After talking about clothing departments in class, I started to think about them further. But first, I want to give you some background on where I'm coming from. For those who know me well, you know that I have very particular demands when it comes to what I wear. I can’t stand the feeling of clothing touching my skin so I always just wear a t-shirt and a skirt. I despise long-sleeved shirts and leggings drive me crazy. I resist putting on socks and shoes for as long as possible. I will stubbornly wear skirts long into winter until it gets to the point that my legs start to go numb on the way to Kenney. I like to be unburdened from purses and bags, so I am free to move around.
Because
of these things, shopping for clothes is a major pain for me. Whenever I head
over to the women’s clothes in a store, I find really nothing that interests
me. Any sort of shirts I look at are confining for me, either with long
sleeves, strange cuts in the material, or weird fabric used. The skirts I find
are usually rather flimsy and either barely any length or draped around the
floor by my feet. And none of the clothing items are practical. Any pockets are
there just for style, not for use. And unfortunately, these types of clothes
found in the women’s department seem almost universal around stores.
My brother has a similar dressing style to mine, wearing
t-shirts and knee-length shorts with deep pockets. I mean seriously, in one
pocket he can fit his phone, his retainer, and a deck of cards at least. He
could probably fit some more in there. And he has two of these pockets.
Instead, I must carry around a purse to hold my stuff. Mind you, I use the
smallest purse I can (just barely larger than my phone) but it’s still a nuisance.
I can’t tell you how many times I was almost late to PE because I forgot my
purse, which contains my prox card, in my last classroom. I would happily wear
the kind of shorts my brother wears except for the fact that with my petite
size frame they end up too baggy and become a hindrance. The best shorts I
could find, which I needed for a rope course, did not come down to my knees are
were tight on my legs. And for this climbing course, the shorts had to be long
for the harness not to dig into your skin.
I’m not saying to get rid of the options in the women’s
clothing department that we have right now because I know some people do like
those kinds of clothes. I’m asking for more variety. I should be able to choose
something durable and practical. I don’t want to be hindered by a purse or
restrictive clothing if I don’t want to. However, the way the clothing
department is set up makes it hard to break out of the mold they create for
you. To find different clothes, I have to go looking online, which is always
risky considering you don’t know how the fabric feels and for sure if it fits,
or I have to go to second-hand clothing places hoping that there will be
something that is my style that fits me. You would hope that there would be
more variety in clothing stores and departments, but there just isn’t. There
needs to be more choices, or just a general clothing department, not gender specific
ones. It’s something that I just find frustrating overall.
Your blog focuses on a very important but seldom discussed issue in our society. Clothing stores definitely need to have more variety and less labels and separations. I personally find it frustrating when something is trendy that it is the only option available. For example, crop tops have become very popular lately, and while I have no issue with stores selling them, it is frustrating that they are often the only choice and there aren't a variety of other styles.
ReplyDeleteYour post perfectly captures my thoughts/concerns/frustrations with the variety in clothing for women. I, too have found myself jealous of my father's humungous pocks in contrast to my own, which can at most fit a piece of gum and maybe my phone. I definitely agree with you that steps should be taken to ensure that clothing stores work to accommodate a more diverse selection of clothing, in an effort to cater to more people's needs. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting topic because not everyone realizes how prevalent it is in society. In terms of women's clothing, it can often feel as though the clothes are oversexualized or made in a particular way to force the buyer to purchase more items for a higher price. For example, the difference between pocket size forces a lot of women to buy a purse or backpack just so they can safely secure their phone away. I wish clothing companies would acknowledge this division through clothes and work towards making it easier for all people to buy clothes that will fit, regardless of gender, and give us big pockets.
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