Clothing Cultures - Post-Pandemic Dress, Sept 2020

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, ‘essential workers’ in the United States – including nurses, delivery drivers, grocery clerks and waitresses – bore the brunt of extreme scepticism over public health measures such as lockdowns and wearing facemasks. Conflicting messages from the president, the Centers for Disease Control and state and local governments turned mask mandates into political battles. Some businesses chose to require masks for employees and/or customers, but others refused to allow them as part of the uniform. This article focuses on a specific category of employees – food service workers, typically women and people of colour – in order to highlight how employers made decisions about masking early in the pandemic and how individual workers were affected by the turmoil. In the United States, employers have tremendous power to decide how employees are (and are not) allowed to dress. For many businesses, uniforms are part of the company’s brand identity. When employees at Starbucks wear their iconic green aprons with the Starbucks logo, they embody the company in their interactions with customers; changes can be made, but they happen more slowly than changes in mainstream fashion. Testimony at public hearings on mask mandates has revealed deep concerns about religious freedom, government intrusion, scientific knowledge and the cost of medical care (since the United States does not have universal healthcare). When businesses decide whether masks should be required, allowed or forbidden as part of the dress code, it is not just a public health decision but a branding decision with short-term and long-term consequences. Even before the pandemic, face coverings were largely associated with criminals, political activists (such as Occupy and Antifa) and ultra-conservative Muslims.

In the context of the current protests in Chile, women are more empowered than they have been in previous years; they dare to protest freely in the streets to express themselves and demand their rights. They enhance their political message through their bodies by wearing accessories such as blindfolds or hoods. They have transformed these objects into symbols of protest. Women protesting with bare torsos or wearing only bras are some of the meaningful ways that some women are currently expressing themselves politically in Chile. These dress/undressed objects are more than simple pieces of fabric: they express political dissent and women’s vulnerability. This article will consider the role and significance that women’s dressing plays in the current Chilean social movement from different perspectives. This research will analyse clothing through case studies on three women – María, Rosa and Almendra – who belong to feminist collectives that have actively participated in the recent protests in Santiago de Chile. The interviews conducted were anonymized, so fictitious names are presented. María belongs to a collective that carries out performances related to liberation through dance and acting. Rosa and Almendra belong to a well-known collective who, through their characteristic red hoods and dances, express their political dissent by singing songs alluding to revolt. In all cases, textiles are a fundamental part of their characterization and identity formation. This article will ultimately argue that dressing, in the context of protest, is an element of power, both in its role of granting freedom and empowering unity for a collective struggle.

Lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic meant an adieu to formal wear. ‘Oh no! How to be me?’ – I panicked, facing an identity crisis, as suits that visually defined me were irrelevant. I allowed clothes to lead the way through the crisis and here present a qualitative research, based on self-ethnography of wardrobe and inner, psychological work with clothing as per guidelines of processwork psychology, involving two ways of thinking: logical and experiential. The objects of the research are formal suits (defining pre-pandemic, ‘normal’ visual identity), sweatpants (a threat to the identity) and overalls (the lockdown outfit). Logical work uses interpretation, association, memory, intellectual understanding of individual, cultural and social perception of clothing and body. Experiential work notices body responses, examines posture, movement and sensory experiences, explores visual images, shapes, colours, textures, details and their appeal. The loss is approached as a death of a certain part of self (formal, official, busy), which gives way to a new, emerging way of being, as specific features of clothes provide a hint of continuity and a link to revival. Dissection of judgement (e.g. lazy) gives access to transformative qualities (idle, effortless). Integration of these qualities means making the unknown known and finally my own. The article remarks on changes in dressing practice, e.g. in styling, care, which reflect the transformative lockdown experience and their impact on social interactions.

The article explores key fashion transformations during the lockdowns of 2020 and emphasizes the main problems that have to be solved as a result of these changes. The world of fashion with production processes, markets, marketing and consumer interactions is facing a critical demand for transformations that reflect the global situation on one hand, and local issues on the other hand. The pandemic and related restrictions and new rules at work and home determine new fashion patterns and establish a new system of fashion values and standards. Consumers have enough time to reassess the meaning of fashion itself and various fashion items in their own wardrobes, along with their quantity and quality, as well as brands’ input regarding the discussion around sustainability. Firstly, the article describes the influence of the lockdowns on the fashion system, in particular concerning its values, standards and behavioural practices. Secondly, the article offers three ideas as the results of those reconsiderations. Finally, the article promotes fashion predictions about the potential for further developments in the fashion industry.

While the world has been in varying forms of lockdown due to a global pandemic, people have turned to fabric. This article explores how material crafts have provided individuals with tactile intimacy during a pandemic defined by isolation, drawing on ideas of touch and sewing as forming both metaphorical and literal connections. The act of crafting provides relief and comfort to the maker, through simple, repetitive actions defined by laws set by the desired product as well as the materials used. It also creates connection through gifting, solidifying bonds between people even when they are a minimum of 2 m apart. People, however, do not only share their crafts as gifts, but also as social media posts, generating online communities providing positive feedback. This phenomenon became so ubiquitous during lockdown that it became evident that people craved productivity during a time where all non-essential work was paused or confined to the home. Whereas crafts as hobbies are usually a separation from feelings of productivity, during the pandemic they became many people’s only means of feeling useful, providing another dimension of comfort and security in a time of instability and isolation. While the popularity of craft making may ebb and flow, this article demonstrates how its benefits are fundamental to human creativity and connectedness.

As a complete recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic crisis does not seem possible in the near future, the survival of many creative professions is under threat in Russia and other countries. Strict anti-pandemic measures were introduced in Moscow at the end of March 2020 and lasted for a little more than two months. One of the main requirements was to work from home and go outside as rarely as possible. Most Russian creative professionals such as photographers, makeup artists, actors, musicians, stand-up comedians and television hosts found themselves in very unfamiliar conditions since their work presumes physical contact with other people. However, even artists who usually work alone like jewellers or designers met with came across practical and psychological difficulties as well and had to adapt to the new order. This research focuses on two examples of creative work during the COVID-19 pandemic: Russian jewellery designer Katia Rabey’s project ‘Quarantine Rings’ and the participation of Russian makeup artist Yulia Rada in virtual commercial photo-shoots. I am interested in how the artists perceived the changes introduced as a result of the pandemic and how these changes emphasized the digital side of contemporary creative labour. Despite the differences in the challenges that the two artists met, both of them stressed the importance of social closeness.