The feminist's tale
There was violence, cursing, and reports of wild-eyed obsessives decimating the landscape. The frenzy surrounding the unveiling of Stella McCartney’s limited collection for H&M, I imagine, caused more than a few eyes to roll outside fashion circles. I just hated it. It played right into the image of women as hyperactive children, irrationally lusting after the latest fad toy.
While the rest of the country is focused on whether people should be allowed to be held by the police for three months without trial, women have been fi lling their pretty little heads with more appropriate things for the weaker sex; blouses, dresses, and the like. At least that’s how the news reports made it seem.
However, after my own rather successful expedition to the wilds of Reading (why does Oxford lack the highstreet staples of Hennes and Primark?), I have come to reconsider the ethical status of fashion. We can all agree, 14 year-old anorexic models: bad, unrealistic beauty magazines: bad, and The Clothes Show Live presented by Tim Vincent: very, very bad.
But to stigmatise anyone who wants to buy a new skirt or pair of earrings would be to miss something very important about clothes and what they say about us. Anyone who has watched an episode of What Not to Wear will have seen how as Trinny and Susannah re-style people’s wardrobes, they also reconstruct their self-esteem. This isn’t a gender issue either • last week it was two men who were subjected to the 360 degree mirror, and the tough-love advice.
Ok, the themes of their shows may make me wince; ugly sisters, gone-to-seed divorcees, frumpy old women, but the end result is always inspiring, and sometimes tear-inducing. Can a Stella McCartney trench coat change your life? Almost defi nitely not, but being well-dressed certainly can.
How much of this is caused by our conditioning by a capitalist, beauty obsessed society is hard to tell, but I’d contend that the urge to decorate oneself and ones surroundings is one of the universal instincts that cuts across cultures and that makes us human. Walk into your next tute with a new pair of shoes, or go to a party in a fabulous new coat; that extra confi dence will start you in the right direction. The rest is up to you.
17th Nov 2005