Dress Practice Interview Reflection
Some of the themes that instantly bounced off of the dress practice interview for me were- the role of gender in dress practices, the connection of clothing to personality, following fashion industry trends, and categorization+organization of personal spaces with clothing. I personally found Eddie’s perspective on my question on ‘women dressing in mens clothing versus men dressing in womenswear’ extremely intriguing. The point he brought up based on how society looks down on women, and how dressing in womenswear would be a downgrade in the social hierarchy- versus how dressing in menswear would be considered “power-dressing” was a very interesting conversation; leading me to read more articles on the topic. Additionally, Eddie discussing how he has an emotional attachment to his clothing was also compelling to me. I recently received a pair of vintage jeans from my mother, from when she was in her 20s- and that definitely helped me connect with him, as he mentioned the value of clothing being passed on over the years; acquiring her pair of jeans also made me feel like a time traveler of sorts. This isn’t a regular practice for me, but hearing this is something Eddie does often was fascinating.
In regard to Eddie’s early morning dressing regime, I connected with him on his emphasis on how he puts his bottoms on first; I couldn’t help but completely relate to him on this. However, this is something that happens very subconsciously in my daily dress practice, and not as intentionally when I dwell upon it. This reminded me of Joanne Entwistle’s The Dressed Body as she mentions in her writing “Dress, then, forms part of our epidermis – it lies on the boundary between self and other. The fact that we do not normally develop epidermal self-awareness tells us a lot about our routine relationship to dress” (Entwistle, Joanne, and Elizabeth Wilson. Body Dressing. Oxford: Berg, 2001.) and I completely resonated with how she phrased this idea of the “epidermal self” in her writing. This idea of dress as a second skin, really got me thinking a-lot more than I ever have about dress practices.
Depending on the day, the occasion or my mood- I usually put my pants on first; on a school day, I usually switch between my favorite super high waisted navy jeans, or end up wearing comfy leggings- but the bottoms always come first! To me, picking the bottom first speeds up the process of picking my top, it helps me decide if I feel like being dressy or keeping it casual. Additionally, when it comes to bottoms I usually go for high waisted everything, be it leggings or jeans- I think high waisted bottoms flatter my figure very much, and make me feel more confident.
In terms of organization, Eddie and I do have some things in common, like him- I also love prioritizing my outerwear (jackets and coats) I have a separate garment rack that highlights my faux fur jackets, denim jackets, puffers and wool coats- I love putting them on display and letting them have a space of their own. Something I really love about Eddie’s dressing sense is how he layers his clothing so well, versus my dress practice- I prefer wearing something very summer-y on a cold day, and just put a really warm puffer right over it.
The interview definitely pushed me into reading clothing/dress practices from a more profound, critical and philosophical lens. There are a lot of decisions I make, when it comes to what I wear on a daily basis- that I don’t really think too much about. After this interview I think I am definitely more conscious about the interconnection with clothing and the self; and how everyone’s experience with dress practice is so unique and personal. Clothing and the body holds a very strong relationship that I believe most of us don’t dwell on too much. Clothing goes far beyond just material, it makes an individual feel confident, comfortable, secure and has a very psychological impact as well- it has the power to expose nuances about our personality, but also guard us. Clothing is a form of personal expression, and its power to make us feel a certain way about ourselves is surreal.
