Athena Magazine
for girls
for girls
| by Nicole Marie On any given morning you can find my room looking like a wild pack of chimpanzees came barging through to find the hidden banana stash. But no, that’s just me going through my usual routine. Skinny black jeans, a pleated khaki mini skirt, a baby doll floral print dress, a tasseled black scarf, a pair of rust colored knee-high riding boots and an endless array of multi-colored tank tops scatter my queen sized bed and spill out onto the floor. Exhausted after a long day of work, on most nights I just push the mess to a side, and we lay there together like a bored married couple. But married we are, because despite the frustrating hours I spend perusing through my closet each week, I love fashion! Thinking about the body as the ultimate palate, then clothing would be the optimal medium of expression. As we develop into individuals, clothing tends to communicate more accurately the person we have come to identify with. If you have ever read Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell, then you know how important first impressions can be, the snap judgments we all make in the first two seconds of meeting someone. Consider the following: a suit can signify power, hence the term “power suit,” a uniform can specify a profession, and distinct personal style can imply a way of life. Fashion is an indicator of your role in society and aside from grooming, it is the only choice we have in our own presentation to the world. In the initial stages of getting to know someone, clothing acts as an important social cue for appropriate behavior. For example, unless I was looking to create a stir, I would never bring up my dislike for football in front of a cute guy dressed in sports gear. Some people may argue that fashion creates stereotypes and distances individuals since it is a way of instantly categorizing people. I, on the other hand, like to think of fashion and stereotypes as essential to the smooth and efficient interactions between people. Stereotyping is a biological function that keeps us all sane. The endless stream of sensual information our brains receive must be instantly processed and packaged for us to navigate life’s intricate web. Our minds are categorizing machines! While the media might portray a certain style of the moment, today there is no such thing as “fashionable” or “unfashionable” on an individual scale. These words carry about the same weight as someone calling Monet’s impressionistic style “messy,” or Picasso’s bold color choices “overwhelming;” it’s all just an opinion. But, as subjective as fashion is, different styles have come to represent different meanings. At all the runway shows, interviews with designers always include long dialogues about the significance of the collection and what kind of woman it represents. While only an elite few can afford the daily swings of the high fashion industry and care enough to follow them, it is still important to know and understand what message you are sending to society when you get dressed in the morning. If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, imagine the benefit of more efficient communication by spending just a few extra minutes planning your outfit tomorrow morning. So next time you are bounding out the door in your cut-off shorts and your mother nags, “What is the message you are trying to send with those shorts, Kelly?” Don’t reply with the foolish “NOTHING Mom, it’s hot outside!” At least give her a run for her money with, “I’m expressing my femininity and the beauty of the female body; I want the world to know that I am daring and confident!” |
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| Why I'm Married to Fashion |
November 2007