Clothes & Modernity

I have always thought clothes to be an extension of yourself and not the defining parameter. In movies and on TV, clothes help in the characterization and defining the character. The ‘bad’ woman or the “vamp” is always wearing bolder clothes with plunging necklines whereas the heroine would wear simple sarees and salwar suits. But the 90s re-defined this relationship between clothes and character. Now the protagonist and the antagonist wore similar clothes.

What now started to happen was that only modernity started getting defined by clothes more than anything for a character. So while the heroine and the other women wore jeans, the blouse for other women would be revealing whereas for the heroine would be demure. The heroine would wear longer sleeves, pastels and demure necklines. The “vamp” would wear short skirts, tight dresses and low necklines. And of the heroine ever crossed the boundary and wore something “vamp” like, she would face consequences such as eve — teasing or attempt to rape most of the times.

What we see on TV is still stuck in the 80s and before era as there is a clear distinction between both. Some shows don’t have it very obvious but it still exists in the majority of shows.

While clothes make the man, the subtle distinction which happens to characterize a girl as good or bad has been done through their clothes in Bollywood and TV for the longest time. When politicians then comment something similar there is a huge outrage. Why don’t we even ask for better treatment in our movies and on TV for our female stars?

Also, modernity is always intertwined with wrong/bad things and this kind of thinking will set a horrifying precedent for a country with more than half the population being uneducated. Wearing short clothes does not mean the girl is not cultured or she deserves everything bad that happens to her.

We need to ask certain prevalent questions going forward:

1. Why is the divorce of short clothes and modern thoughts not being brought about?

2. Why do we need more character agnostic clothing?

Clothes don’t define modernity but thoughts do!