do with the difference between fast fashion or luxury fashion, because you can still be part of the masses by wearing anything over a grand. Refer to everyone who ever bought into Balenciaga sock shoes. That’s sheep mentality right there, that’s Cardi-B in your ear, as the proverbial consumption devil on your shoulder singing ‘I like those Balenciagas’ convincing you to buy them.

Looking for ways to standout through vintage handbags and thrifted clothes goes so much deeper, beyond just being trendy or fashionable. If you want to ascribe a definition to it we’d call it enclothed cognition, a theory suggesting that ‘the relationship between our identity and the group identity symbolised by our clothes is a reciprocal one.’2 In this case, we embody the meaning of being individual through our unique finds that are exclusively ours. You want others to coo at you and take pride in the symbolism and smugness of saying ‘sorry it’s vintage.’ It’s knowing they