Fashion
When clothes speak
ZUBIN VAKIL
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Our clothes are unique creations that appeal to all the five senses…
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Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy
Beyond utility: Crafted to communicate your essence.
If clothes were only a tangible, visual and intrinsic medium, why would the senses feel so satiated? If our clothes only covered our bodies, why does our spirit come alive? Why would we use our clothes as instruments of intention? If our clothes were objects of concealment, why would they have controlling powers? If our clothes are just slotted into categories as per usage, why do they tend to have tongues or represent the action behind the person? Why is a person known to have good taste when taste is associated with the palate, when clothes are just a matter of good choice? Why do we say someone’s dressed loud when it’s only a bright colour and maybe overtly embellished?
We associate our emotions with clothes — I’m fed up with this coat or I’m bored of this skirt. This dress makes me feel strong. I feel powerful with this suit on. I feel dead in this trouser. This blouse enlivens my senses. That sweater brings back memories I want to forget. Wow! What a delectable gown! That’s a mean power suit. Surreal ensemble! Feel so flirty when I wear this sassy skirt.
Heightening the effect
All the above emotions perform the senses of “touch and feel” with an action related to it. The smell of new clothes makes us want to sink into its scents. The use of perfumes could also pull out many dimensions when it comes to completing one’s toilette. Smell is one of the most formidable of the senses and one would not want to leave it behind while in the process of dressing.
When we array ourselves with vestments of our preferences, we want the world to see the harmonious visual, to applaud our taste or want to desire us, to smell the complete procedure as it sends reverberations down one’s spine. We want them to hear the unspoken words in the silent language of clothes and finally where our clothes touch us, with the rightful rights they have been given, we want the world to wish they could touch us in their fantasies as they have been only imparted a visual right.
The feel of clothes against our body sprays a gamut of sensations ranging from comfort to warmth, sensuality to protection and bondage to liberation. That various fabrics make us feel soft, smooth or satiny is another side to the sense of touch. Clothes are aligned with taste for the very reason that ingredients are combined imaginatively to culminate in a resultant flavour. As the human tongue is the sole arbiter of taste, so is the well put together wardrobe with each piece in unified style. The product of mixing, blending, arranging and serving those pieces is sorted out as tasteful style. The above can be associated with a well garnished and decorated dish.
Different intentions
The sense of the audible is equated with dress as each ensemble conveys a language of its own. A shirt, coat or a jacket, a blouse, a team, a set or a separate, defines and spells for itself an adjective, a motive, a purpose and an intention. Why is a black dress called sophisticated and a red one saucy? There is no such gospel truth about either of them. Why is a rustic hunting jacket read as hardwearing or rugged? A drag queen’s get-up might be called trashy, come hither or in your face? That is because, the wearer has spelt it out and placed the pieces of clothing in a manner that the opposite person hears it coming.
The senses of “seeing” and “hearing” are juxtaposed so as to say “that blouse is so feminine!” This does not go on to mean that literally the blouse is a male or female. It is viewed externally and purely because of its fragile, slender cut and construction, so as to mimic a woman’s build and sensitive character. The human senses are designed for reaction. Just as every action has a certain specific reaction, similarly, in the context, the garment is the actor in the action and the reactor is the viewer in question. Apart from reaction, there is also comprehension after which there is an acceptance. Once the entire pulse is felt and the manner absorbed and determined with reason, boredom sets in and so the senses start again.
Clothes speak to be heard and seen, and to be thought of, and about touching several other sensory systems belonging to varied sections of society with distinguished tastes.
The author is a designer who is with NIFT, Hyderabad
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