Fashion Then vs. Now
by Anabelle Baum
Grabbing Kaya’s stomach the woman said, “I’m not sure what size my daughter wears, but she’s certainly much smaller than you.” After merely trying to help a customer find jeans for her daughter, Kaya was rewarded with shame. “For what?” she thought to herself; but she already knew. She wasn’t the idealized size zero, making her an obvious target even in the small NYC boutique. The color drained from her face, and clenching her fists she walked away. She informed her manager and coworkers of the situation, and the woman left. That was the end of the matter, but the situation still haunts her to this day.
While in quarantine, people have lost an essential aspect of self-expression; the ability to leave home and show the world who they are or who they want to be through their clothing. But I have come to the realization that while COVID-19 has prevented people from showing their outfits to others, it has also allowed people to wear whatever they want in a judgment-free zone. A judgement-free zone that Kaya, like me and many other teen girls, finds rare when it comes to what we wear. So my question is: will we be able to wear whatever we want when we’re not in quarantine? Will we face obstacles in the process? The short answer is yes, yes we will.
Fashion has become an ongoing cycle where trends quickly fade and reappear decades later. What is “fashionable” in one decade may be distasteful in another. This is one of the reasons why peer pressure plays such a large role in our society. A majority of young adults, especially, dress either to blend in with their peers or to receive validation from them. And in turn, many parents force their children to do the same thing.
“Especially as someone who is into fashion, quarantine has certainly taken away a large part of who I am.”
I was sitting with Kaya via FaceTime, admiring her white cotton blouse with tie dyed sleeves, forest green velvet pants, and pink cat eye glasses. After I complimented her outfit she was quick to explain why she was wearing such flashy clothing while relaxing half under her covers: “After being locked up and not seeing anyone for months, I find myself wanting to make a statement even more so than I did before when it comes to my clothing choices. Especially as someone who is into fashion, quarantine has certainly taken away a large part of who I am.”
This feeling though is not unique to Kaya, as many teens have been feeling the same way. All over instagram and Tik Tok, girls have been voicing the same opinion, showing outfits they were “too afraid to wear before quarantine.” Teens are starting to feel more bold and trying out other styles such as "preppy," "punk," "goth," etc. without being scared of the titles that come with them.
While many are beginning to experiment with different styles, others do not have this freedom, Kaya explained to me. “I've worked with a lot of clients who are really insecure about their bodies, and the parents are usually the worst. I’ve worked with parents who will comment on their daughter’s weight, saying she looks big, fat, or a certain outfit doesn’t flatter her.” Immediately I recognized this feeling. Not because my parents have ever done this, but because I have witnessed it. I have had friends tell me of their disastrous shopping sprees with their parents, on the verge of tears. I have walked into clothing stores, watching as girls hide from their parents in the stalls.
But the sizing in the fashion industry is also to blame. Teen clothing used to go by a more precise system, known as missy sizing (which were all odd numbers), starting at 1,3,5,7, etc.. Now, most large corporations measure clothing by extra-small, small, medium, large, and extra-large. This new sizing system was invented so that companies could maximize their profitability and appeal to the broadest customer base from a size standpoint. The issue, though, is that nobody is just one size and this system forces customers to deal with it either way; either adhere to these measurements, or own clothing that doesn’t fit correctly.
I spoke with Shanna Goldstone, the former Aéropostale vice president and creative director, and now designer of her own brand, Pari Passu, about this issue. She explained that the inspiration for her brand is these measurement systems, and she addresses the problem by taking individual measurements of every customer so that each garment fits exactly. She explained: “I say this for my own brand all the time. Brands and retailers expect their customers to fit into their clothes as opposed to trying to produce clothes to fit to their customers’s bodies. It doesn’t make sense, and so there’s a real disconnect there.”
But clothing with a more customizable fit is not cheap. And when it comes to fast fashion, where trends and fads quickly appear and disappear, teens cannot afford a wardrobe of expensive clothing, or justify doing so. The normal product lifestyle is about 9 months from idea to delivery in major fashion manufacturers, and when we’re talking fast fashion, the timeline can be as short as 25 days. Kaya had told me this was a good enough reason for her to stay away from the trends because “they can be quite expensive, hard to keep up with, and are often not worth it.”
“While fashion may be an art to some, and a form of self expression, as it was to Kaya, it will remain frightening territory to others, territory that will never be crossed. ”
The way these brands advertise is even more detrimental. It used to be that when companies wanted to advertise to a certain age group, they would advertise with an older one. If a brand was trying to appeal to a 12-year-old, a 16-year-old would be the right age to have as the model. And while advertising has become a lot more peer-to-peer now, the models are often no larger than a size small or extra-small, which often sets standards that make kids self conscious of themselves in more revealing or form-fitting clothes. Kaya told me that “Teens often come in looking for something they saw on someone else, but are unhappy when they try it on because it doesn’t look the same on them as the model who wore it.” Which is no doubt true, as I have felt this way, and know of many people who have too. But it still doesn’t make it right.
Quarantine is bound to make teens experiment with various styles. It is bound to influence future red carpet shows and the new trends. Being in a judgment-free zone for so many months is bound to bring many teens a newfound confidence. But quarantine is also bound to leave many teen girls in the same position; lacking confidence to stand up to their parents, uncomfortable when nothing seems to fit, and constantly comparing themselves to the models they see online. While fashion may be an art to some, and a form of self expression, as it was to Kaya, it will remain frightening territory to others, territory that will never be crossed.