Fashion, style, or clothes?
What are you wearing: fashion, style, or clothes? All three, I think. It depends on your point of view. Any minute now you’ll find “A life in clothes”: — a new podcast episode to help and amuse you while you’re learning how to be old. (We all are.) It’s all about the wonderful, beautiful, absurd, and scarey clothes that we were wearing last century, and today.
In the last 80 years my sisters and I have gone from raggedy ill-fitting hand-me-down clothes — not fashion, not stylish—
— to rain jackets and puffer jackets, the ubiquitous epitome of warmth and comfort in the 21st century. (Wow! What big words you have, Grandmother!)
Listen if you might be old one day, and talk to your friends about what you have worn over the years — regardless of whether you call it fashion, style, or clothes. Your story is every bit as interesting as that of designer Sandy Jeffs. Sandy loved the 70s styles and she was right there on the spot in Portobello Market when MTV needed new things every week for their music videos. What influenced your story of a life in clothes, I wonder? I’m sure there was fun along the way.
Fashion changes all through time but our basic attire remained shalwar and qameez. A loose trousers and a shirt. They both underwent changes that we used to follow religiously until somewhere in my 40’s I decided to wear what looked good on me and not what everyone else was wearing.
I love that basic pair of garments, shalwar and gameez. Love the shape, endlessly adaptable. But I’d hate to have to wear them every day of my life,nI think.
We are so used to them that it comes naturally to us
The trick is always to adapt the current style with changes so it looks good on you. As an example, I’m on the short side at 5’2″. Wide leg pants do not look good on me so I let that style pass me by (and it’s out again!). It’s keeps fashion exciting because you get to a point where you’ve worn all the styles and they are just recycling.
Yes, that is fun! On the podcast my guest took me back to her favourite era, the 70s, when she was a teenager (and I was in my 30s).
At the moment, my everyday outfit is usually just based on comfort, since most of my time is spent holed up at home clacking away on my keyboard! But when I do get the chance to dress up, I tend to stick to the tried and true with staple “going-out” outfits currently tucked away in the back of my wardrobe.
That’s a nice relaxed approach to style 🙂
I’ve pretty much stopped caring about what’s fashionable at the moment. I remember when I was in school it was most important and I spent all my money (not that it was a lot of money but it was all I had) on clothes. I had some nice stuff! Now I wear the same jeans, shorts and t-shirts over and over. I have an event to go to at the end of the month and I dread going to find something to wear.
We can say with some confidence that this is a sign of maturity. I remember thinking that one should wear something different every time to important events — who started that? The royal family? Now I’m hoping to keep my favourite sweater in one piece through copious darning.