Fashion as Identity

Fashion is so often denounced as fad, a splurge of money, whimsical fancy reserved for the vain and egocentric. But would Madonna have had the same success without her changing and evolving style and image? Would the PM be taken seriously if he turned up in a purple suit – no matter how expensive, sleek and tailored? Would Kate Moss have stood the test of time if she had left it all to beauty? And would Michelle Obama be hailed an icon of our time if it were not for her personal style?

In rather simple terms these decisions we make, every day of our lives, tell the outside world who we are, who we want to be and what we want to achieve. It can change you and promote you. We change ourselves for our environment – friends or family, work or the opera, the shops or a drinks party – and every time we change it’s because not only do we want to be accepted through how we look, but because we want to say something about ourselves.

But is fashion really only about external appearance? A superficial layer behind which we hide? Or does it go much deeper, to the very core of our identity, which shapes who we are? Can it nurture your soul and give you personal confidence for whatever circumstance you find yourself in?

Listening to Radio 4 I heard a thought provoking interview with Catherine W Hill, a Holocaust survivor. She described the removal of their own clothes and possessions on arrival at Aushwitz as the stripping of their identity. Loosing their external identity in essence took away their internal identity. She recounted how women would tear off a strip of their prison uniforms to create accessories, scarves and bows for their hair. This was an act of resistance, an act of reclaiming individual identity, personality and self-respect. An act of survival.

So is fashion really just about spoilt women, exquisite clothes, huge amounts of money and superficial vanity? The example from Auschwitz tells us all we need to know, I feel. Fashion is a deeply personal, deeply meaningful and even existential feature of our lives. It is an intrinsic part of identity.