“Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months”
Oscar Wilde
Now, I like Wilde. ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ is brilliant stuff. But, I beg to differ with him on this point. Fashion, contrary to popular belief, isn’t a frivolous industry celebrated only to sell glossy magazines. It is a form of art. Transcending clothes, shoes, bags to encompass a lifestyle that is a reflection of the zeitgeist. And it evolves with every season and every collection to seam new philosophies. It empowers the individual, as a form of expression, to give dimension to his persona. There is a niche for every sensibility. If it hasn’t already been created, one can pioneer it. All it’ll need to catch on is a touch of panache with some daring. Even if an individual’s personal style isn’t the next big thing, nobody with confidence in a new order gets banished to the dungeons of faux pas forever. Today, the most avant garde have an entourage to appreciate their addition to this vast melange of cuts and colours and fabrics.
Art inspires reality and reality inspires art. Broadening perspective, one cannot overlook the social influences that have been initiated or exhibited by fashion. Cinema has always played an important role in defining trends of the day. Trousers popularized by Katherine Hepburn, the ‘Sadhana’ cut, Madhuri Dixit’s white suits et al. The transition from reel life to real life is the first one. Economic factors also play in. During the Great Depression, women resorted to borrowing their husband’s wardrobe as it was functional at work and saved the clothing allowance. The likes of Madame Chanel and Poiret brought a revolution in androgynous attire ushering in an era of the independent woman. Social movements inspire the people to reflect their ideology in their outfits. Khadi was the fabric of choice during our freedom struggle, signifying India’s indigenous industries and self-reliance. Not a surprise there that green is the new black.
There is, however, a negative side to it. The industry dictates over-rated standards of beauty. It affects the self-esteem of people all over, regardless of age group, who will follow the latest ‘fad diet’, or much worse, go under the knife to achieve unrealistic body types. They will purchase whatever style is marketed well, without giving their own palate a thought. Such disregard for one’s sense of discretion is unhealthy and it bares an entire generation’s vulnerability to psychological manipulation by sections of the print and electronic media.
Sartorial chic is what flatters an individual, regardless of what’s en vogue (or in ‘Vogue’). I firmly believe that one must not blindly follow trends, but find what works for him, or create it. The essence of fashion is as an insignia of personal freedom, not as slavery to the stereotypical.
This article is dedicated to the enfant terrible of the international fashion industry, Alexander McQueen, who passed away in February this year.
