The Orange Sweatshirt
Fashion is fun. What one wears can really reveal more about the person than words, actions, eyes or body language. It can reveal moods – a yellow teeshirt wearer is a happy person, and I apologize for the staleness of that deduction, but it is true. Preferences – someone who wears straitlaced suits to work, and is not open to exploration with wardrobe (atleast at work) is the person who is not likely to take too many risks with his boss. Someone who can twine scarves into belts is obviously creative, and obviously resourceful. Someone who owns a lot of jackets that are wearable inside out, and in different tones, is not content with one alternative for decision making, and probably likes to mix and match – will atleast try everything once. Someone who wears a different pair of earrings everyday, is excited by variety. The matching handbag or the matching tie person is comfortable with rules and routines (oh, they can break ‘em if they want to, but they are not natural rebels), and the wild child will wear red with purple. And the best part, a person cannot be labeled, the way he can be labeled through body language and the like. Because attires change everyday, if not twice or thrice a day. Every bit of information that can be extracted from one outfit, will morph the next day. And they can dig deep into their wardrobe, and their mood, and become whoever they want to be.
It is even more fascinating how a personal style statement evolves as one grows up. As a child, a personal statement is actually of the parents, how they dress up their new Barbie or new Ken. My mum would dress me up in completely ordinary, cute-girl-next-door frocks. Not many of them had lace, or puffs, or anything to do with pink. It was clear how down-to-earth and practical mum was. By the time they lost interest, school had begun. School uniforms, are actually garments that bring out the true genius in kids, as they come up with the craziest and most ingenious ways to set themselves a bit apart in a sea of white skirts and striped belts. The best-ever time for fads, and I’ve now realized, the best time for teen fashion to position themselves indelibly in their impressionable minds. It began with the knocking off of inches from school skirts – to rebel, to expose not just chubby knees, but a subliminal message, that we are not a separate race, and it is ok for the guys to hang out with us (mostly because at that time, the boys wore shorts - knee length pretty much the same). Then the sneakers trend sneaked in. Nothing other than pure white was allowed. From citing athletic prowess to be allowed a streak of blue or gray (people reporting to morning games for school team practices were allowed branded sneakers), to getting people abroad to send them branded shoes in total white, to combing shoe-shops to look for smart sneakers with the tiniest dots or skinniest lines – all options were exhausted. As we grew up, and teachers realized we were old enough to explore, we explored backpacks, Stick-‘em Stones, mismatched junk jewelry (styles that sold a lot that month were pairs of earrings with one lock and one key, and one sun and one moon), bracelets, pendants, hats, and watches. We learnt to accessorize – in short, we learnt how to make the best of any situation!
College showed us the importance of denim – few could get themselves out of their jeans. It started with jeans with teeshirts and sweatshirts for college (and for the guys, with collared shirts for formal days!!!), and evolved to jeans with sparkly tops and heels for partying. A trying and traumatic time of painful growing up (in school) had passed, where we explored and experimented to our hearts’ content, often unsuccessfully, and many a times laughably. We had reached a time when we were comfortable in our skins, the burning need to differentiate oneself had considerably simmered down, and the jeans complimented that perfectly. More importantly, now we were not being pushed into uniformity, like in school. Any occasional urge to be unique was satisfied by teaming the denim with a short kurta, jhola and chappals on one day, for a journalist look, a hooded sweatshirt, sneakers and a backpack for a sportier feel on another day, or the ends of the jeans turned up a bit and floaters and sunglasses for beach mode on a particularly sunny day. And if you were in a relationship, a boyfriend’s oversized sweatshirt was also quite a statement – a statement that was truly exclusive, because not many people are in that intimate a relationship in college times. If it was his university sweatshirt, even better. Newer denim textures and looks featured regularly from then on, low-rise, slim fit, boot cut, dark wash, stretch, skinny, and they were tried out and won their share of approval, but there was no pressing need to discard familiar styles – they were classic, comfortable, understated, and smart.
Post graduation, work and other subsequent activities took us to the realms of formal attire – getting dressed up for presentations, interviews, lectures, dinners and most importantly, dates. Sure, dating was happening in jeans as well, but now one had grown up, and the next lesson was to learn how to mask one’s intentions, thoughts and opinions, till the time it was acceptable to reveal them again – as we learnt to hide our true selves to get our way and make our way, the jeans were shown the door, only to be picked up for after-work or after-dating hours. Now we started realizing how great the men actually looked in suits, which to me was that they look cuter when shaved, gelled and smelling good – which is not necessarily how they are all the time. But for good looking, well-groomed men, we learnt to lower the stakes and accept that there is an unshaven side, but as long as it is not in front of us, it’s fine. As for us, we went into the skirts, pantsuits, salwar-kurtas, and sarees – and were amazed at how fantastic we were looking with our reality hidden! The dark, soft materials were making us look slimmer, sexier, and with the vulnerability tucked away at home, confidences were at an all time high. Makeup was discovered, and elegant jewelry, minimalistic handbags, slim heels with tapering toes, clean, streamlined accessories. One had to give up red, pink, purple, yellow, and limit adventures to gray, navy, maroon, tan, and obviously, classic black, in plain, checks, pinstripes, what-have-you.
As our personal style statements were transforming in line with our maturity and attitudes, we noticed fashions evolving with time with the evolution of public opinion, trend and the growing knowledge and awareness of discerning consumers. Fashion crept into everything; everything had to look sexy to appeal to anyone who thought he was anyone. It made its way into every known product – from paint and window dressing to mobile phones and laptops, from coffee mugs and lampshades to sinks and bathtubs. Everything was customized to whatever extent it could be, to define as much as it could of the owner’s revealed identity. Everything acquired color schemes. When being in a relationship was passé, we got as individualistic as we could get. When committed relationships came back into fashion, we went back to sweatshirts (but only the boyfriend’s).
Some trends fizzled out fast, like wearing gym clothes outside the gym, lipliner darker than the lipstick, fake tans, platforms, blond hair on Asians, dotcoms, Kajol’s sister, the Rang De Basanti-type silent outrages, and night shifts at BPOs (not that fast, this one – but it did). Some keep going in and out of fashion – wavy hair, lipgloss, pastels, Alice bands, the color pink, going to business school, marriage, and women’s lib. Some old rules reinvent themselves and become the newest statement – huge watches, wearing brown and black together, yoga, adventure sports and vegeterianism. Some are forever, like blue jeans, kitten heels, Chanel No. 5, clutch bags, the tux, any version of the little black dress, New Year’s Eve in Goa, candlelit dinners, Al Pacino, and F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
Yet, even with all the changing fashions and mind-boggling choice, sometimes I still long for that faded, old, orange sweatshirt – comfortably worn-out, familiar, soft, warm, smelling vaguely of the boyfriend’s cologne. Bright, yes, but didn’t attempt to stand out. Always around, no choice involved in deciding to pull it on, and knowing everything will be fine tomorrow, even while panicking to finish coursework late at night for a paper the next day. It was a simpler time.
It is even more fascinating how a personal style statement evolves as one grows up. As a child, a personal statement is actually of the parents, how they dress up their new Barbie or new Ken. My mum would dress me up in completely ordinary, cute-girl-next-door frocks. Not many of them had lace, or puffs, or anything to do with pink. It was clear how down-to-earth and practical mum was. By the time they lost interest, school had begun. School uniforms, are actually garments that bring out the true genius in kids, as they come up with the craziest and most ingenious ways to set themselves a bit apart in a sea of white skirts and striped belts. The best-ever time for fads, and I’ve now realized, the best time for teen fashion to position themselves indelibly in their impressionable minds. It began with the knocking off of inches from school skirts – to rebel, to expose not just chubby knees, but a subliminal message, that we are not a separate race, and it is ok for the guys to hang out with us (mostly because at that time, the boys wore shorts - knee length pretty much the same). Then the sneakers trend sneaked in. Nothing other than pure white was allowed. From citing athletic prowess to be allowed a streak of blue or gray (people reporting to morning games for school team practices were allowed branded sneakers), to getting people abroad to send them branded shoes in total white, to combing shoe-shops to look for smart sneakers with the tiniest dots or skinniest lines – all options were exhausted. As we grew up, and teachers realized we were old enough to explore, we explored backpacks, Stick-‘em Stones, mismatched junk jewelry (styles that sold a lot that month were pairs of earrings with one lock and one key, and one sun and one moon), bracelets, pendants, hats, and watches. We learnt to accessorize – in short, we learnt how to make the best of any situation!
College showed us the importance of denim – few could get themselves out of their jeans. It started with jeans with teeshirts and sweatshirts for college (and for the guys, with collared shirts for formal days!!!), and evolved to jeans with sparkly tops and heels for partying. A trying and traumatic time of painful growing up (in school) had passed, where we explored and experimented to our hearts’ content, often unsuccessfully, and many a times laughably. We had reached a time when we were comfortable in our skins, the burning need to differentiate oneself had considerably simmered down, and the jeans complimented that perfectly. More importantly, now we were not being pushed into uniformity, like in school. Any occasional urge to be unique was satisfied by teaming the denim with a short kurta, jhola and chappals on one day, for a journalist look, a hooded sweatshirt, sneakers and a backpack for a sportier feel on another day, or the ends of the jeans turned up a bit and floaters and sunglasses for beach mode on a particularly sunny day. And if you were in a relationship, a boyfriend’s oversized sweatshirt was also quite a statement – a statement that was truly exclusive, because not many people are in that intimate a relationship in college times. If it was his university sweatshirt, even better. Newer denim textures and looks featured regularly from then on, low-rise, slim fit, boot cut, dark wash, stretch, skinny, and they were tried out and won their share of approval, but there was no pressing need to discard familiar styles – they were classic, comfortable, understated, and smart.
Post graduation, work and other subsequent activities took us to the realms of formal attire – getting dressed up for presentations, interviews, lectures, dinners and most importantly, dates. Sure, dating was happening in jeans as well, but now one had grown up, and the next lesson was to learn how to mask one’s intentions, thoughts and opinions, till the time it was acceptable to reveal them again – as we learnt to hide our true selves to get our way and make our way, the jeans were shown the door, only to be picked up for after-work or after-dating hours. Now we started realizing how great the men actually looked in suits, which to me was that they look cuter when shaved, gelled and smelling good – which is not necessarily how they are all the time. But for good looking, well-groomed men, we learnt to lower the stakes and accept that there is an unshaven side, but as long as it is not in front of us, it’s fine. As for us, we went into the skirts, pantsuits, salwar-kurtas, and sarees – and were amazed at how fantastic we were looking with our reality hidden! The dark, soft materials were making us look slimmer, sexier, and with the vulnerability tucked away at home, confidences were at an all time high. Makeup was discovered, and elegant jewelry, minimalistic handbags, slim heels with tapering toes, clean, streamlined accessories. One had to give up red, pink, purple, yellow, and limit adventures to gray, navy, maroon, tan, and obviously, classic black, in plain, checks, pinstripes, what-have-you.
As our personal style statements were transforming in line with our maturity and attitudes, we noticed fashions evolving with time with the evolution of public opinion, trend and the growing knowledge and awareness of discerning consumers. Fashion crept into everything; everything had to look sexy to appeal to anyone who thought he was anyone. It made its way into every known product – from paint and window dressing to mobile phones and laptops, from coffee mugs and lampshades to sinks and bathtubs. Everything was customized to whatever extent it could be, to define as much as it could of the owner’s revealed identity. Everything acquired color schemes. When being in a relationship was passé, we got as individualistic as we could get. When committed relationships came back into fashion, we went back to sweatshirts (but only the boyfriend’s).
Some trends fizzled out fast, like wearing gym clothes outside the gym, lipliner darker than the lipstick, fake tans, platforms, blond hair on Asians, dotcoms, Kajol’s sister, the Rang De Basanti-type silent outrages, and night shifts at BPOs (not that fast, this one – but it did). Some keep going in and out of fashion – wavy hair, lipgloss, pastels, Alice bands, the color pink, going to business school, marriage, and women’s lib. Some old rules reinvent themselves and become the newest statement – huge watches, wearing brown and black together, yoga, adventure sports and vegeterianism. Some are forever, like blue jeans, kitten heels, Chanel No. 5, clutch bags, the tux, any version of the little black dress, New Year’s Eve in Goa, candlelit dinners, Al Pacino, and F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
Yet, even with all the changing fashions and mind-boggling choice, sometimes I still long for that faded, old, orange sweatshirt – comfortably worn-out, familiar, soft, warm, smelling vaguely of the boyfriend’s cologne. Bright, yes, but didn’t attempt to stand out. Always around, no choice involved in deciding to pull it on, and knowing everything will be fine tomorrow, even while panicking to finish coursework late at night for a paper the next day. It was a simpler time.
Blessings of Achtlandia @ 1:30 PM
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