Jules Heartly| April 15, 2020

4/15 :Ex-tax deadline date.  Everything has changed!

Including our interest in fashion. Yesterday, I was participating in a WhatsApp group discussion regarding fashion during this time of the Covid19 pandemic.   It started as a single comment from one of our group members, he cheerfully communicated to the group something that until now we considered a no-brainer, not a thing to be considered news:  He had fully dressed himself that day! Shoes included!  It sounded like a big achievement, and… it was! He got motivated enough to get dressed up a bit for another day at home.  Others in the chat weighed in. “ I have been wearing shorts and t-shirts  everyday”, “ I am in sweatpants and a hoodie”  “I don’t want to get my good clothes dirty..and so on”.

A thought stayed with me:  What is fashion?  Where is it now? And do we just dress up because of others?  Do we get nicely dressed ONLY to comply with social rules, like required business attire, restaurant etiquette and so forth?

And what ever happened to get dressed up just for ourselves?  I remember from my childhood all the way up to college, I thought of wearing new clothes or nice clothes as something I wanted to do for myself, for my own joy, not for others to notice or be happy about.

I recalled that right before the quarantine started, I had gone clothes shopping and have found a few items that at the time,  I thought “ I couldn’t wait to wear” , and actually there have been forgotten in my closet until now, when their memory came to my mind.

I agree. There are some particular clothes we get to wear for special occasions, but what about all the other clothes hanging in our closets?  Don’t they also deserve to be worn while we live in our houses?
The fact that we don’t go out to bars and restaurants and of course businesses, means we are also confined to wearing shorts, sweatpants and t-shirts?   I disagree! 

I probably change clothes at home at least 3-5 times a day.   I wear a set of clothes to work out.  I then wear a different set of clothes to work (I work from home).  I change my clothes once again to cook. And once more to sit down to enjoy a meal.  I change my clothes, then again, to go out for a walk or to run an errand. And of course I will change into my PJ’s for sleeping. But then again, that is me.  From all other conversations I had and hear from “at home” TV shows etc, the trend seems to be for people to  sort of wear the same PJ like clothing  during this #stayhome mandate.

Which brings me to more questions.  What happens to the #Spring2020 clothes in the stores and already in many people’s closets?  Don’t they get to be worn at all?  It is fashion “Transferable”? like sports events, so for example like the tour of France not taking place in July as usual and being postponed for August-September, would the fashion designed for the #spring2020 could be marketed to be worn in the fall? Or in the #Spring2021?

Well, according to Vogue,  “… the Italian fashion brands are working on prototypes for next winter and designs for Autumn”  which for me it means, they have no intention on saving the designs out for #spring2020 for any other time in the future, at all.

Also, Vogue reported “…Leading fashion houses, including Salvator Ferragamo and Aeffe’s report an increase in orders.” So I guess if anything the quarantine has created a bigger desire on anyone to wear new clothes, whenever the time comes when museums, bars, restaurants, cruises, travel, etc are back in business.

Now in terms of American clothing companies, like Nike, Lululemon, Abercrombie & Fitch, Urban Outfitters etc, they have closed their stores and production, so perhaps would Americans get tired of wearing comfort clothes?  After this long #quarantine?  We don’t know.  One thing we know for sure is that “Fashion as we knew it” will not be the same.

Would they all comfort clothes be “Transitioned-out” during the next closet cleaning? And talking about that, although Americans are spending unprecedented amounts of time in their homes,  and therefore we would’ve thought spring cleaning would be in full swing, due to the reasons behind the “time at home”, that is NOT happening and even for the few people that have gone ahead with this American “Tradition”, the places that usually take the proceedings from the exercise of going through closets and cabinets looking for things not longer needed or wanted, are not in any position to take them.

So all those ready-to-get-out items, had no place to go.  No Garage sales, no way to Donate to thrift stores, etc.  No way to unload unwanted clothing. Non-profits organizations are NOT accepting such items,  the only thing acceptable is cash, and that I am pretty sure is neither available in cabinets and closets nor is part of the items to dispose of 😉

So what to do?  For one, I believe we should embrace wearing a full variety of clothes while at home, just to please ourselves and NOBODY else.   We could also embrace ideas like@JimmyKimmelLive’s #FormalFridays. Or get our new personal fashion show while working from home like @TrevorNoah’s fashion hoodies. He seems to find a new one every day for his daily #socialdistancing show.

And then for the rest of the garments, in our effort to contribute to a healthier planet, let’s find ways to recycle, reuse, or re-gift them.    Else, when all the above fails,  just organize garments neatly until clothes donations are accepted again.

Now in regard to fashion…. Who has the final word? 

Did Comfort clothes beat designers apparel for good? Or by the contrary, once the #StayHome mandate is over, we will all be wearing only designer clothes?

I would love to read your thoughts!

Thank you for reading my blog. Remember to follow me on Twitter @JBRADIANT and check my website for upcoming books. https://www.julesheartly.com/