Storytelling through Fashion:How We Shape, Share, or Hide Ourselves in the World

By: Rebelle Summers @therebellewriter 

Across many societies throughout history, exists evidence of some kind of social classification system. This would be for example, determined by a person’s presumed nobility or by the trade they practiced. While nobility still hold a tremendous amount of clout in certain societies, the earth began to shift with the Industrial Revolution by dissolving some barriers to a more privileged existence to many whom it previously eluded. It did this by not just determining class by what one did or what family they were born into, but by intrinsically linking a person’s worth and position in society by how much economic power they held. One way to signify one’s status was through clothing. The colors, type of textiles, amount and access to clothing, and whether garments served utilitarian purposes or not would be obvious signs of a person’s rank, which then would determine how that person was able to participate in society and in what ways. 

In The Prince and The Pauper, a work of historical fiction by American novelist and humorist Mark Twain, Prince Edward (later King Edward VI of England) and an impoverished young man, Tom Canty, whose physical resemblance astonishes the prince on a chance meeting, exchange garb in an experiment to see just how the other half lives. For the prince, it is nothing but a bemusing whim he wishes to engage in naively presuming an ease of existence he is accustomed to, but for Tom Canty it is a chance to escape a life of hardship wherein to be poor is to be penalized brutally and regularly from all sides. While much of the plot of this story may seem unrealistic in this day and age of social media where images of the rich and famous are no longer just splashed across the covers of magazines or grocery store tabloids, but where everyone is a potential paparazzo or media magnate, that someone as high status and as highly visible as a monarch would be able to get away with such an experiment. What does persist are the ways in which we perceive and treat others as well as weave stories about ourselves through how we dress. As well, the more privileges a person holds, the more access they have to stories with which to narrate about themselves. 

Mark Twain’s tale may have taken place in the 1500s, but the book came out in a post-Industrial Revolution western world where relationships to capitalism and class became more entrenched than ever before. While Colonialism changed the game of the social class systems, it didn’t invent the concept and practice of social hierarchies. In these current times, and depending on a variety of factors, it’s not as easy to determine someone’s societal/economic status based on their clothing alone. In fact, there are even more stories to tell about ourselves - or hide - than ever before. One trend that has become more and more prevalent in recent memory is that of the ultra-wealthy dressing down. While many love to love and hate a Paris Hilton or Real Housewife for flaunting their extravagance into everyone’s living rooms and on their screens, there is at least a sense that they are being somewhat up front about who they are and what they value as opposed to someone like Mark Zuckerberg who is notorious for almost exclusively living in his hoodie and jeans. The current modern trend of “stealth wealth” or “quiet luxury” has been making headlines of late, seemingly in response to shows like Succession and court appearances by Gwyneth Paltrow (as reported by Holly Bullock at Stylist) portraying ultra-rich characters in clothing, though made from the finest fabrics, ensuring they don’t stand out from the crowd. Tangentially, as a by-product of COVID-19, people are feeling more inclined to use their purchasing power more sustainably on fewer, more pricey, and well-made pieces and using their time more deliberately rather than focused on their appearance and getting ready. While I wouldn’t characterize Zuckerberg’s style as “stealth wealth”, the story that his appearance is giving, like the characters of Succession, is that of, “Don’t pay attention to the man behind the curtain.” 

The perceived insidiousness of wealthy folks dressing to “blend in” and seem more relatable based on their understated outward appearance may be just another way for them to preserve their own tax bracket status. By seeming relatable, unthreatening, and not like “those rich people” who seem more than happy to exploit working class folks for their own benefit, those with immense wealth can certainly fly under the radar by seeming more “normal” when engaging in the same or similar kinds of exploitation. And whether it’s deliberate or not it also gives the false sense to those being exploited that if that guy can make it to that position, so can they, solely based on what a person looks and sounds like without any regard to the community or institutionalized forces that aided in that person’s “success.” There’s a big difference between a person who wears Carhartt clothing, for example, because they romanticize the look of a person who works and lives in conditions that require tougher workwear and a person who works in an industry where clothing like that is a necessity. Just as there is a huge difference between being able to pay for $200 ripped, acid-washed jeans and having had to keep a pair of jeans for so long that they begin to wear and tear. 

It’s also not just the stories we want to tell about ourselves through our style, but also about who’s looking. It’s not always possible for people, regardless of class, to dress down. Many people have corporate jobs in which they must present a certain way. On top of that, there is a pressure in many societies to “keep up with the Joneses,” which translated means, “don’t look poor.” It’s a very confusing narrative that puts a tremendous amount of financial pressure on individuals and families who may be living paycheck to paycheck. In an article about the confusion and barriers of dress codes for young professionals entering the workforce for the website Morning Brew, Matty Merritt identifies a variety of different cases in which the requirements of dress codes are disproportionate to the gap in pay required to attain said recommended attire. One example included a recent graduate being required to purchase and wear a full suit… for an unpaid internship. Another cited a law student working at a prestigious law firm who reported, “Everyone else would come in something that looked new almost every day… At one point, I even got a comment from my office manager if I had already worn one of those three [newly purchased] shirts earlier that week” (told to Matty Merritt for Morning Brew). 

And forget it if you are plus-sized where the hunt for “professional” attire can be much more challenging. There are 

many more options for straight-sized individuals leaving plus-sized folks having to spend more time on an arduous journey and possibly needing to get clothes tailor-made, which can become incredibly pricey. Let’s also not forget that hair and makeup are an enormous part of the package as well. Janice Gassam Asare for Forbes writes about ways that hair bias affects and shows up in the workplace through discriminatory policies, hiring bias, microaggressions, and inequitable treatment. “A hairstyle deemed ‘too Black’ can not only thwart a person’s likelihood to be hired, but the discrimination continues once an employee is hired… Black employees who change from a more ‘professional’ (read: white/Eurocentric) hairstyle to a Black hairstyle find that they can experience inequitable treatment from both leadership and peers.” Unfortunately, when it comes to the work that people produce and the quality thereof, it still seems to come second to the ways in which they are perceived by others. 

As illustrated, not conforming to certain societal expectations of appearance can have consequences. As can conforming to them at the expense of one’s own freedom and sense of self. A paper on gender euphoria by Will J. Beischel, Stéphanie E. M. Gauvin, and Sari M. van Anders published by the NIH (National Institutes for Health) cite Ashley and Ells (2018) describing the experience as, “a distinct enjoyment or satisfaction caused by the correspondence between the person’s gender identity and gendered features associated with a gender other than the one assigned at birth.” They continue, “Other researchers have operationalized gender euphoria as distress relief and wellness promotion as measured by the Positive and Negative Affect Scale… or as a form of “trans resilience.” Though gender euphoria is not exclusive to trans and non-binary folks, the road to matching one’s interior image with their external one is often a hard-won battle for that community in particular. And even when that connection is bridged for an individual, it doesn’t always translate to being treated any better in our patriarchal society and can even open them up to more danger. 

Often our appearance is the first communication with the outside world of a shift within ourselves and of the courage to make that known. Steps like dressing in gender-affirming ways leads to more freedom in our lives. The freedom to speak and behave differently and generally be more in touch with the truth of who one is. In May of this year, the US action fund Everytown for Gun Safety released a report citing that “2022 was a deadly year for trans and gender non-conforming people in the U.S., and Latina and Black transgender women were disproportionately impacted by the violence. This pattern shows no sign of stopping in 2023.” A social media post stating, “To be visibly Queer is to choose your happiness over your safety” was shared repeatedly after the untimely murder of 28-year-old dancer O’Shae Sibley at a gas station in New York… for dancing. Whether pushing back against restrictive gendered dress codes or behavioral ones, that sentiment resonates throughout the queer experience. In response to those who initiate violence toward queer folks, scholar, speaker, performer, and multi-dimensional light of a human, Alok V. Menon said in an interview posted to their Instagram, “Your grief and your pain and your rage is valid, it’s just misdirected. It shouldn’t be directed against vulnerable trans and non-binary communities. We’re in the same fight. We should all work together against the gender binary. A system that, not just ritualizes, but romanticizes the gross miscalculations that allow us to divide billions of complex ethereal souls into one of two categories. All of us are suffering and harmed by a system that reduces us to the quantum of a body.” This realization that who we are is not wrong, but it’s the system we’re born into telling us that to be accepted means we must hate aspects of ourselves to the point of not being able to recognize ourselves is filled with grief and confusion, but most importantly, freedom. 

Dressing, for most people, is an everyday social contract we hold between ourselves and the other members of society. We dress for the weather, religious reasons, and special occasions. Some people put in minimal effort into their appearance while others full-on curate a story they want to tell. The Rose family in the beloved Canadian comedy, Schitt’s Creek, continued to dress as if they hadn’t just lost their millions, seeming to pay homage to their prior life or armor up against their current reality. While many real-life millionaires and billionaires that peacock far less, espouse a sense of frugality, not wanting to draw attention to themselves and their lives, and conformity. How we dress tells us so much, and yet, so little about ourselves and the consequences for deviating from dominant norms can be brutal and deeply unjust. It begs the question, what do we owe each other with our appearance? If anything at all? And is it possible to be more discerning when it comes to taking a person in fully and not just falling for the book’s cover?

Throughout The Prince and The Pauper, the prince is met with the harsh realities of being poor in 1500s London where he is either ignored, a victim of others’ violent behavior, and deemed mentally unstable when attempting to move through the world with some dignity. While the pauper, Tom Canty, now in royal garb is shown how much more easeful life can be and how one’s own gifts can be empowered when given support and a chance. In the end they did switch back their roles, with the newly crowned young king granting Tom Canty a special place in court. In addition, he issued new decrees in an attempt to right some of the horrors he experienced in Tom Canty’s shoes that he’d previously been sheltered from. Unlike the story, it is highly improbable that wealthy people dressing down and stealthily will ever experience the Freaky Friday of what it’s like to be someone they’re not solely based on how they choose to present themselves to the world. And it’s hard to say when the day will come when how we present ourselves will just be deemed as an extension of our ethereal souls and not an evaluation, judgment of our character, or a death sentence. But the only way to shift the outer world is one inner world at a time and an openness to embracing the unknown.