THRIFTING SAVED MY LIFE

This year, online courses are very much IN. Accessible, adaptable and achievable.

Fashion as Design, an online course delivered by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), was my first choice; an introduction to the world of fashion, textiles, production, clothing design and timeless garments, some of which have remained relevant well into the 21^st century. As a humble, but eager, novice to the technical complexities and stages of design, as well as fashion history, this course has provided me with everything I want and more. It essentially constitutes a captivating insight into why we wear what we wear, pushing me to completely reassess everything I thought I knew about not just my own stylistic choices, but also different elements of the design process. The seven modules remain relevant and appealing to all tastes, especially for those seeking to gain a fast-paced but not overly shallow understanding of the context and history of many mainstream, popular and well-known pieces that have retained their appeal over the last 100 years in particular, and which continue to be adapted, renewed and reinvented up to this day. 

It is, of course, easy to adorn common garments and overlook their historical and traditional value. Many [statement] pieces such as the tabi [boot], originating as a sock in 15^th century Japan, popularized in the Western world by Martin Margiela, and [everyday] garments, such as jeans, have been subverted from their original purpose and gained layers of historic and geographical significance. These pieces, and jeans in particular, have evolved from a garment of utility into a uniform which has descended into different styles, reaching the masses but at a cost, in what is now a system that drives consumption and unsustainable practices. Indeed, fast fashion has transformed an item which is designed to last for decades, into an adaptable model for a system that demands new output every season in order to drive sales. The course curators place a focus on Levi’s, a hallmarked sustainable company, which prides itself on the durability of its products whilst remaining attractive to consumers through various models which rise and fall in popularity (think skinny jeans). I particularly enjoyed the Levi’s historian who took us on a trip through the archive, displaying the earliest recorded pair of Levi’s jeans dating back to the 18^th century, and a pair used more recently attached to a rope to help tow a car. The inevitable challenge now for its designers: to create solutions that enable the recyclability of new jean models, whilst continuing to promote their timeless models. 

In this sense, due to the mundanity of clothing, when we consider the reach and influence of fashion, it is perhaps not as common to question how these everyday garments and cosmetic products have come to represent and empower marginalized populations, including women, over the decades. This is epitomized through models such as the hoodie, which upholds various associations linked to youth, delinquency, lower socio-economic background and racial tension, but which has failed to decline in popularity. Other examples include the zoot suit, a piece worn traditionally by marginalised ethnic groups in the US in the 30s and 40s, and lipstick, namely Elizabeth Arden’s ‘Victory Red’, which simultaneously symbolised women’s femininity and patriotism during the Second World War. 

It is testament to the curators, Paola Antonelli, Michelle Millar Fisher and Stephanie Kramer, that I can honestly say that I finished this course feeling inspired to learn more. This study of cultural anthropology presented through clothing provokes a number of profound questions indicating the plethora of reasons behind contemporary fashion choices and their use as a tool of expression. After all, whether you actively choose to make a statement with it or not, what you wear will always say something about you.