'Fashion' Sense & Sensibility

Mana and I were watching Confessions of a Shopaholic the other day, and were drooling over the oh-so-lovely dresses that Isla Fisher got to wear and strut around Manhattan. My favorites were always the BOOTS, and I always swore that if I were ever to live in a place where wearing boots didn’t attract too much attention, I would sleep in boots!

My sister was quick to point out that I would be foolish to invest in boots, as I wouldn’t be able to carry them off.  She was sure that after a couple of weeks, she would end up squeezing her Big Foot into it.  "It's high time that you start buying shoes of my size", she added cheekily..

According to her, while I certainly knew which clothes were IN, where to get the best deals, and knew which accessories worked well, it always worked when it was meant for others.   But when it came down to personal shopping.. let us just say that my fashion sense wasn't.. umm.. exactly up to the mark

I was livid!!!  Before I started to protest,  she went on to say that while I maybe a great companion for shopping, choose the best for others (– in fact, I can be trusted to buy clothes for my finicky sister for her NLS Ball, and it would fit her perfectly), when it came to buying for my own needs, I somehow ended up buying the worst thing that the shop had to offer..  Apparently my wardrobe had extremes – either clothes that are best left to Mount Carmel PU Students, or something, which my 40 year old aunt would love to wear.  (We are not talking about the fashionable aunt here). “You buy stuff that are great, no doubt - but  sadly not on you...  AND you just don’t dress your age”.  She summed up saying, "Honey! You have Fashion Sense, but sadly, no Fashion Sensibility.." 

“Ahh.. Pish Tosh.”, I replied, "Agreed that I may have had my share of fashion faux pas - and will continue to have some more,  but then, who hasn’t?"

"Do I even have to remind you about your graduation day?", she asked me. 

The minute I had laid my eyes on a certain black sari, I had assumed that I had finally found the Holy Grail... The answer to all my problems! Coupled it with good footwear and some bling. Strutted into class confidently only to be crowned as the Tom Boy of the batch by Coco in front of my entire class and the juniors that day.. Sigh.. I still don't know what went wrong that day... I have looked over those photos a hundred times and yet to find the reason.

I agree that except on certain occasions, when required to wear feminine clothes (Weddings, other related occasions, Navarathri, Deepavali, Pongal and Karadaiyan Nombu), in all probability, one would find me wearing something comfortable (Some people may call it Tom Boyish, I would say it is comfortable). I love pyjamas and end up working from home just so that I can slip into a set of pyjamas at 10 am, once my parents are off to work! This comfort dressing trend has augmented of late.

 

There was a time though, couple of years back, when my work required me to face my client in person. And stained jeans wasn’t something my manager could digest. He insisted, indirectly of course, that I wear something more ‘formal’. 

So that weekend, I skipped along to Scullers and Allen Solly, and bought myself nearly 6-7 pair of clothes. I was supremely happy and confident that it was my best decision, till my fashion critic decided to burst the bubble. “You look like a Dude”, she said as a matter-of-fact.

“Well, this is a ladies shirt”, I argued. “See.. no pockets!”

“Whatever! You would still look like a dude”.

In retrospect, I guess buying 7 formal gender-neutral full sleeved collared shirts of different colors, but of the same styling, same brand and from the same shop, did not qualify me to be called a Fashionista!  And I love Black Sneakers (Want to know who doesn’t) because I think white ones get dirty real quick, and I find those red and (or) golden ones plain revolting...Gray/Blue are passable.. Now I don’t want to be spending time in cleaning/washing my sneakers every other week.. Black shoes can be easily dusted off and the best part of it all would be that it just doesn’t draw attention. So I invested on a pair of expensive Black Reebok sneakers, only to be christened Lady Rambo a few weeks later by the Male Fashion Police brigade of my division. Apparently my sneakers had given me a masculine swagger.

But I do admire Liz Lemon from 30 Rock, and justified that it is possible, that at a subconscious level, I might have been influenced to dress up that way. A scary thought suddenly popped into my head. It reminded me of an episode in 30 Rock in which Jack Donaghy sets up Liz Lemon on a blind date with his Brilliant Plastics Enginner-SLASH(/) - Lesbian. But I quickly dismissed it. I do not have a Jack Donaghy in my life yet.

I remember the days when Orkut was so IN and suddenly  now Orkut is so yesterday..(Poor Orkut.. No Donut for you..)  Now Facebook is IN. (or so I think.. Or has Google+ taken over??) “It is okay to say you are not into social networking”, my close friend told me few months back. “But please NEVER say that you are in Orkut, but not on Facebook to anyone. Now that is Social Suicide”.

Clearly my head was clobbered with advices from too many of my well wishers!! 

My friends at work wanted me to wear better shoes, so that I get rid of my ‘Rambo-walk’. My cousins and Mana wanted me to get fashionable clothes, and get rid of those pastel (Wait a minute,... aren’t pastel colors girly?), over sized dude-sweaters (I don't think that pull-overs are meant only for guys!!) and tent-like kurtas, and my mum thought that I should wear Salwars (with Dupattas) more often, so that I get a chance to tie up my hair and wear a Bindi.  

I have a remarkable tendency of keeping my clothes in exceptionally good condition. I still have clothes from 2002, which look just a couple of years old. I may not fit into it, my sister refuses to wear them as they are not the flavor of the season.. My dad wanted me to me clear my closet and just give away half my clothes to charity. He has a rule these days. “You bring one new clothing item”, he says, “you shall throw away one”.

 

Soon, the realization dawned upon me that maybe, just maybe, Branding ain’t everything. Maybe I just do not want to be a fashion slave inherently.  Why should Fashion always mean what is currently in trend, and hold such importance in society? Why should media dictate our sense of style? Why can’t Fashion mean each one’s individual expression? If I want to wear yellow, I want to be able to wear it without any apprehensions.. I do not want someone to say, Yellow is not the flavor of the season! Fashion has been constantly changing!.. It is humanly impossible to always be up-to-date, unless you are Anna Wintour (a scary image of Miranda Priestly just popped into my head).  Because then again, you will be dictating fashion! I decided I wasn’t going to listen to any of this. I am my own person. I decide what to wear. I needn’t justify to anyone.

But the final straw came on a couple of months back, while I was travelling in a bus to work. My mother had insisted I wear my formal shirts to work, as they have been lying around ever since my client assignment had ended, and it was a cool weather, and the shirts were still brand new… I decided to wear a plain, full-sleeved, light blue Allen Solly Shirt, coupled it with my Levis Jeans, Black Reeboks and boarded the bus. Oh.. it was comfortable alright. All was well, till a middle aged Anglo-Indian lady sat next to me, and was trying desperately to ask the conductor about a certain bus stop. She wasn’t sure of the name of the bus stop, and couldn’t speak Kannada either. So I helped her in translating and added helpfully, that she would have to get off in the bus stop after mine. 

“And where do you get off?,” she asked me.

“At the one near Shoppers Stop”, I replied smiling.

She surveyed my attire for a second and asked, “Oh, so do you work at Shoppers stop? When’s the next sale?”