Have you ever thought about the real reason why trends in the Caribbean take so long to catch on? We Caribbean people always happen to be the last to grasp hold of a new look and the last to wear it out. Some say we are the most stylish but are we really? Do we even understand the difference between style and fashion?
Take for instance the crop top. It’s almost as if we have been birthed with it. Everyone and their mother seem to be wearing one. Another famous worn out clothing item is the skinny jeans. We wear trends out to the core until the trend itself turns into ‘house clothes’. As my sister would say, we just “spoil it like everything else.”
We seem to lack individuality and personality with our fashion choices or maybe I am the only who thinks so. But the proof lies in the moment when you step out in something avant garde and it’s as if you are really and truly an alien. It’s hardly ever welcomed. Wear something that the masses are wearing though and you, my dear, are the most stylish. What a juxtaposition of the actual truth.
But where does this break in fashion transmission actually stem from? Why are we so shy to embrace new things first? It comes from that fact that we do not have the right mixture of influential fashion voices locally and regionally. The breaks also stems from the non-existence of the creative infrastructure that fosters growth within the fashion industry. We don’t have a bevy of fashion schools that indulge regional designers to create. We don’t have Caribbean style muses who promote some sort of fashion rebellion like Chanel did. Everything we have been exposed to locally and regionally has been tried and tested before. Therefore one is not only scared to try something new but also embarrassed to some extent.
Fashion capitals around the world have garnered the attention they have because of openness to change. They also have and use the appropriate mediums to scatter this fashion diversity movement. Therefore their societies would want to test and try and not grind styles into house clothes. So how do we promote and foster style in our society that just doesn’t seem to get it?
First of all we need to recognise the tools that are imperative to teach us the difference. One of the most important things is guidance through fashion magazines. Fashion magazines over the years have acted as a guidance tool to women and also to allow them to get lost in it all.
I am yet to see a magazine that provides the reader deep and thoroughly written and visual editorials. Now I know we have Makin Style by Sonia Noel, which is a step in the right direction but fashion moves as fast as a cheetah. Once a year publication will not give it the impact it needs on society. Another important facilitator is the availability of educational institutions where the downpour of fresh talent can be moulded into game changers.
The fashion schools available in the Caribbean like the Caribbean Academy for Fashion and Design at University of Trinidad and Tobago are yet to give us something to be reminded by. This is due to the fact that there is a gap in the skill set when it comes to lecturers. Where there is a gap in educational guidance there will also be a gap in the quality of the overall end product. Therefore, this surprise over avant garde and different styling doesn’t only stem from unawareness but from how our industry is managed at different levels.
The allowance for individuals to express themselves needs to come from the top. Then and only then will it be digested effectively by the consumer.
I know we shouldn’t care what people think. However, it does help when people are a tad bit open-minded. This will make us more ready to accept differences in fashion and clothing choices.
Yes the control of trends have allowed local mainstream boutiques to capitalise on greater profits but it has also buried the work of artists and designers. Local designers themselves are scared to create. And if this isn’t enough, we too as consumers are growing tired of seeing one thing over and over.
Now when will Guyana stop pounding down on the crop top trend and get over it? That, my dear, will happen as soon as we start to expose ourselves to different things. We need to stop complaining and start changing.
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