Fashion Changes When the World Changes

(Note: I do not own any of the images in this post)

Let's consider the 1920s in America. World War I had ended. It was a cause for celebration. Partying. But not the kind of partying that set you free. It was the kind that made you temporarily forget about the sadness that was like icicles in your heart. Hemlines rose. Women did all sorts of things that were considered taboo. People enjoyed their lives because these were the lives that their husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons died to give them.

The 1930s weren't much better. The stock market crash of 1929 meant that one day people had a place to stay, food in their bellies and a life to live, and the next, people lost their home, fed on scraps, and instead of living, all they could wish for was to stay alive. Just like the stocks, hemlines plummeted overnight. When you were frightened, you clung on to what was familiar to you-- tradition. We left the ways of the 1920s, not only because your average American couldn't afford it, but because we thought we were punished for being so bad. The light was shrouded.

When the 1940s came, our men left for war again. Women were burdened with the weight of the world for the first time and we were determined to carry it. How? By wearing the suits our husbands left behind with broad, defined shoulders, of course! As factories became filled up with real-life Rosie the Riveters and the troops welcomed women to help out wherever they could, it was a decade of pure empowerment.

As we came out on the winning end of World War II, but not without a massive cost, families became reunited in the 1950s and the American ideal of the perfect family was born. A house with a white picket fence, 2 and 1/2 children, and 1 dog. People really lived like that. It was the time of suburban homes and automobiles and television. It was the time when women wanted to feel feminine again. The hourglass figure was the most obvious indicator of womanhood, so we squeezed ourselves back into corsets. Ew. But who cares? After all, we've had decades of turmoil, and now our biggest problem was having our abdomens being uncomfortably tightened. Not complaining. 

Of course, there are many examples, and the ones I gave above are only simplified versions of the complicated relationship between fashion and everything that's going on in the world at the time, and boy, is that a lot to consider.

So let's consider now. The present.

Some may say that fashion is currently at a standstill. There hasn't been a big revolution in the way people dressed since the end of the 20th century. There's no defining characteristic of our time. We don't have rules for dressing; we wear whatever we feel like putting our god damn bodies when we wake up in the morning. And I love it! But at the same time, I'm ready for the next big thing.

Left: Screen-cap from Clueless (1995); Right: Promotional photo from Friends (1994-2004)

Street style today

Fashion changes when the world changes. And the world is still changing faster than ever before. Technology is becoming exponentially more powerful and these advances are touching the lives of more and more people everyday. So hasn't fashion changed?

Maybe the world is changing too fast and fashion can't catch up. But also, maybe we're just scared. In an age where the future is so unpredictable, we try to keep some things the same. Fashion is like our anchors keeping us from getting swept away and losing who we are. But in the past, we've never been able to hold on forever, and we won't this time. In fact, I think there'll come a time when we'll want to leave behind what we have now. One of my favorite quotes is "To become a butterfly, you must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar." 

Right now, we're on the brink of a revolution in fashion. So let's hold on tight and hope we get to wear some awesome, high-tech clothes in 10 years.


Thank you Ms. Amanda Hallay for teaching me almost everything in this post. I am forever grateful to have had you as a teacher, but more so, to have known you as a person.