Every day fashion is evolving. Jeans were a staple in many households with a nice white T-shirt on top. There were casual jeans, mom jeans, party jeans, going out jeans… jeans, jeans, jeans. Although they were versatile, they weren’t the most comfortable. Then there were jeans mixed with elastic to make them more stretchy at the natural folds of your legs and waist. Then there was the abomination called jeggings- jean leggings.
There’s much to talk about the cultural dynamic of the Indian society. Ethnic clothes are more than just mere costumes that are worn on weddings. Many Indian women still wear salwar kameez and sarees on a daily basis. Indian media blames the west for westernising the youth and taking the culture out of the equation. Many rural areas chastise women for wearing jeans. It is very much frowned upon to be culturally diverse. Many women are expected to wear Indian clothes post marriage. “Modern women” are seen as a bane that challenge patriarchy. So, said modern women of cities and small towns are taking a stand- defiantly wearing jeans with kurtis and kameez instead of churidar and salwars.
Jeans are seeing a come back in the flared variety with the zoomers. But they too are moving on from denim fabric to more comfortable variety like synthetic cotton blends found in cargo pants, trousers pants made of polyester, boot cut pants made of lycra, parachute pants made of cotton and just plain straight pants made of jersey. People are choosing comfort first. It is the Americanisation of clothes. In India, leggings are still quite popular with the general population. Leggings are worn with kameez, with short kurtis, with sports bra, even shirts!
Some zoomers are still stuck in what I call the uniform of flared pants with crop tops, but the culture is such that wearing shorts or skirts or dresses to anywhere other than a party or an event is frowned upon. You don’t look decent; you look like you’re not from a good family background. And that’s the sad part, isn’t it? You are judged and ridiculed not from strangers, but your own community.
It is just clothes, you say. But clothes are a part of your identity which represents your culture. And truth be told, our culture is shifting, as things tend to evolve. It is not the Americanisation but the modernisation of the Indian women in our society. And jeans- where it all started with, is a symbol for resistance for us. We will wear jeans (or better, more breathable fabrics) with crop tops or kurtis- the choice is ours. We decide what is our culture, not the media and definitely not the patriarchy.
We as a society are turning towards individualism over a sense of community- and our individuality should be celebrated- not castigated. So, what if most zoomers wear a uniform of crop tops and flared pants? That’s their take on “individuality”. Yeah, I am not going to let that go. It’s just sad. But whatever gives you the freedom to express yourself.