Apparel as a form of expression of the self

Very few things besides apparel allow people to make a choice that is easy and revolutionary at the same time. The act of putting on clothes every morning might seem something grown weak, repetitive, superficial. However, it is not the case. It is quite the contrary actually. 

There is no need to bring up the very famous scene from the movie “The Devil Wears Prada”  in which Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), the legendary editor-in-chief of a fashion magazine, teaches the newly hired Andrea Sachs (Anne Hathaway) an unforgettable lesson in fashion style, as the young woman shows no interest or inclination for fashion and apparel. It is very clear that the way we decide to dress ourselves, every day, is the most immediate form through which we communicate to the world who we are, without being superficial. 

And it is a fact that actually overlooks (when possible) the forms of fashion: it is something much more significant, pertaining to an anthropological and sociological dimension. It has to do with the human being and their social skills and, above all, with their will to claim their own uniqueness or, on the contrary, their belonging to a uniform socio-cultural group, always being however a statement of one’s own identity.

On a closer look, making a statement of one’s own identity, even by choosing the clothes we wear, is indeed an expression of freedom: the freedom to express our character, our tastes, our choices, small or big they be, through our apparel.

The construction of the identity of each one of us is expressed also thanks, and mainly through, our small daily choices, such as identifying our style, in which we feel free to be ourselves, at last, unreservedly. With regard to this, as Teddy Group, we are proud of being a tool for accessible freedom to millions of people, since the company was established.

After all, history taught us that the manufacturing of a simple item of clothing is actually much more than that: it can be turned into a true cultural and social revolution, such as the case of the miniskirt. The miniskirt was a symbol of 1960s and was created by the British fashion designer Mary Quant, who in 1963 started to manufacture the first one, drawing inspiration also from the young women in London who were the first to cut their skirts to make them shorter. Over the years it has become much more than a simple item of clothing: a true symbol of women’s liberation, sexual liberation, a tool in the struggle for female emancipation and women’s right to choose freely how to dress, without being forced to comply to the strict social mores of the period. 

A similar path or maybe an even more revolutionary one was that of Bikini: you just need to think that it is called Bikini because it was invented on the same days (July 1946) when the USA were testing the atomic bomb in the Bikini islands. Much more than many sociological analyses, this story clarifies the impact that the invention of the bikini had on the conformist society of the time. It was a female swimming costume, designed by Louis Réard, an engineer who had just taken over the lingerie workshop of his mother, once again the result of an insight inspired by observing the real world: he had actually seen many women on the beaches in Saint Tropez who used to roll up their swimming costumes as much as possible to fight the heat and get a more even tan. So he had the idea of designing an item of clothing that was “guilty” of showing women’s belly button and, because of this was fiercely opposed by the Vatican and most of the public institutions of the period for many years, because it was considered too provocative, immoral, lascivious. It was not until the mid1950s and 1960s that the Bikini stood out as the favorite swimming costume chosen by an increasing number of women on the beach, a tool to claim their own freedom, their right to happiness, also thanks to divas such as Rita Hayworth and Brigitte Bardot who chose to wear it, thus turning it into a cult item of clothing.

The importance of the social impact of apparel is marked by the spread of inclusive sizing, that is the opportunity to choose your own style, without an ideal model of canonical beauty, including only some sizes, that would make it impossible. Fashion and tastes change, so what was revolutionary 60 years ago it is no longer revolutionary now and modern society expresses new sensibilities and challenges. However, freedom to choose is still here to stay. There is the right to happiness, authenticity and uniqueness.

And it is often also expressed through our small, daily choices.