Twisting and Twirling

I love clothes, I always have because they have been this huge way for me to express myself when words seem to fail me. The memory that clothes hold can be so beautiful and powerful, they can remind us of better times and people, they bring about feelings and memories that lay within every swish of a skirt and click of a heel. Clothes can be magic, when I was at my sickest, I found a pair of army pants at a thrift shop, I loved them and wore them to every single doctors appointment, I gained strength from the memory and the purpose that was embedded in the very fabric of that fabric. It was my armour; it was my confidence, and it was a sign of the battles that I faced in those offices. My 50s style apple dress with the poodle skirt and paired with kitten heels is the outfit that I wore on my first date with my husband, the dress makes me feel playful and flirty, so utterly feminine in the way that I hold myself when it graces my curves. There were the 90s style clunky heels and clear purse that I pulled out when I took my exam in university because they made me feel edgy and off but in a good way. The overalls that I love to wear to the farmers market that remind me of my teen years that I spent working on the farm. Clothes hold so much memory within them and it is incredible when we take up outfits and pieces of clothing from decades past because it is a signifier not just of where we have been but of where we are and what we as a society hold to be important. The clothes that I wear and the outfits that I choose every day are so important they tell the world my mood, they tell the story that is my life. We live in a time where we can wear whatever we want, we are in a time where outfits and clothing have no rules and where we have access to clothes and styles from centuries past because of places like thrift store and the internet.

I think the next style shift will be bright and fun as people attempt to bounce back from the darkness and fear that the pandemic has spread in the world. I think the coolest part of that though will be the sheer diversity in style that we will see boom. This pandemic has shown us that life is short but it has also given a lot of space for creativity in the home and that is going to be reflected in the styles with people doing their thing instead of the thing. My personal style tends to lean to what we saw in the 50s, there is something about it that just makes me feel at home in those clothes and through the creation of those outfits. Sure I would love for poodle skirts and kitten heels to come back into style as they fit my personality so well but what makes me feel comfortable may make others quiver in repulson at the idea of wearing such an outfit and that is okay.

There is in all honesty no one style that I hope comes back into fashion because the truth is we can wear any of them, some days I wrap my hair like the women who worked in the factories during the world wars, others I’ve got a vintage parasol out with a matching modest bathing suit and cat eye sunglasses, others it’s the wide straw hat with the silk scarf wrapped around it and a poodle skirt like I’m a housewife working on her garden. Yet in our world I don’t have to stop there, I can dress as a boy if I want to in old army pants, overalls, rubber boots and a baseball cap. That is the beauty of it all and why no one style ever needs to come back into style because we have the access and the world where we can wear whatever we want. I don’t need any one trend or style to come back into fashion because I can find and create whatever style that I want to. All of these stories for this challenge which are showcasing all these amazing styles are incredible and the beauty of it is the writer and the reader can bring their favourite style back for themselves and rock it.

Of course, that being said…. Man do I hope those high waisted men’s suit pants and suspenders come back into style because phewww, was that a look or what?