“You are what you wear”

On a stifling day last month, amidst the trousers aisle in Zara I stumbled across a lost soul, indecisive over a pair of grey or green, she was on the verge of an ambush. Me being the psychedelic angel I am, decided to rid the poor woman of her misery and advised her to go for the green ones. And Boom! Just like that we were the new best friends. One thing led to another, conversations flew from her being a newbie to London to us having being brought up in the same city, Delhi, the foul mouthed Britishers, our love for trench coats and much more.

In that one instance, I realised, that if it weren’t for those Zara pants, she would have felt like an outcast in this huge city like I was, for a very long time and I wouldn’t have met a new Bollywood movie buddy. 

Spiderman rightly said that with great power comes great responsibility. He wouldn’t have been so philosophical if not for his sparse spandex web suit, which couldn’t even fit a fly nevertheless, gave him a sense of power and inimitable strength. But, what it also gave him was that image of an outcast, someone who didn’t follow the norms of the society.

It’s easy to become a social Pariah. You get dropped out of lunch invites, you’re the last to get to know about parties and life gets transformed into a real life Mean Girl scenario. In our puritanical society, each pariah has gotten a direct entry due to their ostensible weaknesses: extreme shyness, flashy fashion victim get ups, the goody-too-shoes nerdy look, inability to communicate or the smug-bad girl image. You’re made fun of, looked upon as ET and regarded as unworthy of ones time as hunting for a pair of sunny yellow jeans.

But, being an outcast builds character. It presents to you an opportunity to be yourself and not get driven away by the herd-mentality. You get an outside perspective of the hypocrisy of the so-called ‘It’ world.

But, does that mean you have to be labeled as a pariah wherever you go? Heck no! I have a fool-proof solution to your problem: Fashion. 

As superficial as it may sound, a woman with the right clothes can just about do anything. Even overcome this tag of an outcast. Our major inspiration is Kangana Ranaut. Her recent up do in a Dior ‘16 suit complete with full-length gloves and berry lips overwhelmed us to such an extent that we forgot all about her disastrous movie choices.

It’s rightly been said, ‘you are what you wear’. So, if one morning you decide to wear a meat dress and walk on the road, then, I’m not sure if you’ll be an outcast or not, but you surely will be a target for dogs, if not lady gaga.  Jokes apart, fashion is a podium that accepts individuals from all walks of life and gives them a sense of belonging. It’s easier to bond over the new Chiara shoes than a drop in shares in the stock market and let’s not fool ourselves, its much more fun.

It’s fashion that unites women all over the world.

Just like Carrie found a hound of Middle Eastern woman dressed in the next Autumn winter collection in the dodgy allies of an Abu Dhabi souk, similarly all of us create an affiliation with each other as soon as we pick up our new pair of Nike kicks. Our closet isn’t frivolous; it contains a myriad of channels to heightened performances, a selection of gateways to the best versions of yourself.

Under this huge polka dot umbrella of fashion, a girl with round vintage glasses and boyfriend jeans is as much on trend as is a girl in gothic coal-lined eyes. 

The barriers of distinctions that are imposed on us in a norm-based society get muddled over the barriers of gingham and stripes. Society is obsessed with surfaces and, it is full of victims, almost like a notorious prostate beneath the clothes, with fashion being an antidote, a satellite to broadcast your inner diva, which the world conveniently ignores in the name of your persona non grata image.

But amidst all this chaos, you often stumble upon the likes of you: shy, agreeable, peculiar, colorful, someone, who with a little nudge will go on and on about her favorite 90’s fashion icon. 

Moreover, it’s no secret that assembling an outfit is like a social armor; you need the right pieces for premium protection, the right color for the perfect camouflage and the right attitude for the maximum result. So, outcast or not, fashionable or not, just remember that whoever you are, the world will always be as intimidating as you want it to be. The moment you decide you don’t give a damn, you’ll become your own diva.