COMFORT AND QUARANTINE: DRESSING UP AND STAYING SANE AT HOME
COVID-19 has ultimately changed the way we live—even the way we dress up in our day-to-day lives. As inane as it sounds, with this pandemic currently keeping everyone inside their homes, using fashion as self-expression has now been somewhat lost to the army of t-shirts, tank tops, sweatpants, and pyjamas. But lately, we have seen an interesting shift.
Life as we know it will never be the same again. The pandemic has shaken the world to its core to such a point that going out now is scarier and more daunting than ever. Routines we once religiously followed can no longer exist. Work from home has replaced working at an office or at a cafe, Zoom classes have replaced going to the library to study for exams and e-numan has replaced drinking night with friends and family. It has been said repeatedly, but truth be told, this is our “new normal”.
This is something that all of us are trying to ease into each and every day. With the current state of the world, where are we to go from here? We come to an awareness that with staying at home for over four months means that the designer bags and shoes we might have splurged on prior to this no longer bear that same value they once held. We go to stare at our closets wondering how and when we’ll be able to use our clothes that express our style—our feelings. We then go on to wonder: how much does one truly need to get through another day locked down at home?
One thing’s for sure is that COVID-19 is set to change how we dress up in our day-to-day lives. As inane as it sounds, with this pandemic currently keeping everyone inside homes, using fashion as self-expression has now been somewhat lost to the army of t-shirts, tank tops, sweatpants, and pyjamas.
However, we’ve come to learn that fashion doesn’t just exist for the outdoors or for the purpose of impressing someone. Fashion is anything and everything that you want it to be wherever you are. Being locked up inside a place for days can deeply affect how a person thinks, let alone months. As a result, people are now doing things that were to be considered normal for the outside, like wearing heels, but that doesn’t mean we should sharply cut our ties with the things we loved—finding comfort through fashion being one of them.
People express that getting dressed has become a crucial part of their mental health. Doing hair and make-up, and changing from house clothes into something that is more “official”, has a tendency to boost a person’s overall mood, In addition, it has that working-at-the-office effect on those working from home.
With many people dressing up at home, fashion researchers Doris Domoszlai-Lantner, M.A. and Anna Zsofia Kormos came up with QUARANTINE S/S20 where people like you and I can submit our #QOOTD (Quarantine Outfit of the Day) along with a brief description or even a story.
One submission from a New Yorker named Sara, says, ”As a publicist living in NYC, I miss going to evening parties and design industry events. Sometimes I wake up and feel like going through my wardrobe to choose the dress I miss wearing the most…”
Another submission which is from Noriko, a textile artist shows how lockdown can make one reflect on one’s time. She said, “This lockdown period gave me a lot of time, and let me make a lot of artworks. So I have been drawing a picture on the cloth, and making my dress and accessories. I am squatting on the rooftop as atelier, to seek the power of the sun and wind while wearing this colorful dress I made.”
One of the latest quarantine fashion trends brewing on Instagram is wearing a pillow as a dress with a belt tied around the waist. Called the #QuarantinePillowChallenge, it involves cinching a pillow around your waist with a belt (or pretty much anything) to make a strapless ‘dress’ (almost like Kendall Jenner’s pink H&M x Giambattista Valli Collab gown) and adding accessories and jewelry to your liking. Celebrities like Anne Hathaway have shared their own version of the challenge.
In the Philippines, we see the likes of Heart Evangelista recreating the regular mask into something that looks straight out of the runway. At the end of the day, we shouldn’t forget to follow protocol, and we can do it in fashion.
Perhaps the feeling of going outside to get photos taken is something one might miss this quarantine. People have been doing their own “mini photoshoots” especially when you’re the only one who will be seeing your quarantine get-up. Local celebrity Elisse Joson does her own.
Needless to say, wearing clothes as a sense of expression is not breaking news. However, it can now be used to reinforce new routines at home in lieu of regular ones and it acts as a safe space that comforts us during a historically challenging time like this. Fashion isn’t all statement shirts and ballgowns, it’s what pleases your eyes.
What’s next for the world is something we’re not sure of. While we’re taking in slowly the repercussions of this pandemic, let’s not forget to take care of ourselves physically, mentally, and emotionally.
