Ask a million different people who do women dress up for, and you’ll get a million different answers. The common candidates, however, won’t come as a surprise—while some version of ‘women dress up for men’ has been parroted down the ages, others have cause to believe that they dress up for other women. Yet another strain of thought suggests that women dress up as an expression of their creativity and world view. The conflicting views are perhaps to be expected—the confines of a woman’s wardrobe have a long-standing political history, mired in societal subtext. The endeavour to discern whom women actually dress up for can then only begin from one point—the place where it all began.
So, do women dress up for men?
The heteronormative narrative that women dress up for men has found great heft through the ages, with acres of newsprint and literary tomes alike devoted to passionate arguments for and against the school of thought. However, recent history would suggest otherwise. In the right hands, fashion can serve as a medium to declare one’s independence from the agency of men—further proof can be found in the style files of the late Princess Diana. Over the course of her lifetime, she transitioned from young ingénue to sartorial savant, each phase of her life chronicled through the distinct change in her wardrobe choices. The conversational route starts from the black sheep sweater that stated her dissonance from the royal fold and ends, inevitably, at the infamous Revenge Dress.
On the night of Prince Charles affirming his betrayal to their marriage on live television, anyone would have wanted to shelter out of sight of the press—but Princess Diana wasn’t just anyone. Choosing to honour her commitment for a fundraising gala, she stepped out in an immensely flattering chiffon black number with a plunging neckline, that immediately earned the moniker of the ‘revenge dress’. The subtext was crystal clear, believes royal photographer Arthur Edwards. “They stopped the car about 100 meters away, and she strolled straight towards the cameras looking like a million dollars. And you knew the next day the story was going to be about Charles and the adultery. But the picture on page one was Diana,” he was quoted as saying.
Do women dress up for other women then?
Yes, and no. In the hands of budding style enthusiasts, fashion has evolved to become a malleable tool of social currency. Sure, adulation from the opposite gender is nice, but the woman who now looks in the mirror in the morning answers to a different set of priorities. Is this something I would spot on my favourite influencer? Will this outfit fetch instant ‘where did you get this from’ requests? Or in the case of more public names, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who do I want to convey I am with this outfit? Her male contemporaries may not be subjected to the same debate over their fashion choices, but the American Congresswoman has deftly co-opted the archaic mechanism and leveraged the scrutiny to her favour. Firebrand Ocasio-Cortez has been making headlines with her style choices from the eve of her primary debate, and is today known for her sartorial signature of white pantsuits, hoop earrings and statement-making red lip colours.
Look closer, and you’ll find that each element of her meticulously constructed public persona is a nod to what she wants to convey about her identity. The red lacquer on her lips is an ode to fellow Bronx native, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. In a tweet, she explained, “Lip+hoops were inspired by Sonia Sotomayor, who was advised to wear neutral-colored nail polish to her confirmation hearings to avoid scrutiny. She kept her red. Next time someone tells Bronx girls to take off their hoops, they can just say they’re dressing like a Congresswoman.” The recurring all-white pantsuits afford solidarity with the suffragettes, a fashion choice that serves as a common denominator with US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
Following her historic win in the recently concluded US elections, Harris accepted her office in a white pantsuit with a pussybow collar by a woman-founded New York brand Carolina Herrera, choosing to dedicate her win to the revolutionary women who have paved the way before her. The list is headlined by Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman elected to Congress in 1968. Upon accepting her role as Walter Mondale's running mate in his 1984 presidential campaign, she wore—you guessed it—head-to-toe white. As the modern closet breaks free from the binary of attracting men versus appeasing female peers, the underlying motivation of dressing up is as simple as it is symbolic: what does this outfit say about me as a person?
The new normal of dressing up
So, who do women dress up for? The only answer is that there is no one answer—in the ever-evolving world of fashion, after all, the only thing certain is change. As an unforeseen lockdown claimed monopoly over the year, the definition of dressing up was underscored by fresh context. With social events curtailed for a significant chunk of the year and going-out looks relegated to the bottom of the closet, we find ourselves at a unique point of time in history where we were dressing up for nobody but ourselves. Will the comfort-first manifesto survive the transition once the rigours of everyday life settle in? It is hard to tell, as we stand on hitherto unexplored terrain. It’s a brave new world waiting on the other side of the pandemic, and Harris recommends marching forward in your go-to pair of Converse.
Also read:
Mindy Kaling on why she uses her fame and fortune to break barriers for Indians on the global stage
How designer Anita Dongre is working with UN Women to upskill women in Maharashtra
50 of the most fabulous hats worn by Diana, Princess Of Wales
The Link LonkDecember 04, 2020 at 05:23PM
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Who do women dress up for, really? - Vogue India
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