The Problem with Modern Fashion

Just a heads up, I open up about my struggles with body image and self-worth in the past in this video.

My problem with modern fashion isn't the fashion in and of itself, it's actually the way the commercial modern fashion industry is run. I feel it lacks compassion, from mistreating garment workers to polluting our beauty planet with immense amounts of waste, and even to calling people "consumers."

There are so many major challenges with the modern fashion industry as it stands, and in this video, I open up about my own experiences with how media and fashion has influenced my self-worth and body image. I also share a practice that helps me feel more connected to myself, to my clothing, and to the people who made the garments I'm wearing.

At some point in my life, I decided to reject the modern beauty standards altogether. Wearing historical fashion as everyday clothing is one of the ways, and finding clothing practices that I could connect deeper with. My individual fashion choices, in addition to my amazing therapist, have allowed me to feel more accepting of my own body, greatly boosting the way I view myself and even the world around me.

As I was about to record this video and had already scripted it, Karolina Żebrowska released an amazing video on a similar topic, so I highly recommend watching it for another perspective:

My intention with making this video is to encourage you to find ways to become more connected with your clothing, regardless of whether it's historical, vintage, or modern (or whatever else), and to become curious about what your clothing means to you and how it really makes you feel.

Thank you so much for watching, and I'll see you all in two weeks for another video!

Sources:

#HistoricalFashion #HistoricalClothing

[VBirchwood]

Hi everyone! Just a heads up, I open up about my past struggles with body image and self-worth in this video 💕 Recording this video meant a lot to me, so I hope that you'll enjoy it too. Thanks for watching. See you in two weeks!

[АнтонМан-чк]

I am a men. 34 year old. I do like classical mens clothing. I think it most comfortable. High waist trousers with suspenders, waistcoat, nice jacket and newsboy cap - makes you warm and comfy. You have a lots of pockets. You dont need to be stressed about your not ideal, not atletical enough body. I love classic clothing.

[swimmerbc]

“When bodies are treated as trends that need to be often permanently changed every few years, that’s a frightening reality.”

Super profound words that I don’t normally get from a YouTube video. Thanks for having the courage to spit truth like this. Keep putting together the wonderful work that you’ve been doing. Appreciate your bravery and honesty here.

[skolljumper]

I'm so tired of every aspect of my life being pushed on how much money it will make other people

[northwestsparrow]

As a 60+ woman who has spent a lifetime rejecting societal norms, I truly appreciate your sentiment in this video, and concur. As for how we help to evoke change in our world, it starts with being people of honesty and integrity (and the buddhistic middle path helps as well). Thank you for being you! Oh, and my best friend and I are getting back to sewing our own clothing this year -- and weaving cloth as well.🌺 Thank you for sharing your path with us!

[kendall]

I started handsewing historically inspired clothing a couple of years ago and now i'm experiencing my first pregnancy and it's been SO wonderful to still be able to wear all the clothes I spent so much time on because they adjust with my changing body.

[rhiannonayley]

Many years ago, my mother told me that we always say:
'that looks great on you'
instead of
'you look great in that'.
Many of us do have a tendency to look in the mirror and think it is ourselves who look wrong or right, instead of whether or not the clothing we are wearing is bringing out the best in us. Whenever someone asks me how they look, I try to remember that and let them know that they are the ones who look great in the clothing that flatters them, not the other way around.
Love your content!

[jenniferstone]

I've had my struggles with body image and self-esteem. My own sister was so jealous of me that she would intentionally tell me I looked good in something, like a dress or skirt, so I bought said item, then would later tell me how fat or bad i looked in it. It's been nearly twenty years since i cut all contact with her (there were a lot of other issues on top of this), and I'm just getting into a good head space with clothing, to the point where I can trust my own judgement again.
Thank you so much for posting this video.

[dawnjeffersramstad]

Your talk today brought back memories of Song Chen-Sen, my theology professor at Pacific School of Religion. He began the first lecture I heard him deliver by talking about fast fashion as the example of how we live our beliefs. (The class was titled "This I believe!") Dr. Song had us look at our shoes and think of who made them. Most of our shoes were mass produced in Asia. He "encouraged" us to hold this thought as we explored Christian theology. That day changed me to always remember everything has a maker. We cannot get dressed without depending on the labor of someone. While I have returned to sewing my own clothes, every cut of fabric I bring home has a maker. The wool in every hat I knit came from a sheep who had a shepherd. Thank you for bringing this memory from September 1993 back to my mind and my heart.❤

[TheHighwayHare]

As a child growing up in the 1970's, I asked my grandmother to make me 1870's dresses, which I wore all the time. Later, I became a civil war reenactor, I loved making and wearing all 1860's style dresses, using a period sewing machine, and wearing bonnets and hats. I still sew all my special occasion outfits and my daughters dresses. My designs are NOTHING like modern clothing, I create my own style based on different time periods. All I get are compliments and it makes me feel wonderful.

[ah]

I agree ! there is a lack of compassion for our bodies the way they are . finding clothing to fit your body is so hard lately it makes you want to not even put on clothing sometimes.

[LiljaHusmo]

I too gravitated towards ”alternative” fashions as a teen, and still i couldn't escape the pressure of ”looking right”, even within those spaces, (any wierdo millenial/early gen z will remember the horrible emo image Tumblr etc. loved to portray of that aesthetic) I'm slowly unlearning all the harmful body images I had and still have, but making my own clothes and not shopping at fast fashion stores has helped me immensely tbh

Thank you for this lovely video ❤ looking forward to the next one!

[cheekyghost]

Your video and Karolina's have really resonated with me. I've been considering wearing vintage/historical clothing for a while, & I think this helped me understand why I'm drawn to the idea. What I care about most is history, art, and knowledge, so those clothes would reflect my values.

In the past all fashion was 'slow fashion', and was custom made or altered to fit and flatter the individual's natural body. It was a kind practice. Modern fashion tricks us into thinking our bodies are wrong & need fixed; that we should all fit into a limited size and shape range of pre-made plastic garments. It's a cruel practice.

I never felt fulfilled in alternative fashion subcultures either. They're better than mainstream trend-chasing for fostering individiality, but they're equally unforgiving. Both mainstream and alternative fashion constantly seeks to declare people "not good enough" and uphold unachievable standards.

Authentic dressing with a body neutral attitude should be what we all ascribe to, living for our true inner selves and our values, not just wearing whatever is 'in' at the moment.

[KlingonPrincess]

I loved hearing your thoughts about fashion, compassion, and gratefulness today. I've been really appreciating older TV shows and British shows where people look like people not photo filtered faces. I am taking time to appreciate my wrinkles, pores, etc. I am a human with human complexion. 💜💛

[leoscheibelhut]

As an older guy, I really appreciate you thoughts and concerns about modern fashion and the body image struggles you experience. You are very correct and insightful when say, "You are enough." I began watching your channel because I'm interesting in dressing period and status appropriate as a reenactor. As the father of a child with body image issues what you shared helps me to understand and help them. Thank you. I am also concerned about the problems of the fast fashion industry and pointless ad driven excessive consumption in general.

[habituscraeftig]

I feel like there's a loveliness to people's faces that comes from slow familiarity that tends to get lost when we reduce a person to still images and the quick judgments of first impressions. I feel there is something incredibly important about coming to know a person's beauty through their mannerisms and expression rather than consuming them at a glance. This is also why, although I wear flamboyant clothing, I avoid recognizable categories, where I can. I want to remain individual and irreducible — to confront people with their inability to read me. Likewise, I view my face as rather pleasant, actually — but I improve upon acquaintance, and I'm proud of that.

My goal isn't to turn heads when I walk into a room. It's to turn heads when I exit a sparkling conversation.

Of course, I am more aesthetically attracted to certain people than others — especially at first meeting — and I also have more immediate sexual attraction to some bodies than others (often quite distinct from my aesthetic preferences). But I have never looked at someone I actually *know* and thought of them as unattractive — unless there was some deeper emotional baggage. For example, I have an ex whose features have come to feel "wrong" in the aftermath of the relationship, but that reflects the sense of betrayal I felt for how I was treated. It didn't bother me before, and it isn't the sort of physical feature that would bother me on anyone else. I assume it's a protective instinct to keep me from going back to that relationship. It certainly has no relation to how I viewed their looks when we first got together. In a sense, I learned to loathe them. But I do not generally feel that kind of aesthetic contempt, elsewhere. For me, it requires social and emotional context to view someone as ugly.

(Edited for clarity.)

[adriennefranklin]

Thanks for posting this video and being so open. I'm a 61 year old woman that has struggled my whole life with body image and self acceptance. Everything you said really was thought provoking.

[lindastrout]

Having a tough day today. Thank you for reminding me of my intrinsic worth.

[vincentbriggs]

Oh man, yes clothing being made to accommodate body fluctuations is so important, and it's terrible that it's so much less common now! A lot of historical breeches and trousers have lacing or a buckle tab at the back of the waistband so it's easily adjustable, and I make all my everyday trousers like that too. I can change the waist size by 3 inches easily.

The modern dress pants I alter at work are made so the waist can be easily altered, but it's still way more bother to take it to a tailor than to just tighten up some lacing or a buckle. And jeans usually don't even have a seam at the back of the waistband!


Growing up I mostly felt awful about my body for gender reasons, and am much much more comfortable after transitioning, and it's absolutely horrible to know that there are whole industries out there trying to make people feel that bad on purpose just for some arbitrary beauty standard that'll change again in another few years.

[nurmaybooba]

I admire you very much. I am 71(!) and have been rejected by society since I hit my teens as a chubby teen when Twiggy was the queen goddess...Now I wear what I like wearing what is comfortable...What would help us as a collective is for us to not want so much...do I need 10 prs of slacks/jeans? I also think that sewing our own clothes is a good thing....I needed "homemade" nearly all my life since nothing was made for my body ... Now I personally like folk fashion...I still want to make a sarafan, I have been devising my own pattern....at 71 am I too old to go this way...into folk fashion as what I wear. I also like shawal and kameez, I have worn saris and have many thrifted ones .... I am so proud of you and the other women whom I follow on this great experiment of the internet...you have found you, and I feel that this was the goal of my generation's activism ....for you to be allowed to be you....