Fashion has always been political

It’s the earliest question I can remember being asked regularly.

“What do you want your wedding dress to look like?”

It was a harmless inquiry that normally came from a grandmother or the mother of one of my friends, but at age seven it was a testament to where society told me to place my value.

Fashion is political. It always has been.

This is the world we live in, and on the days where we do survive, the story isn’t how we made it to shore safely, but how disquieting our decision was to wear a tacky orange life vest to do it.

It’s easy to look to the political arena and point out the blatant sexism surrounding women. Hillary Clinton was repeatedly chastised for her pantsuits, while her counterparts, all of which were male, were relegated to having to decide between which red or blue tie they would wear. But fashion has also proven to provide a trademark emblem for political movements.

The pink pussy hats that adorned virtually every woman who attended the Women’s March in January 2017, found their way onto the runway of Milan Fashion Week where every model and designer for Missoni, wore one during the finale walk. Or the white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville, uniformed themselves in polos and khaki cargo shorts, a far resemblance from their older generational counterparts who wore white hoods.

Individuals and groups have long been dressing themselves to show solidarity with their political beliefs, but why is it that women are still censured for their choice of daily attire?

Fashion is the freedom of expression and the blatant misogyny that is rooted in women wearing blazers with shoulder pads and blistering their feet into high heels so they are capable of looking men in the eye when they speak, is only skimming the surface of the problem.

Women are programmed to look polished at all times. They are expected to speak in turn, and God forbid they touch their hair and say “um,” while they do it. It’s a double standard that has only begun to be cracked, and wearing a t-shirt that reads, “FEMINIST,” is not a get out of jail free card for standing alongside women and supporting them.

Women are repeatedly told that the things we enjoy disqualify us from the conversation, but then are berated for not participating in the conversation itself. Spoiler alert: You can enjoy romantic comedies, frosé, and a late night online shopping binge, and still have a poignant passion for the Syrian refugee crisis and an unequivocal desire to solve gun violence. They are not mutually exclusive.

Fashion is power and fashion has the power to ignite conversation and ignite change. Who can forget Melania Trump’s “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?,” jacket that she was photographed wearing on her way to Texas, to visit immigrant children who were taken from their parents and detained. The jacket received an immediate backlash and the debate around what we wear speaks for us, and because our words have power, we should dress wisely.

It’s a hardline to walk and for some dressing each day can be a minefield, but the truth of the matter is simple, expressing yourself through fashion is bold, beautiful and your right. Dress for yourself and if I could give my seven-year-old-self any advice it would be, don’t worry about what your wedding gown will look like, you’ve got far more important days to dress for.

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