Our worlds are shrinking, and our minds and hearts expanding. For long, identities have been wrapped in layers of mores and social codes, the mysterious idea of “appropriate” being invoked to determine how we make simple choices. A tangible outcome has been the way we clothe ourselves.
For long, clothes have been a great differentiator between the sexes—a man’s suit was supposed to denote power, virility and success, while a woman’s dress conveyed grace and docility. There are numerous examples in history that prove the contrary—the frocked, preening men in Anthony van Dyck’s paintings, the unisex unstitched cloth (the dhoti, antariya and lungi) and gender-less juttis of the Indian subcontinent, the skirt-wearing Egyptian kings and kilt-wearing Scots... But stereotypes go deep; the “colour rule” established by Ladies’ Home Journal as far back as 1918, which marked pink as the colour for girls and blue for boys, somehow permeated to present day, and countless young boys and girls across the world go through colour-coded childhoods.
But change is brewing. When Yves Saint Laurent introduced the Le Smoking in 1966, it was revolutionary in the sense that it tailored a “masculine” silhouette to suit a woman’s body. It was a political statement as much as sartorial; though, in today’s world it would raise no eyebrows. In 2018, the silhouettes, fits, materials and colours reserved for male and female are intermingling. Tartan for him and florals for her is passé. So if Jeremy Scott sends out male models in fishnets and boas, or Jaden Smith rocks a skirt in a Louis Vuitton campaign, and Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik front a US Vogue with the cover line “shop each other’s closet”, it is only an acknowledgement of the fact that gender roles and codes are a social construct.
Denne historien er fra October 2018-utgaven av VOGUE India.
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Denne historien er fra October 2018-utgaven av VOGUE India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Breathe In, Breathe Out
A powerful tool to help you master your nervous system or another biohacking buzzword? SIMONE DHONDY explores the inhalations and exhalations of breathwork
Red Pill, Blue Pill
India's nutraceutical industry is booming thanks to advanced technology, distrust of the medical system and rising vanity. With multivitamins becoming purer and more effective, NIDHI GUPTA finds out if supplements have become the new serum
Sign of the times
No longer do you need to have an answer to, \"What is the significance of this?\" when people point to your new tattoo. ARMAN KHAN discovers that everything is on the table when you get inked temporarily
Return to form
Watching the world's most elite athletes deliver the best performances of their careers rekindled SONAKSHI SHARMA's own love for sports
Dimple, All Day
YOU MAY HAVE WATCHED HER ON THE BIG SCREEN FOR OVER FIVE DECADES, BUT DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF ASSUMING THAT YOU KNOW DIMPLE KAPADIA.
MUSIC, TAKE CONTROL
As someone who had always sought safety in numbers, ALIZA FATMA often wondered what her own company would feel like. The answer arrived unexpectedly when she attended her first-ever music festival, one of the largest in the world, all alone
Let it grow
When we think of hardworking farmers toiling in India's scorching heat, we often think of men, the sweat on their brow, the sinews in their arms. JYOTI KUMARI speaks to four women who are championing the invisible female labour that keeps these fields running
YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE
When armless archer Sheetal Devi set her sights on the Paralympic Games this year, she knew she had a tough journey ahead of her. Luckily, her mother was with her every step of the way.
Beauty and the feast
The appeal of Indian weddings has always been in a sprawling spread. For additional bragging rights, Aditi Dugar recommends going beyond designer tablecloths and monogrammed napkins.
Sweet serendipity
From a scavenger hunt-inspired proposal to a Moroccan-themed baraat, Malvika Raj and Armaan Rai's love story prioritised playfulness throughout their blended celebrations.