Fashion Is No Joke (And Here’s Why)

“Why are people scandalized by spending money on clothes? Everybody is so passionate about this — there’s a resistance to fashion — an idea that to love fashion is to be stupid. Clothes are very intimate. When you get dressed, you are making public your idea about yourself, and I think that embarrasses people.”
-Miuccia Prada

Anyone in doubt over fashion’s economic worth should note that, according to a report published by the British Fashion Council, Britain’s fashion industry is worth £21bn to the country’s economy. In 2009, 815,000 people were employed in the UK fashion industry; fashion contributed approximately £98m to the tourism industry and the total annual revenue of Britain’s fashion magazine industry was £401m. Through good and bad times, the fashion industry has shown itself to be practically recession proof. Strip it away, though, and you’re left with something incredibly simple: the act of getting dressed. What is it that is so powerful about this act? How can it be such a potent form of individual, political and cultural expression? And how can it be reconciled with feminism?

“My passion for fashion can sometimes seem a shameful secret life,” wrote Princeton University English professor Elaine Showalter in a 1997 issue of Vogue, to much derision.  One colleague asked whether she had “better things to do”. It is no coincidence that fashion  – one of the few spheres primarily associated with and dominated by women – is often derided as trivial and shallow. Treating it as superficial is a subtle form of sexism in itself, as is the assumption that women primarily follow fashion to get male attention and approval. While men often enjoy shopping and dressing well too, it is mostly women who read fashion magazines, shop for enjoyment and compliment each other’s clothes.

The reality is that fashion is – and always has been – far from frivolous. Minh-Ha T. Pham succinctly summarises its wider significance: “That most ordinary and intimate of acts, getting dressed, can have very real political and economic consequences.” Globally and historically, fashion is closely wrapped up in political movements and cultural identities. It also has strong associations with feminism. Suffragists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries used fashion to express their political values, such as green, white and violet jewellery: the first letters of each colour – G, W, V – formed an acronym for ‘give women votes’. And Chanel’s ubiquitous trouser suits were a powerful statement of women’s growing sense of independence, particularly in the workplace. This year’s Vogue Festival included a discussion featuring fashion heavyweights and political campaigners Vivienne Westwood and Katherine Hamnett, titled ‘Can Fashion Change The World?’ My answer to that is a categorical yes.

This doesn’t mean that the fashion industry isn’t hugely problematic as it is. In the words of Winona Dimeo-Edgar: “As much as I love talking about fashion as an empowering space for self-expression, the industry itself is always the impeccably dressed elephant in the room.” Advertising which aims to make women feel ugly and insecure and designers who dismiss larger women and women of colour need to be questioned and confronted. Campaigns have been fought against designers who pressure models to be size zero, magazines which use models in blackface, and companies such as Abercrombie & Fitch which shamelessly perpetuate racist, sexist and sizeist beauty ideals. We live in an age of social media and as consumers we have the power to speak up. Enjoying fashion doesn’t mean that we cannot criticise problematic aspects of the industry or campaign to change. And surely it is better to attack from within.

Are the couture items we see on the catwalks insanely expensive and unwearable? Of course they are. Just as most people who gaze longingly at the walls of the National Portrait Gallery could never afford a painting from there, very few people today will ever feel the luxurious satin of a Dior couture gown against their skin. Neither are women realistically expected to change their entire wardrobe every season; style never goes out of fashion, and you don’t need money to have style. For those of you who are still wondering “How is this overpriced crap related to my Primark purchases?”, the catwalk collections directly influence the clothes sold on the high street for a fraction of the price. You only have to turn to Miranda Priestly for a succinct explanation of why that blue sweater you picked up from a jumble sale because you thought the colour was nice is still a part of the industry you look down upon so insistently.

I’ve decided fashion can be two things. It can be as simple as something you put on to make yourself feel beautiful, or as dynamic as something illustrative of culture, time and its transformations.
-Katherine LaGrave

Ultimately fashion is a means of communication and expression. It is a language and an art form. What we wear can speak volumes about our personality, our values, our culture and our tastes. But does it really matter if fashion contains an implicit social and political use? What is wrong with liking something because it is aesthetically pleasing? The answer is: absolutely nothing. So go out and work that Topshop dress – and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.