We inhabit a world where the ideology of the individual is dominant. However,
almost ironically, we also take pride in the groups that we belong to and source our
identities from. Communication and expression of these identities have been important
in demonstrating our thoughts and feelings on certain subjects. One particularly distinct
mode of expression for people has been their fashion sense. Communicating visually is a
hallmark of human life, allowing us to absorb information quickly. So think about the
way you dress. You likely are communicating several pieces of information about
yourself even if you don’t necessarily dress for other people. Considering that, fashion is
simultaneously a mode in which we can flout the norms and rules of not just fashion or
culture, but also the societies in which we live. Think of Iranian women who have gotten
attention on social media for being photographed without headdresses in public or the
white suits of the suffragettes (Melero, 2024). From the arguably terrible to the utterly
refreshing, let me outline resistance’s pervasiveness in fashion.
On a foundational level, fashion trends becoming popular are key to us practicing
our social identity and belonging. Even if they appear impractical, they can create a
sense of tribalism or belonging to an in-group (Gomaa, 2021). Trends usually are about
being part of a larger collective group rather than part of an othered group (Young, 1956). This is the usual
interpretation of any fashion
trend that garners any sort of
popularity. However, this
notion still holds for the
groups that splinter
themselves away from the
larger collective consciousness.
People feel more courageous to
break away from the group and
resist when others can support them in their
rebelliousness. Humans have
increased their chances of survival and prosperity by associating with groups rather
than being strictly independent. Think about those ripped jeans and how they might
have never caught on if at least a certain number of people had donned them. Novelty
and individuation also paradoxically fit together with social identity and belonging in
fashion. Dressing in whatever is trendy is a technique allowing people to adapt socially
(Young, 1956). So, balancing your individuality and belongingness is a constant in
fashion. An unconventional aesthetic subverting a cultural norm gets the attention of
others but also simultaneously communicates to others what ideological group one
might belong to as well.
The pressures of fashion trends these days are very intense. Social media
platforms like Instagram and TikTok put the onus of keeping up with the latest styles on
consumers. Challenging norms and power structures through tools like social media and
fashion, though, is still very much possible. Using perceived ugliness and inelegance, groups can challenge traditional depictions of beauty often touted by dominant social
groups and actors (Bernstein, 2024; Trewartha-Weiner, 2024). Fashion designers are
also no strangers to using impracticality as a method to challenge the conventionalities
of their industry. Ugliness and impracticality are loud acts of defiance in fashion
that demand further inquiries and information. They attract attention effectively from
normal people and allow people on the fringes of society to get a grip on the social narrative. Think of how that type of attention has benefited marginalized people and
oppressed communities.
Rebelliousness in fashion often targets consumerism, too. As an ideology,
consumerism reinforces conformity onto anyone who seeks a product, whether it is
needed or not. This gives rise to products that essentially have no unique traits and can
be described as a mass-produced global form of nothing. For those who reject
consumerism, there are many ways that one can express this sentiment through other
producers. For example, the DIY trend in the punk movement shows that people are
capable of making their clothes with personality and don’t have to buy from larger
retailers (Trewartha-Weiner, 2024). Another long-standing trend is thrifting, which is
upcycling clothes, demonstrating that buying apparel year-on-year is unnecessary and
wasteful. Wearing those clothes and communicating that they are thrifted for anyone
who cares to know also acts as a way of not just rejecting consumerism but also of the
deplorable conditions for workers who mass-produce items, of companies’ poor
environmental practices, and of contributing to the poor mental health of those who
value keeping up to date with fashion styles.
There are many ways that political resistance can be expressed via fashion. One
topic that fashion perpetually runs a discourse about is gender. Adopting fashion that
defies traditional gender expectations, such as androgynous or gender-fluid styles, can
be a form of resistance against societal constraints on gender expression (Melero, 2024).
The LGBTQ+ community can and has used fashion as a way to subvert traditional
gender norms, blurring the lines between masculinity and femininity. A woman merely
wearing a well-tailored suit demonstrated the desire for women to break the
glass-ceiling and enter a previously exclusively male workplace, for instance. Fashion
trends oftentimes carry political statements with them, such as the recent UN Fashion
Show by Palestinian designer Jamal Taslaq expressing support for Palestinians in the
wake of the ongoing genocide in Gaza (Grimston, 2024). Unconventional fashion
choices have often had political weight to them. For example, the oversized zoot suits of
the 1940s were popularized by Mexican-American youth, becoming a symbol of cultural
defiance against the dominant white American majority in the United States. Their
flashiness brought attention to the presence and marginalization of Mexican-Americans
and Latinos, causing such a stir that it resulted in the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943, where Mexican-Americans were attacked for wearing the suits. Such events and reactions from
dominant social actors to simply what people wear speaks to how much importance we
put on fashion.
If any of these examples of how to express
resistance via fashion are indicating
anything, it’s that defiance can be expressed
fairly readily. Once upon a time, making
what you wore comfortable instead of
stylized was seen as inflammatory. That’s
hard to believe now since people today
spend a good portion of their time in
comfortable clothes even when they work.
Nevertheless, back in the early 20th
century, clothing that was less constraining
physically and aesthetically for women
represented a separation from traditional
gender roles and a move toward
emancipation (Grimston, 2024). Now, there
is more understanding that fashion comfort is a benefit to all people in terms of
better quality of life, more practicality, and
a higher potential for fringe ideas to enter mainstream thought. It took a bit
of time for comfort in fashion to become normalized for many people, but the fact that it
has worked its way to becoming accepted exhibits the potential for even the most
outlandish ideas to become acceptable.
So, I don’t know if you are thinking about becoming a revolutionary any time
soon, but I’ve illustrated a simple way people have been revolutionary. There is
something important that needs to be said regarding being honest and speaking your
thoughts, especially when it comes to being rebellious. Confronting whomever, or
whatever, it is you want to confront is something you do despite fear or anxiety. There
are moments in life where we can properly convey our true thoughts, but they are far fewer
than most of us would like. In an age where information is constantly being produced and stored away to one day be forgotten, you may as well be upfront. So, wear what you
want.
