Freedom in Fashion

I was going through my closet the other day while looking at Pinterest and the news feed about Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle — you know, all the important Sunday morning reads — when I began to think about my style. We all have a style, a personal fashion statement that says who we are at any given time, how we’re feeling, what kind of a day it’s been.

For example, at the store this morning, I saw three completely different people in line — one sporting jeans, a blazer, an earring and a jaunty fedora; one in jeans and sweatshirt; and one who apparently had slept in her pajamas for the past six years, never showered and felt that was appropriate attire to wear, well, anywhere. But other than the one who smelled a bit ripe, no one paid any attention, and they could have been rich, poor, gay, straight, busy or just getting out of the house. The beautiful blending of America!

According to an article in Time magazine circa 2015, Americans began moving fashion forward in the 1920s, leaving behind long, cumbersome skirts for the freedom of pants just past the 1960s. My friend still tells stories of wearing dresses and Mary Janes and the scandal that came when her younger sister wore her first pair of pink knit pants to school. Today it would be the other way around. People associate dresses with “dressing up.” So why have Americans become so casual? As European royalty show us, it’s not only classy but a true statement of femininity by sporting tailored tea lengths and heels.

Americans are casual because we can be. We still have style, of course, but “fashion” is a flippant word, unless you’re on the runway with Ralph Lauren. We wear clothes because they are comfortable and we hardly ever buy anything that isn’t. We look for versatile, no-wrinkle fabrics and save our dress clothes for attending weddings.

I once had a classy and well-kept patient, beautiful in her older age, who told me every woman should have at least two good pieces in her closet: something in black and something in white. Everything would go with these pieces, and as long as the fabric was durable and well-maintained, the wearer well-tailored and not overindulgent, they would carry her through years of fashion trends. Little did she know, she was an icon of her time. My Sunday Pinterest ads couldn’t agree more. Casual to clever, dressing for yourself or dressing for the town … as long as it’s comfortable and clean, it’s your choice.

To me, that’s the most amazing thing about fashion in America. Fashion equals freedom — even to the lady in pajama pants at the grocery store.