Is our fashion enthusiastic desperately grappling since the pandemic? What is the latest COVID-19 fashion statement?
Fashion is particularly cyclical, it is usually defined by cycles of capital, culture and commerce. Something cool one day is naff the next. And if you can hold on to a style long enough, one day it will come back and be cool again. Whereas the pandemic has interrupted that, there is a shift in clothing that is driven by circumstances, but not trend.
Online fashion retailer ASOS found out a high spike in baggy jean sales since lockdown. Since March, a +222% increase in sales on wider fits apparel including skater and baggy jeans compared to last year. The must-have skinny jeans have always been the common fit among ASOS customers, so this is a sudden change that we didn’t expect.
Is this symbolic of changing sartorial tastes? Or do people just simply prefer the comfy relaxed jeans, particularly in this unprecedented period? The coronavirus pandemic may dismantle our daily lives and work from home have reacted by our need to ‘dress up’. The top priorities of our clothing are definitely comfortable and comforting.
A crisis can form change and fashion is no exception
The sentiment of dressing down fits the mood right now, which is not a negative thought. Most of us are responding naturally to the pressures and demands of life, we can reconsider the removal of some need of wearing a uniform, or a formal dress or not.
The casual culture is part of a broader and privilege-adjacent moment. We are now looking for new ways to look good and comfortable, without betraying the great leveling that the pandemic has supposedly laid out. However, the truth is that some people are able to dress down and some may not. The reality will reassert itself when lockdown lifts, at a time it will be fully apparent when more people return to a shared working environment.
The newfound comfort that we have discovered in lockdown is either going to stay, or the traditional clothing norms will resume their meaning. This seems to be a small point, but it is vital that the coronavirus pandemic is leading us to a different world. This also applies to clothing just like it applies to anything else.
That could be a trend towards looser and comfortable clothing in general (for me, absolutely!). There is no doubt that clothing has the power to define something and shape it, but the way to demarcating the boundary of work and leisure is all about plausibility. It will be interesting to see if our appetite for baggy jeans will continue, or go back to the beloved skinny jeans when we can actually go out.
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