Episode 10: Clothes - Packaging the Person

We wear clothes all the time. The scope for clothes to make life better is huge. Do we pay clothing the attention it deserves?

Transcript

Kevin: 0:04

Most of us wear clothes every day of our lives. How do we decide what to wear and what do those choices say about us? More importantly, how does it make us feel? Welcome to another episode of the series. Make Life Better by Design With Me, Kevin Drayton. Clothes, like just about everything else are of course designed now, wittingly or unwittingly. The clothing designer that is designer with a capital D conveys. All kinds of messages in an item of clothing. Similarly, wittingly or unwittingly the wearer IE designer with a small D, with the choices that he or she makes. But clothing covers a multitude of design elements. I mean, how something looks, how something feels, what it's made of, how durable it is, whether or not it can be repaired or recycled. What It's been chosen for. And what cultural, emotional and psychological reference it evokes. They evoke. And of course that's just to name a few. I mean, just the color of an item can generate reams of discussion. So. Clothing consciously or unconsciously places us in particular positions on the great board game of life. During the course of our lives, our position on that board will most likely change. But it's a, it's a paradox that rather like one of those mind boggling conundrums of physics and science. Where we are on the board often depends on who is looking at us at the time. And of course, the great board game of sartorial life cannot be discussed without referring to uniforms and or costumes. Do, do you wear a uniform or costume? I think it's almost impossible to avoid it nowadays. The original intention of uniforms was probably to enable a quick and easy distinction between friend and foe, uh, quickly followed in the military by the distinction of friend, from friend What to The untrained eye may seem like three military jackets all the same may perhaps be distinguished by little more than the spacing of the buttons on those jackets. The concept of the old school tie only exists because schools and clubs and so on, adopted uniforms. Just like so many other organizations where differentiation by clothing can be employed. It will have been at some time or another, the fact that you or I may not notice it conveys messages to those that do. There've even been times in history when certain items of clothing have been prescribed banned by those who didn't want riffraff, uh, to wear the same thing. So every grouping in society has used clothing to signal something about itself. You know, the country gentleman, the intellectual, the sports person, which is of course a complete world in itself. The dandy, the mods, the rockers, punks, goths, cosplayers of all stripes. In fact, I defy anyone to dress in such a way that their attire signals absolutely nothing. Although it would be a fairly pointless exercise, really, I think it's far better to understand how clothing speaks and learn, well, at least the rudiments of the language. At one level, I think it's a courtesy to your fellow men and women to dress appropriately for whatever a given occasion may be. It's true that sat all rules ha ha change all the time. And we can no more hope to be fluent at all times in all circumstances than we can be actually comfortable in every situation in which we find ourselves. The great interweb is absolutely a wash with bloggers and YouTubers who are keen to tell you what you should and shouldn't wear no matter your age station or inside leg. For men. Two bloggers. I would recommend for a more thoughtful, in depth approach to the subject of male clothing are permanent style and gray fox. So far I've talked about types and styles of clothes and what they may communicate to others. More practical matters also deserve attention, clothing for specific activities, uh, such as Arctic Explorers, firemen, and deep sea divers are far too specialist for me to trespass upon more general considerations such as. How well clothes are made, what fibers and fabrics they contain, and how long they will last your average commuter, wage slave, parent, and party goer. Also merit consideration. There has, in recent years, of course, been a major backlash against fast fashion. We've also seen a resurgence of interest in natural fibers and fabrics. Accepting as always that there's good, poor and indifferent in in all of them living as I do in the capital of cloth, the subtleties and intricacies. Of how sheep's overcoat can be turned into a huge range of garments. There's a major part of this area as raison dera to come back for a moment to the business of uniforms A, I must protest at the idea that a uniform is no more than the general impression it gives. Uh, a cheap and nasty polyester outfit is not the same as a beautifully constructed garment in wool and cotton, even if they look similar as you sweep by on the bus. Uniforms of the armed forces are absolute works of art. Not only that, but they use top quality fabrics. They're built like tanks and they are expected and they will last for generations. My constant design mantra of long life, loose fit, low energy applies just as much to clothing as any other type of design. Although I should say that by a loose fit, uh, I'm not referring to the view held by many parents that a child needs clothes it can grow into now. Rather, it refers to clothing that can be used in a variety of situations. Anything too specific is naturally very limiting. Uh, the clown costume that may be absolutely perfect in the circus ring or at a, a kiddie's party is one thing, but if you wear it round waitroses, or when you are strolling past a a school gate, it's probably not a good idea. However, I fear I'm sleepwalking into a minefield here, so I'll retrace my steps before the inevitable. If I may make a further recommendation. Should you wish to delve deeper into the business of long life clothing versus. Fast fashion, sweatshops, and environmental impact. Please read the book Less by Patrick Grant. Yep. He's the bloke who's on the great British Sewing Bee, and the book is published by, let me check, William Collins. It's. A serious but highly readable book about a subject that touches all of us. So the final aspect of making life better by design that I'm gonna mention when it, when it comes to clothing. Is how clothing makes us feel. Feeling good in your clothes is to me, an everyday way to make life better. You don't want to be too warm nor too cold. Clothes don't want to be too tight, but not overly loose. They need to be appropriate for whatever situation you are in so that you don't feel awkward and you don't offend whoever it was that invited you to a night at the opera or an afternoon at the Bingo. And should you catch a glimpse of yourself in a shop window, well, you know, you can allow yourself a little frisson of satisfaction. What it boils down to, as far as I'm concerned, for anyone who's looking for a very simple guide to how clothing can make life better, is to wear clean well fitting clothes, preferably in natural fibers. That probably feel like old friends and don't attract the wrong kind of attention. If only everything in life were that simple. However, thank you once again for joining me and I hope we'll meet again soon. Meanwhile, please take whatever opportunities come your way to make life better by design, by for now.