Pandemic Power!
By Meghna Iyer, Fashion Columnist
Power is undeniably rooted in fashion. We’ve all been told at some point in our lives to dress for the job we want and not for the one we have. There is a reason we have dubbed a black pointed-toe pump the “power heel” and the suitset that begs to be worn along with it the “power suit”— clothes and accessories are built with fibers of confidence and achievement. Over the years, fashion has come to be synonymous with a number of entities, like history, culture, resilience, and power. They reflect a person, the place in life we are in, and the era in which we live. In the midst of a pandemic, it is easy to lose sight of the power within oneself or, with the rise of loungewear, the power in our wardrobes.
By the time I was five years old, I knew that fashion was about more than just clothes. My mother immigrated to the United States from India when she was in her twenties, something that’s shocking to me as it’s the same age I am now. In her efforts to fit into her new home, she lost many of the connections she held to her culture and ethnicity, which were previously the foundation of her identity.
But fashion became her armor in this battle to stay true to herself. As color is so important to Indian culture, my mother made sure her clothes embodied it by mixing brightly colored workwear with her ethnic jewel-toned blouses and jhumki earrings. It was bold and powerful, yet elegant and understated, not unlike my mother herself. Her blouses were handsewn by a tailor who has been loyal to our family for years, and her jewelry was inspired by sketches left behind from her own mother’s days as an artist. Fashion was a reminder of not only where she came from, but also who she was.
This elusive power is also present now, even in the midst of a pandemic. For most of quarantine, I felt as though I was wasting my life away and being unproductive while I was forced to the confinement of my childhood bedroom. But when I remembered how my mom used fashion to help her out of a hard time, I decided to follow her lead. I remembered what she taught me — that clothes are an extension of your skin, your physiological home. So, I took off my pajamas, put on my big-girl pants, and started to actively pursue my goals and interests in my free time as opposed to waiting for them to just fall into my path. I could feel the future I had hoped for slowly becoming my present, but it took nostalgic memories of my family to get to that point. I guess this is where the power I’ve been talking about comes from; I needed my mother’s experiences to inspire me, my current passions to excite me, and my drive for my career to push me. Everyone has their own igniters to power, and we can see this in our clothing choices.
Vice President Kamala Harris, is a specific example of how power influences clothes — and vice-versa. By nature, she is a powerful woman, and her clothes speak volumes about this power without her having to utter a word about it. The white Carolina Herrera pantsuit she donned as she gave her acceptance speech is an excellent example. The color white was claimed years ago in the name of women’s suffrage, just as pants were reclaimed from their decades-long restriction to men only. The pussybow blouse Harris wore with her suit has just as much history and activism to it as did the rest of her ensemble — the bow is a tribute to both Sara Danius and female British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. Vogue previously wrote about the politicization of the pussybow blouse after both women and men alike wore the blouse to honor Danius. She was the first woman to hold the secretary position at the Swedish Academy that awards the Nobel Prize for literature but was forced to step down after exposing a sexual abuser at the academy. This simple outfit decision made by Danius, and later referenced by Harris, is a crucial example of fashion’s ability to speak to our hearts and minds.
Fashion has always been more than a trend; it’s a movement that can be lived in a way to communicate the words we cannot speak. Clothes remind us of where we came from and who we strive to be. As COVID-19 ramps up and the future seems bleak, the power fashion can grant each and every one of us persists. Take this as your sign to put on your favorite outfit and feel the power it's been waiting to impart in you.
