SUNDAY BEST My friend said that walking down the street with me was like being in someone else’s subconscious that I’d taken a sledgehammer to. Essentially this is because almost every day I make a conscious effort to dress up. I don’t see the point in saving things for certain special occasions where no one will see them and instead think that it’s better to dress up all the time. Because we all have them, those sad garments in our wardrobe that we once hunted for, obsessed over and saved up for. It’s not necessarily that it doesn’t fit anymore; in fact it probably looks amazing. The reason it’s sat there – sad and unloved – is that everyday when you look at it on your way to school/college/work it’s deemed “inappropriate”. And why? Is it because they’re impractical? I challenge anyone not to be able to do anything in a prom dress that they could do in jeans, accept possibly bend over whilst keeping their decency. It all sort of started for me when I was in my jeans and slogan t-shirts phase. I was in a vintage shop in Brick Lane and through the hipster atmosphere these two beacons of style and sophistication shone out. She was dressed in a full poodle skirt, hair coiffed to perfection and he the same but in immaculate white t-shirt and pressed jeans. I swear not a speck of dirt could have ever found their way onto them. I was dumb struck. There was something in the way they had actually made an effort, they were there in their “Sunday Best” and they looked the happiest most content in the whole shop full of people hunting for the perfectly distressed t-shirt. Youth culture has always been rooted in style over substance. In the words of Reel Big Fish, “Its not so bad being trendy everyone who looks like me is my friend.” It’s how tribes identify and bond with each other. But in the past there was more a polish to it. The iconic suits of the mods, or the perfection with which denims are rolled up to reveal heavy Doc Martens on the feet of a Skin. Now the style is loosely defined as “scruffy” birthing trends such as the “two minute look” where girls spend hours perfecting an updo to look as if it was just scraped back in two minutes. And haven’t we lost something in the 40 years in between? I mean, I hate to be judgemental, but when did it become ok to leave the house in what you slept in? And yet these trends, if you can them that, are now being parodied with several big fashion houses making more than a nod to pyjamas as posh everyday wear. Perhaps this in itself is a reaction against the slobbery. Or maybe they all saw Susie Bubble’s vintage 30s pair. Either way it shows that our tastes are getting slovenly when silk pyjamas are put on a pedestal against what we actually wear to bed. Back in the 50s they may not have had equality, but they did have immaculate dress sense. What if we decided to dress up every day? A world full of men in suits and girls in ball gowns, interspersed with the odd Lady Gaga and David Bowie. Because part of wearing what you want, is pushing boundaries too. Just because I favour vintage dresses doesn’t mean that I think we should all dress like that, or we’d find ourselves back to the situation we’re in now. No, I think if someone decided to wear a feathered cape to the post office that would be lovely, sequined hot pants in the supermarket. Now that sounds good too. The odd land of fashion blogging would have you believe that everyone already does this. In fact though it’s only the very few who have the means or balls to pull it off and that’s why they’re telling the internet, that’s. And although it’s harder to express yourself in a small back water town than it is in a metropolis of acceptance like New York, if we all decided to do it. If
we all got up every day and wore that prom dress, that dinner suit, that 80s printed wind breaker; then wouldn’t that just be a hell of a lot funner? Even those people who say they’re not interested in fashion have these garments at the back of their wardrobe that they bought in a fit of someone else’s personality and have never worn. Bring on the dad shorts, the illthought Hawaiian t-shirts – very S/S11 – and the lurex tube dresses. But anyway, back to those lonely garments in our wardrobe. What if we did just put them on every morning and go about our everyday lives. The first thing would be the passersby reaction, but for every “what the fuck” and shouted abuse there would be a dozen smiles. And at least a couple of people would be inspired to wear what they wanted in the future.
BIO: Jess, 19 from Bristol in the UK who’s tall, ginger & blogs about beautiful things. Has studied textiles and always looked like an art student but has an equation tattooed on her arm. Still hasn’t found what to do with her life but is enjoying looking.