When we used to go shopping as teenagers, I used to wonder how my brother would buy far fewer items for the same amount at the same store than me. I would smirk. How can such drab fashion be more expensive than all this variety we have as women. Now I know better.
Men’s wear has traditionally been aimed at comfort and utility while women’s wear for the most part at looking good. This calls for two very different skill sets — the science of creating durable and practical clothing and the art of accentuating and adorning (except maternity wear)
A man’s body serves a purpose while a woman’s body serves as a canvas.
Back in the day, when the men were fighting wars and Britain was rationing clothing, the women began to wear their husband’s civilian wear and head to work. Keep calm and wear his trousers. Use the rations for more pressing needs like tea. Since then trousers have become mainstream for women.
History, culture, perceptions of gender roles and business influence fashion. And vice versa. Take for example agender clothing that is blurring the lines between male and female clothing, an extrapolation of today’s voices uniting for gender equality. Or the victory of this Australian mom’s petition for trousers as girl’s school uniform!
But coming back to comparisons, one could hypothesize that given women consume so much more fashion than men, they may want to spend the same amount of resources on more items. This means every ingredient ranging from the fabric, to the trim would need to be cheaper. Maybe even the wages of those who make it.
‘Fail fast, replenish faster’ might be the hidden agenda then and not democratizing fashion as they have us believe.
But this impulse to shop, our ‘retail therapy’ as we call it combined with ample supply of fast fashion has resulted in a devastating load on the earth’s rapidly depleting resources.
I think it is the need of the hour for women to see the big picture as choices shape the future of the planet. I know that sounds a bit dramatic, but it is true!
I appreciate that men put comfort over appearances. It is my sincere wish that women will put themselves first too. But hey, we don’t need to skimp on the appearances bit. We just need to choose smart.
A version of this article was first published here on the 100 Naked words publication on Medium.
We humans do not require a lot. We might acquire a lot but we will always have our personal favorites – be it people, clothes, jewelry, hairdos, books, food or coffee shops.
If that is the case, why do we chase after deals, like there’s no tomorrow ? The ease of online shopping, the lure of clothes at throw away prices, the combo meals and two for one offers. We are hoarding and its breaking our pockets, our closets and our ability to live well with what we have. We lose our clarity when we constantly pile up for the future.
When it comes to fashion, there is no dearth of options and the market competition between e-commerce giants lets us feast to our hearts content. Bring em on – the tirade of leggings, shoes, dresses and tops.
Minimal living is a way of life that calls our intention to the fore. When we live with intention, we stay mindful and aware of our needs and desires.
Minimalism in fashion isn’t about purging out the color and wearing only black and white. It is about investing in a few staples and pairing them with auxiliary items to create multiple looks. The word ‘capsule wardrobe’ has been doing the rounds for a while but its important to understand the WHY before embarking on any journey.
Because you invest in pieces you love, you wear each outfit with aplomb thereby looking great in what you wear.
In order to do this, you evaluate what you look great in. You understand your proportions and play to your strengths and confidence.
Do you have a longer or shorter torso when compared to your legs?
Do you have a full bust or derriere?
What are your favorite features and how can you call attention to them?
Do you dress for comfort or style?
What is your signature look – classy/ bohemian/ contemporary etc?
It wasn’t just the price tag that got you but the touch of the fabric, the finish of the garment and its promise of companionship rather than a fickle one day wear.
You pay attention to the quality of a garment – does it start fraying with friction, does it undo at the seams real fast?
You understand what fabrics work with your skin and your lifestyle
You take care of your clothes because they are items you love and invest in
It leaves room for experimentation (Quite literally)
Imagine a closet that isn’t spilling out but one that has things where you want them to be. This leaves room to add seasonal favorites or accessories for your ‘looks’.
When you see a fashionable person, you are besotted by the confidence they exude and their eye for fashion – pairing colors, prints, cuts into a potent cocktail of style.
Experimenting with looks, enables you to discover your signature style making your relationship with fashion a personal and memorable one.
You evolve into a conscious consumer
There’s a lot of talk these days about conscious shopping and for good reason. As a person who’s built a fashion company from scratch, I can vouch for the need to shop ethically.
The person who makes your garments is probably not paid too much to get by. It can be quite rough in certain countries and it is a tough problem for even the big brands to monitor their supply chain. At the end of the day, businesses are run by profits and a case for human rights wont fly high unless there is demand for a clear conscience.
When your relationship with something as fundamental as clothing becomes a personal evolution of style, you will not want to wear blood on your sleeves. Wear your heart instead.
I didn’t know that. Did you?
But given the rate at which our population is growing, and consumption is exponentially rising..maybe it is not so surprising. I’ve been spending a lot more time reading up on the usual suspects.
1. Synthetic Dyes
Azo dyes (R-N=N-R) are chemical compounds that have two adjacent Nitrogen atoms between carbon atoms. The chemical reaction to create these compounds happens at regular temperature using water, so industrially it is easy to manufacture.
These account for 60-70% of all dyes in the industry! (They are also used in the food industry fyi) Azo dyes are the rockstars of color giving vivid high intensity shades to your fabrics especially those striking shades of Reds.
However…there’s always a however…Azo dyes aren’t the best for us, health-wise or planet-wise. It has been known to metabolize into carcinogenic (read cancer-causing) sub components. This means that when broken down, they tend to be quite harmful.
And considering that most of this industrial waste is dumped into rivers that contain bacteria…chances are that these Azo dyes are getting broken down into tiny monsters.
Really NOT Cool. While creating the collections for DFYNorm, I spent quite a lot of time looking for dyeing units that did Azo free dyeing as well as lab tested all our fabrics to make sure there were no traces of Azo dyes or Formaldehydes.
2. Leather Tanning
Source : National Geographic
Tanning is what makes leather durable, that converts it from the hide of dead animal to fabric. You can read more about the various processes used to tan leather here but the gist is that the most popular option is also the most noxious. In comes Chromium tanned leather, the leading option used these days. With it comes its annoying cousins, who announce their exit by polluting the waterways with Chromium, a heavy metal !
Considering that most of such tanning practices happen in developing nations like Bangladesh, India and China, the workers and the general population (including animals and plants) is at risk of consuming water laced with heavy metal. So ask yourself – is it really worth it?
3. No Fur For me
Sometimes fashion industry spokespeople take consumers for idiots, thinking we have the attention span of a fruit fly and the memory of well a fruit fly itself. Let’s bring back fur, fur is ‘trending’ this season and a lot of people will jump in on the bandwagon. Some will suggest fur is not harmful at all and dunk a bucket of ice cold water on the work of animal rights and environmental activists. And there with one snap of grandeur and a few glamorous catwalks, the world is ready for fur yet again.
To Fur or to Faux-Fur, yes let’s ask that pertinent question (sarcasm). Fur is renewable you might say but as we have just seen – to transform it from the luxurious coat of an animal (that has a whole engine working inside it to keep that coat alive and stunning) to one that nests on a human, takes chemical work. Et voila! in walks the rockstar of havoc, the heavy metal Chromium and its crew.
This argument might help those who have been so spoilt by Fashion that it doesn’t really matter at what cost, that article of luxury was sheared off a writhing animal. Fortunately, for all fur lovers, there is a new wave of companies that are looking to create fur from Alpaca wool, one that is obtained with minimal harm to the animal itself. As for the others, buy vintage please.
Source : Eluxemagazine.com
4. Textiles
The backbone and the body of Fashion is Fabric and there are a variety of them : the biodegradable and the non biodegradable ones.
The biodegradable ones comprise of natural fabrics like cotton, silk, hemp, jute, bamboo, raffia and so on as well as man-made fabrics like viscose and rayon which are made from cellulose.
The non-biodegradable ones comprise of anything made from hydrocarbons (read polymers, double read plastic). They are non-renewable because the root source of them all is oil and they do not decompose, meaning they last in the soil (and oceans) for a really long lime. Much after we are gone.
These non-biodegradable textiles were invented prior to the world war and were a big hit, back when the natural fabrics needed to be rationed.
Polyester is a great fabric in terms of properties, it can take great structure so its a designer’s dream to work with. Think of all those amazing pleats and folds that can be done with right heat settings! It is wrinkle resistant and it can stretch!
But in terms of being second skin, it is an absolute snob. No breathability. In humid countries like India, I am often surprised at how it still sells!
I personally hate it because of fast fashion. I almost want to cry when I think of the rate at which these end up in landfills. When I travel by the local trains in Mumbai and pass by the hubs that are teeming with tailors, I see shiny scraps of fabric all over the streets…and I am pretty sure thats polyester. When I used to live in the US, almost everything I bought was polyester! Blouses that looked like silk, dresses from Ann Taylor for work, stylish dresses that hugged the curves for the dance floors. I don’t think I gave it much thought before I actually started to read up about it. I mean we learnt these things in school!
But we forgot them by the time we grew into decision making adults who consume at a rate that would make Aldous Huxley hang his head in shame.
Polyester is not the only fabric that gets a rap (although it being non-renewable lends it the crown) but Cotton, that amazing breathable fabric that has a mind of its own when it comes to creasing, is not clean either. Such a bummer.
It is a lot more complicated to understand though, so I shall explain it in detail in an upcoming post. To sum up, it has to do with how water intensive growing cotton can be and the lackadaisical attitude of everyone involved in fast fashion that is leading to some irreversible changes in crop cycles as we speak.
5. Plastic Bags
If it isn’t worse that we wear plastic, we use them without batting an eye lid for everything we purchase! Isn’t it astounding how much plastic we accumulate in a DAY? It’s a conscious choice we must try to exercise, but taking a bag to shop will not only save the earth from one extra bag but it might just help you make better buying decisions.
Nick Waplington’s Photography of a Landfill
6. Import Export
Fashion is a global industry. The distribution of raw materials, of labor and artisanal gems is distributed in the developing world. This has enabled amazing fashion to be available to all. However, there is a lot of travel involved in the creation of fashion products : sending samples across countries, interim products, finished products to be distributed in retail houses. Oh wait, add to that ‘International Shipping’ and before we know it we are ordering a scarf thats being delivered from Bali.
What do we do? Should we just go on or should we just stop? Is there a way we can work through this quagmire. I think it isn’t too late. Fashion requires an overhaul in terms of awareness, technical proccesses, planning, agriculture innovations, logistics, packaging, design and waste management in order to become a sustainable industry.
For starters we can start with educating ourselves and making investments in clothing rather than buying them on an impulse. It is a journey we need to embark on to discover how happy we can be with things that are made by happy people. Stay tuned.
Yesterday I met a school friend after more than a decade! She lives in the same city as I do and has an adorable 4 year old daughter, who I have read much about on FB. My friend posts snippets of what her daughter talks about and it is innocent and fascinating all at once. The innocence, the straightforwardness and most of all that glorious imagination. Finally the jinx is broken and we parted agreeing to meet more often. Also she lent me her precious hard cover of Big Magic! How very generous of her 🙂
We met at the TATA Literature festival happening at the National Centre for Performing Arts in Nariman Point. We decided to attend a play called Comedy of Horrors which was a mashup of 3 stories by Edgar Allan Poe and Ambrose Pierce. Unfortunately I only remember two of these stories, both by Edgar, The Man that was used up & The System of Dr. Tarr & Prof. Fether
I arrived at the venue half an hour later than what I had promised due to train delays. It was a beautiful venue and the weather for a change was behaving. There were many senior citizens in the house, the veterans of Mumbai who congregated at cultural and stimulating events like these dressed in the finest and most elegant of khadis and tussars – a bygone era where what went into the making was as important as the outcome. But then I saw many millenials so to speak, some as young as undergraduates and some in their seasoned 30s. And they were dressed in what my mind processes as the journo attire, which I personally love.
A journo attire in India is a lose Kurta worn nonchalantly over a cotton pants combined carefully with a pair of Kohlapuri chappals which is all then combined deliberately with a jhola. And it always manages to take my breath away.
Then there are the connoisseurs of the Saree. These are people who ‘invest’ in a saree and believe that a saree ages like wine. Rightfully so! India has an abundance of textile art that is available to those who look for it. Your education begins at home, when you see your mom decide which saree to wear.
When I was really young, I used to observe my mother draping her saree with wonder. I also told her which ones I liked and would like to be handed down to me. I even made one of her beautiful silk sarees into a shift dress which had a few mishaps in terms of construction…so it stays in my wardrobe, waiting for another makeover.
But as I grew up, I lost interest in something I considered to be a garment only for ones that had inherent grace. One that is worn to friend weddings. It always puzzles when I see people wearing that same garment while traveling on a train. How?
Coming back to the connoisseurs, they enchant with their taste in the saree, the pairing of it with the blouse and complimenting jewelry. Such a sight to behold. Indian beauty.
One such lady I saw yesterday was none other than Sarika Hassan.
Sarika Hassan in a beautiful Tussar silk kalamkari saree
My friend and I stole glances at her as we walked ahead of her to our seats. We were also excited when we spotted Naseerudin Shah, the poster boy for Indian theatre (or parallel cinema as they call it) and the talented Ratna Pathak Shah, who also is his wife . Such a power couple. I have a weak spot for celebrities as you can tell.
All of us thoroughly enjoyed the depiction ofThe System of Dr. Tarr & Prof. Fether. My friend’s little one, who she calls P, was giggling through bits of it. I think she was the only child in the room. With a bibliophile for a mom, I am sure little P is going to more than dabble in the literary arts!
All in all a fun evening replete with histrionics, friendly banter, style spotting and Big Magic 🙂
As a child I was an artist, I’d walk with my sketchbook from room to room, drawing things and coloring them. My brother was a full blown artist. He had note books filled with portraits of people, Time’s most influential people of the decade – Mother Teresa, Lady Diana, Mikhail Gorbachev, and so on. I drew women in clothes. The day after my mother taught me how to draw symmetric eyes, I went crazy. My women looked real and now I could move onto other things – their clothes!
When I got to primary school, I played all sorts of games. There would be the house game where we would pretend that we are running a household. Stacking notebooks neatly would signify order in the house. Chores would be distributed but there’s only so much you can do sitting in the class room. That got old quick. Then a few friends of mine saw me draw and got interested. We drew together – women in clothes. We decided we would run a fashion house in our class hours. Designs were being hashed under the desks, the interiors were being designed, the labels and lines were being planned. I remember vividly, that we took a common vote to oust someone and she started bawling. I remember getting yelled at by the teacher in charge, but you got to do what you got to do.
Secondary school and things have changed. I am now a basket baller. I live, breathe, eat, sleep basketball. My cupboard doors are pasted with print outs of NBA stars. I had a different set of friends and we were mad about the game. We walked with a swagger, sneakers and loose pants. We climbed over fences, we jumped into inaccessible courts, we played hard. I even sold some of my books to raise money to buy the Air Alert program. How I wish selling books could fund more than a videotape!
Slowly priorities had to be set. I was a ‘Nerd’ as I was lovingly called (sarcasm), because I did well in school. Its weird to think I actually felt bad about it sometimes because I really just wanted to be like everyone else. My self esteem was not at its peak even though I had so much going for me. I wanted to get into the WNBA but somehow that was the most ridiculous thing I told my parents. Then came the exams, the selection of courses, the engineering, the graduation…life went by.
Then came NYC. Living in the larger than life city, working as a consultant in Gilt, a fashion flash sales company for a brief period, trying to fit into those wedge heels and the workplace as an external hire. It was a strange time. It was very exciting and yet it was tough! I learnt ALOT and that’s the joy of living in a city like NYC. It’s like a brutally honest friend. Girl you need to get out there…nothing comes easy. But I’ll revisit my NYC times in another post.
I had distanced myself from fashion over the years succumbing to all tropes there were about it. Like Anne Hathaway in Devil wears Prada. I didn’t like the elitism. I don’t think I ever called myself fashionable either. But Gilt really did make me feel guilty. The online shopping bug got to me! The celebratory feeling when there was a DVF sale and the way everything would be sold out in 20 minutes flat ! I loved it!
Then I met my co-founder Haseena. We reconnected over Facebook and we discovered that we both shared very similar interests and ideas. We LOVED Fashion and yet we didn’t feel like we belonged. There was this whole exclusive feel about it that we couldn’t stomach. Also the severe lack of representation of beauty in all kinds of women really irked.
The more we dug deeper the more we discovered. The fears and insecurities that are triggered with the way majority of the industry markets itself. FOMO at its very best. We wanted to create a brand that defies these norms and celebrated people for a change.
You know when something becomes so integral to our daily life, we take it for granted. Clean air and water, clothing and so on. I mean there are bigger problems than wondering about #Whomadeyourclothes right?
The Rana Plaza disaster was heart breaking and eye opening. The squalor and incredibly unsafe working conditions of people who create fashion was new to us. We’d heard of sweat shops but we had no idea how rampant it was, particularly in fashion.
A new kind of slavery that fuels the mass consumption tendencies of fashion – bonded labour.
That’s when we decided, we wont just create a fashion brand but if we do it – we are going to do it RIGHT. Let’s create a conscious brand that is built on solid foundations – no child labor, no bonded labor, no choking landfills, no objectification and so on. It was a long list and we knew none of it was going to be easy but we took the plunge anyway.
So that’s how Fashion and me collided. We locked horns initially but the more I delved deeper the more I realized its power. An agent of self expression is definitely an agent of change. And the possibilities of creation are endless.
I immersed myself in it by putting myself through Fashion school for a year, setting up a production unit, fabric sourcing for our collections and every time I have discovered something new.
And I want to write bits and pieces of it to vividly recollect the journey so far.
Source : National Geographic
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