FASHION AS DESIGN

Through this course I’ve learnt an incredible amount of things and it has for sure changed
my perspective in the way I see clothes.

When I first began it I enjoyed clothes but I just saw them as something that might or
might not be appealing to my eyes or something that could match my taste. I would go to a
store and buy whatever I liked without being concious of what is behind it, the process or
the impact that its fabrication had in the environment, and put aside the materials it is
made of which, if i haven’t taken this course, I would still buy polyester clothes without
knowing about the microplastics that go to the ocean when we washed them. I’m currently
very worried about the whole pollution and the amount of single use plastics that the
world is consuming and even though I was trying to reduce it I wasn’t being aware that
what I am wearing on a daily basis has the same consecuences.

With that being said, I would also like to talk about probably one of the garments that this
course has changed my perspective of the most, and it is the jeans. This piece of clothing
was in my top 5 items that I was asked to choose at the beginning of the course. I think
they are a wardrobe essential and I bet that everybody has at least one pair. And, as it is
something worldwide consumed, learning about how the fast fashion industry produces
them using non biodegradable materials and toxic chemicals and knowing that thousand
of gallons of water are used to produce just one pair has made me realised how investing
in good quality clothes instead of always resorting to fast fashion can make such a
difference.

In conclusion, knowing about the clothes’ history, the way they are produced and the
impact that they has in our society has made me look at them with more admiration and
interest. Furthermore, I have realised that the wide range of shapes and styles let us
choose what we feel confident and comfortable in, and each person links those feelings to
different pieces of clothing. I see this reflected in me and my friends because we all have
very different styles and even though we may have the same t-shirt, the way we wear it or
how it is percieve by other people is very different. As model Hari Nef said in the
Abecedarium about Unisex Fashion, it is about looking at people in the clothes, the way
they move and their personality. So from bandanas to Dr. Martens, through mini skirts and
the Zoot suit, clothes have let people reinvent themselves, fight for what they believed in
and more important they let us feel free.