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Fashion Observed


Trend observations with a sociological eye from afar...

by Darryl S. Warren  

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Fashion Distraction

There is no shortage of news in our world today and depending on what one tunes into versus what one tunes out can vary from person to person. Some things are impossible to look away from, their morbidity strangely alluring the way one can’t look away from an accident or is compelled to witness a public celebrity meltdown. Our voyeuristic streak lies in many places. Some of it is rooted in our natural curiosity. Some of it satisfies our need to be connected with our group by providing commonality through shared experience or common knowledge. And some of this interest is because we succumb to distractions to assuage our ennui or to take our minds off our own problems. There is a lot of that these days if one is to believe the reporting of current events.

The world is full of genuinely stressful events that threaten our personal security. Proliferation of random violence, threat of political instability mixed with nuclear warfare and economic destabilization amidst increasingly divided classes have all contributed to a stress load already taxed with work conditions requiring many to work more than ever before. Business Insider recently reported that such stress was reaching an epidemic level affecting our lives and even increasing propensity for mental illness in society. Countless studies have also shown that the increasing economic divide coupled with instability enhances social instability that translates to higher incidences of crime and social outbursts, something being reports in media more recently.

With a threshold regarding coping mechanisms distractions can be very valuable, and in our society fashion, normally viewed as a representation of everything frivolous, has become a grand and strangely welcoming distraction. The anticipation of the upcoming release of The Great Gatsby has been so fully embraced by fashion that recent events such as Tiffany’s Bluer Book Ball in Manhattan have rivaled the excess the period it’s set in was once known for.  But for those not following such high end events are just as distracted in other areas once thought devoid of such interests, and another recent event showed not only how hungry we are for distraction, but also the degree of which fashion has permeated our culture to provide such interest.

The passing of Margaret Thatcher was noted to evoke polarized opinions on her and her policies during her record tenure as Prime Minister for The UK. Reactions were strong on both sides and there was no shortage of touching on both of those. But when the actual funeral came to pass it were not her policies that we in media focus. In fact, it was primarily about the attire of the attendees, given substantial media attention, which was noticeable.

It’s not the first time fashion was a component of interest in such an unlikely setting. The passing of the late Alexander McQueen was a fashion moment where the wardrobes of attendees were closely scrutinized by every major fashion media outlet in every fashion capital. However, interest in the fashions was not as mainstream; the interest was more confined to those within cities where fashion held more relevance. Given that it was the death of a major player in the fashion industry it made sense that cities where fashion acts as a major contribution to its industrial makeup would care more. But Margaret Thatcher’s funeral was not the most likely place for fashion to have such a strong presence, and the interest in funerary fashions was a bit more mainstream.

One would think that politicians are not normally looked to for their fashion choices. Then again, the continuous attention garnered by the Obamas for their wardrobe choices do tell us where society is at. When nuclear stress was felt in the 60s during the Cuban missile crisis, the Kennedys’ wardrobe, especially Jacqueline’s garnered a lot of attention.  And fashion certainly worked its way into the culture’s focus during that period; the freedom from convention that fashion displayed helped define the decade. It’s no wonder some designers gravitated to the 60s in their designs while those more Euro-based (especially in the UK) picked up on the exuberant impracticality of 80s clubwear, picking up on our need to lighten up somehow.

Our cultivated fascination with celebrity works well with our current need for frivolity, especially if we are looking in unlikely avenues to distract us from the largess of the world and give weight to things previous generations would have deemed inappropriate. But superficial entertainment only holds so much staying power, and there are other things happening that indicate our attention is showing signs of sobering up our perspective, perhaps in order to make this a better world that requires less distraction in the first place.

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