So here we all are, in lockdown again, stuck with nowhere to go and no one to see, so we may as well just live in that old t-shirt and the baggy, well past their best pair of tracksuit bottoms right? Throw in a pair of old slippers whilst we are at it for good measure. And why not, if that’s what you want to do, that’s your choice and I for one would fully support it and here’s why.
You see the thing with clothes, fashion, style, call it whatever you like, it’s a personal thing. It is what we make it and it’s always personal, even if we are following the latest trends, it’s because we think it will work for us, we identify with it, we love the look or maybe we just want to look and feel ‘cool’ or fit in or not fit in at all. Whatever the reason, it’s a choice we make and of course it’s personal, it’s to suit ourselves.
Sometimes we have to dress to conform, or wear a uniform that is supplied to us but even then, we make choices. How shall I have my hair? Make up or not? The good shoes or the functional? This tie or that? You get the idea. Some people look at clothes or fashion in a purely functional way and why not, not everyone’s boat floats in the same way. Even if we are dressing to please someone else, we are still getting that feel good kickback of pleasing the other person. Through making a choice.
So, Lockdown and dressing up, is there a point?
Well for me it’s all about that choice. Ask yourself why you make your clothes choices. Why do you dress up and why do you like to look good? Is it how it makes you feel? Is it the buzz of being creative? Maybe it’s that look on your partner’s face when you walk in wearing that outfit they love or perhaps it’s to feel confident when you are with your peers. Being in Lockdown doesn’t change any of those things, in fact you could argue it actually enhances the need for some of them. It’s harder to make a good first impression on a zoom call, it’s a much different thing to a face-to-face meeting or interview. Maybe being at home is giving you that space to try out looks that you have never been brave enough to debut on the commute to work.
Dressing up, or down come to that, is a way for us to find out who we are, make ourselves feel good, impress another, be silly, feel sexy, be confident, feel relaxed, loved, cosy and for all the other reasons that make us who we are and to be who we want to be. Lockdown doesn’t change any of that and it isn’t an excuse not to dress up, it’s just something that adds in to your choices.
So, I for one will still be dressing up in lockdown, not all the time, just when I choose too, like I always have, which is most of the time. Now where did I put that pocket square?