You Are What You Wear

Swami Vivekananda, during his stay in Boston, was asked by an American woman as to why he does not wear proper clothes like a gentleman; to which he replied, “In your culture, the tailor makes a gentleman. In my culture, character makes a gentleman”. Indisputably, good character is the primordial quality of a gentle man; but being a part of the fashion fraternity I strongly believe that the clothes you wear say a lot about who you are. Fashion is simply a form of creative self expression. Does that mean clothes too have a character? How do we judge whether our clothes are of good character?

   We mostly base our choice of clothing on factors like how well it enhances our appearance, how high it can place us in the social hierarchy and how easy it is on our wallets. In any case, we take only ourselves into consideration. In reality, from farming to retailing, there are a lot more factors concerning and affecting the clothes, eg. the raw materials, the space and land, and the workforce involved in its making.

    A cotton farmer who uses synthetic pesticides on his crops, ruins the soil quality of his land which will eventually hit his yield and livelihood. The industrial wastes like synthetic dyes and chemical conditioners spewed out by the textile factories into the natural water bodies is one of the reasons we have to pay for clean drinking water. The younger generation of traditional artisanal and weaver communities, give up on their dying craft for mundane white collar jobs. Those trendy, bright colored t-shirts that we bought for a killer deal of 3 for 999 has a back story that we all are oblivious to. Are they of a good character? I don’t think so.

   I’m sure I took all of you on a guilt trip. Some of you might be feeling sad for causing harm, some may feel anxious and helpless because everything we do seems to pollute and others may already be overwhelmed with their lives to be pondering over this issue. Nevertheless, changes have to be made and for any change to happen we have to identify the issue, find out the solution and commit to the resolution. Since we have already identified the issue, let me propose 4 easy solutions.

  Although the sellers might try to influence us heavily, the market and industry apparently have to follow the choice of us consumers. So we all can slowly but surely make the following choices to impact change and bring about Noble Fashion.

1. Opt for khadi clothing – which are hand spun and woven in the handloom. Such clothes are extremely comfortable to wear and last long. The traditional weaver communities can sustain their craft and even flourish.

2. Choose naturally dyed clothes – a variety of vegetable dyes and pigments are used to add color to textiles. Since they are all derived from natural ingredients, they would not cause any harm to the soil or waterways in which they are dumped, contrarily they might enrich these resources.

3. Go for organic clothing -Natural fibres like cotton, flax, hemp and silk when grown without the use of synthetic pesticides will preserve the fertility of the soil for generations to come. Prior to the Industrial revolution, India was the largest producer and exporter of textiles and they were all produced organically.

4. Reduce consumption – we discard our clothing because we do not know to mend them and do not have the time to take them to someone who can, we’d rather buy new clothes . On the other hand, we buy those mandala colouring books to find relief from the stress of daily life because experts on emotional and mental wellness advise us to take up a hobby. Why not take up hand sewing instead? It will keep us engaged and help our clothes last longer.

5. Let me give you a tip as a bonus. Once you have many cotton clothes in your wardrobe you’ll see that they are not as easy to maintain as the chiffons or wrinkle free shirts and trousers. You will have to starch them.So, cook your rice in an open pot, strain away the excess water and dip your clothes in that water for a few minutes and then hang for drying. The rice you eat will be much lighter and you also get to starch your clothes. An age old practice and a great lesson in resource management.

That brings us to committing to Noble Fashion. It is not possible for us to fill our wardrobe with high priced organic clothing and entirely shun the compelling fast fashion pieces that give us social mileage, but we can start giving them both equal importance. Let us make sure that there is at least one khadi/organic garment in our purchase each year and slowly build our collection. The lifestyle changes I suggested may seem very daunting, but a careful review of our daily routine will suggest that we can do away with many unprofitable habits to make space for these. We might not be able to make these changes right away, however, it is important that we chew on these ideas till we can execute them. After all, a battle is half won in the mind.

  You are what you wear, so don’t be cheap, fast, easy or fake!