Fashion and Politics

I originally pitched this piece to a website who said that "It's a little too broad" for their website. Which, fine. That's within their right to reject it. So I'll just post it here instead. 

There’s this attitude among a certain section of society that likes to look at fashion and beauty as a “frivolous hobby and use of time”, but I disagree with that sentiment wholeheartedly. Especially when people use this line of thinking as to why someone should keep up with politics and world events.

Being that fashion is all about expressing yourself and projecting the image you want to put out into the world, there’s no way that’s not political. There’s no way those two things are not interconnected. When you wake up in the morning and get ready for the day, whether you wear a face full of makeup or just some lip balm, that’s your personal identity that you’re expressing to the world. When you pick out your clothes for the day you’re putting your best foot forward. You’re managing your image and making your own statement, what’s more political than that?

The way that different cultures have their own standards and depictions of beauty, how they build their own histories and identities as a nation, that contributes to the political and sociological growth of that particular nation and it’s people. Just look at the black/African American community. How our hairstyles and clothing styles have not only created an identity and a sense of pride for us as a people but they are our own political statements about how us in our natural states are just as beautiful as any other group of people. It’s our stamp on the world and it’s often imitated by mainstream fashion and displayed as a hot new style even though it’s something that’s been around for a very long time. Look at the people of Asia and their ornate traditional garb that not only is a sense of pride but an expression of history and familiar comfort. How Kimonos are ceremonial garb that are not only used in traditional weddings but during summer festivals as well. They are seen as something that can signify a young woman taking the steps to be seen as more mature.

To look through history and not mention fashion and how it was used to define new laws and change old ones would be a huge chunk of political history just left undiscovered. Look at the laws of the 1700s in which a woman’s hemline was a big topic of discussion. How the 20s brought in woman making a statement of independence by rejecting the typical feminine silhouette of the cinch waistline and long hair. The same can be said for the 70s when women were burning their bras to signify that they were going to make decisions for themselves and no longer be bound to only be housewives and baby makers. They were fighting for their right to choose their own destiny and part of their fight was through their clothing.

You also have organizations that use clothing and style to express a feeling of unity among not only their ranks but their cause. Take the Black Panthers for example. The jackets and berets over their Afros paints an iconic picture not only for Black History but for American History in an era where it was important that the people of the African American community make themselves known and take a stand against the oppression taking place in the inner city areas.

The current Black Lives Matter movement has taken a similar approach. With natural hairstyles and printed t-shirts with the BLM acronym printed in bold letters on the front. Remember that this movement was born, once again, out of a sense of helplessness in the black community and a feeling of being abused and stomped on. So when people see the letter BLM, they know that they’re among like minded people who care about them and want to see them get not only the justice they deserve but the equality and rights they deserve.

It’s very dismissive to not only think that a person can’t be engaged in more than one subject but that the two subjects are not interconnected. That certain sections of society live in a bubble and are not one with each other. It’s also dismissive when you say it to a teenager or a young adult. When someone is in a period of self discovery and immense pressure to define who they are and where they stand in the world.