We all have a different relationship with the clothes we wear each day. Are you hitched for life, still pining away waiting for The One (style) or is it too complicated to describe?
Yes, we are comparing your relationship with your clothes to your love life because it is intimate. How else do you explain the feeling that overwhelms you when you find the right outfit? The moment you know you have found an outfit that not only excites you and looks good on you, but an outfit that reflects who you are.
The outfits we choose to dress ourselves in everyday hold their own significance to each of us. Some of us plan our outfits meticulously, and thrill in the art of expressing a distinct style. Some of us throw clothes on each day without a second thought. Some of us lie somewhere in between. Whoever you are, your outfit speaks. It has a voice. (It is the one that articulates “Leave me alone” so you don’t have to say it out loud). Your outfit reflects your mood for the day, your style, your identity. It is a performance of how you feel, who you are, and sometimes even who you want to be.
"Whoever you are, your outfit speaks"
Are we exaggerating the significance of your outfit choices? The notion that the clothes we wear are linked to our identity may strike as superficial. Surely, we’re larger than our outfits. After all, our clothes are only our outermost layer of self. Shells that we wrap ourselves in and call home but can just as easily discard.
But, it is exactly this transient nature of our sense of style that is intertwined with our sense of self. Every choice we make affirms who we are. That does not mean that there has to be a rigid pattern of choices that defines who we are. Each unconventional choice that strays, adds an added layer to our sense of self. It is not our outfit of the day that defines us but the act of choosing the outfit.
Our choices give us power. Will it be the marigold swimsuit styled as a tank top for today, or the blue-grey velvet dress paired with pink and white striped pants? Which one speaks to you?
Zara velvet jacket, H&M marigold swimsuit, Zara pants.
Which feels more comfortable? And, not just physically but which one most closely resembles an extension of yourself? Alaa measures her level of comfort according to how often she feels the need to change her outfit in a day. It ranges from not at all, to four times a day on days where it’s harder to find The Right One.
The truth is, there is more to comfort than physical comfort or the comfort in being unapologetically yourself. There’s comfort in knowing you’re making the right choice. The ethical choice. As inward looking as the act of picking out an outfit is, it’s also an act of larger significance. Our outfits do not just tell our stories, they have their own share of stories to tell.
"Our outfits do not just tell our stories, they have their own share of stories to tell"
Zara velvet dress, Zara pants, Vintage floral bag, Topshop shoes.
There’s the story of the refugee who hand stitched that pretty new blouse you bought, the child who had to work 12-hour days so that you could buy that new pair of jeans on sale, and the inmate who put the finishing touches to your favorite set of lingerie.
There’s a vast ocean of stories in our wardrobe, stitched into the seams of our clothes, hiding in their folds. There are stories that need to be unearthed, stories of new possibilities and outfits reimagined.
These are the stories we want to share with you.
We’re hoping to air out our closets and lay everything sheerfull(y) out in the open.
After all, if our outfits speak, we want to be listening.
We want to know what the frock we are wearing. Don’t you?
Written by Sneha Indrajit, in collaboration with Alaa Amed (also model)
Conceptualised by Alaa Amed
Photography by Bonnie Tran.
What the frock
are you wearing?!
