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Debate: Fashion in the light of designer wear
Armani pants, Gucci boots and Prada jackets. That’s what today’s social life revolves around. You may be window shopping at Park Towers or nibbling French fries at a hip food joint at Zamzama, you’ll never miss at least two to three teenagers dressed according to the latest trend.
According to the dictionary the verbal meaning of the word fashion is “way of behaving or dressing that is popular for a certain time period”. The latest teenage fashion for girls consists of low cut jeans, shirt that is two sizes small for you and a belt regardless of whether you need it or not. And, of course, not to mention the ever suave cell phone.
Once I asked a girl, dressed from head to foot in designer labels (a perfect fashion victim), “What does the word fashion mean to you?”
She replied “Right now fashion means Old Navy pants, cell phones and basic black shoulder bags.”
Even if we take our eastern clothes into consideration, our kameezes seem to keep getting shorter. Then comes the fashion of wearing sleeveless and if it’s not sleeveless then it has huge slits in the sleeves which is either supposed to be fashionable or is meant to expose skin, I’m not quite sure. Shalwars have been switched by straight pants while the Shalwars are getting narrower by the day. Even eastern clothes have now received proper labels and there is a difference between designer shalwar kameezes and the non-designer ones. Brands such as Maheen and Deepak Perwani are considered classy while the “losers” still wear shalwar kameezes which have been bought and stitched by tailors.
Moving on to boys’ fashion, out of every ten boys you see five are wearing their pants so low that they seem to be falling down. These pants will of course be branded to their limits. Well now do you see that girls are not the only ones who spend money? Their shirts are two sizes too large and fall somewhere near the knees, not to mention the Nike or Adidas caps on their heads regardless of sun or rain. This is today’s “cool look” for the male.
This craze to possess the “cool look” has forced a number of teenagers to get jobs, only to pay for their designer clothes. Ali says “I never cared about what I wore before but now everyone around is wearing Guess and CK. So in order to join the ranks I have to work for a few hours after school to get enough cash to pay for this new look.”
Some people adorn themselves with designer wear out of necessity while others consider it a privilege. Some of us are loaded rich and they shop every year in the United States. As a result their cupboards are filled from corner to corner with brand names. These people do not seem to be aware of the fact that clothes that are not branded are also available in this world. Then there are teenagers who consider wearing brands a mark of superiority. Here anyone who has Gucci pants is automatically classified “cool”. It’s strange how shoes and clothes draw the line between being cool and vice versa.
Shanzeh says “All of these new fashions are ripping me off. I have no extra money these days to buy anything else once I’m done with clothes.” Her friend adds, “yeah, the other bad point is that designer clothes take a month’s pocket money to buy, but lose their charm in about two weeks.”
However, some individuals feel differently about fashion. “Fashion is meant to come and go, it is not necessary for us to even look at it twice,” is Sana’s opinion. “We should not copy fashion but let fashion copy us, be original.” Some of her friends chimed in comments like “Why wear something that doesn’t even look good on you” and “Fashion is meant for those who have no mind or originality”.
Amber narrated an incident: “About a year ago one of my friends wore a navy blue pair of pants to a school function. The girls ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ over the slick pants and the boys turned around to admire her. My mouth was left open at the price, but even then I craved to own them. I got myself a job after school to save up enough money to buy the same pants in a different colour. It took me two months to get enough money. I finally bought them and wore them to a party. As I entered I saw three other girls wearing the same pants. I never wore any designer stuff after that. Since then I loath designer wear and their outrageous prices.”
It is still beyond me why anyone would want to wear clothes just because of the sticker at the back regardless of the fact whether the clothes actually look good on them or are within their budget. Of course, some people can easily afford them but even then why promote foreign brands. Think about it.
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