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Let People Dress Raggedy

What This Pandemic Has Taught Me About Fashion

By Laquesha BaileyPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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Let People Dress Raggedy
Photo by Onur Bahçıvancılar on Unsplash

I grew up in a low income household so my idea of “good fashion” has always been whatever the hell I can afford to wear. I didn’t do expensive, brand names, fancy jewelry or designer handbags. Thankfully, I also lived in a place where school uniforms are the norm and there was no mounting pressure to wear the latest trends to impress your friends on the way to Physics class. Everyone dressed the same. For this reason, the idea of shifting fashion trends has always intrigued me. You know, each season dropping in, bringing a series of environmental changes but also a host of “new” and unique ideas about what’s en vogue. Maybe this time around it’s chunky sneakers, low rise jeans, chaps (yikes!) or corsets as tops.

The dynamic of fashion was interesting in 2020 because owing to the pandemic, people were largely stuck inside with nowhere to go. I mean, you could dress fancy but why? For who? To go where? By far my favourite (and by favourite, I mean comically cringy) trend was designer face masks. Celebrities were rocking luxury face masks. I saw one that cost over $900! Because even in a pandemic when people are dying everyday, make it fashion!

Burberry Face Mask Priced @ $120
This Louis Vuitton Face Shield will set you back $961
A Marine Serre Mask listed at $525

This trend of designer face masks was rivalled only by the hilarious Hermès Birkin debacle that happened last year. If you missed it, this all started when Quavo (very famous rapper) bought his boo, Saweetie (slightly less famous but still very famous rapper) a Birkin bag for her birthday. She then released an Instagram video claiming that if your significant other doesn’t buy you a Birkin bag and pay your bills, he belongs to the streets.

It started this whole conversation on Twitter about validating love through the gifting of Birkin bags which can cost anywhere between $40,000 and $500,000 and whether or not the Birkin bags owned by certain D-list celebs were real. And who can and cannot afford Birkin bags. It devolved into this vapid, superficial conversation among celebrities about designer bags. The whole situation felt entirely out of touch and also entirely outside of my tax bracket.

Interestingly enough though, it got me thinking about the pandemic and its effect on our ideas about fashion. Somehow, even trapped inside, we have found a way to stylize and monetize essential apparel such as masks and “flex” expensive clothing never mind the fact that we have nowhere to go wearing said clothing. Lockdown exposed fully the elitism and selfishness of our celebrity idols who try to convince us that their squabbles about what is and isn’t fashionable should meaningfully affect us normal folk. I’m tired, it’s tiring. Let’s leave it in 2020.

I spent most of last year glued to my desk as I‘m sure many of us working from home have. In that time, I’ve worn: sweatpants, nightshirts, ripped jeans, pilled leggings and hoodies. I looked, in a word, raggedy. It. Felt. So. Good. There were no judging gazes, no one commenting on my fashion faux pas, no feeling bad that what I was wearing wasn’t living up to some arbitrary standard that we set for ourselves. I was raggedy. It was comfortable. I felt good about myself and I think we could all benefit from bringing that kind of energy into 2021.

Don’t be mistaken. This post is not to poo-poo anyone that enjoys fashion and actively keeps up with trends. Kudos to you for having that kind of mental and financial stamina! This is simply a PSA to say that we need to drop the elitist, snobbish attitude surrounding fashion that defined 2020. If we concede that we shouldn’t judge people for dressing fashionably, then we should also respect people who choose to look like they’ve perpetually just rolled out of bed and haven’t showered in ten days.

“Ugly” clothes can coexist with trendy ones. We’re allowed to wear things simply because we like them even if they’re unflattering to our bodies. Balance. Yin and Yang. Fire and Water. Sun and Moon. Ratty clothes and trendy threads. All that other sweet but opposite philosophical stuff.

If you like this post, be sure to like this post!

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About the Creator

Laquesha Bailey

22 years old literally, about 87 at heart. I write about self care, university life, money, music, books and whatever else that piques my interest.

@laqueshabailey

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