FASHION! NOT INDECENCY

                          FASHION! NOT INDECENCY 

By Balikis Moyosore

She was rushing to get a good seat for lecture, the lecturer was coming in sight, she hurriedly sat down in one of the front row seats, ready to receive the lecture of the day, and all eyes in the class set in her direction almost at once. Rising up an eyebrow to follow their glances, alas! Her shiny, lousy waste beads were dangling on top her visible lingerie, diverting the whole class attentions to her backside.

An African adage says, ‘’he who is harsh knows, he is just pretending not to know’’, with all indications, it’s obvious the student knows what she wore is provocative but decides to ignore for her colleagues to think she is fashionable. Then I ask questions in my mind, is she truly fashionable? Is this fashion? What is fashion?

Fashion! The latest and most admired style in clothes and cosmetics and behavior according to a dictionary. It is no lie that fashion is a way of life and one can unapologetically say you make the impression people will have about you from the way you appear. Since you don’t have a second chance to make first impression, it will be of great wisdom if your dressing can make applaudable first impression.

In this century, almost everybody wants to be fashionable. Of course, it is not news that fashion has been in incept ever since man has been, but fashion increases from generation to generation meaning what is considered fashionable in generations before now, is seen out of vogue in this new generation or revolutionize to suit the latest styles.

Over time, a debate has since been established in the fashion world as to indecent dressing in the fashion world. Indecent dressing is becoming a trending habit embraced by all ages in the societal context. It is right to say fashion in the olden days is about what you wear, but to many in the modern days, it is about the contrary.

Fashion is now about how daring you can be in the ‘’bare-it-for-all-to-see’’ game. You don’t seem to be exposed if you aren’t daring enough. The rate of indecent dressing in the society cannot be overemphasized, as social institutions are the ones championing indecency in the name of fashion.

It is alarming how indecent dressing is fast becoming a societal norm, not excluding places of worship where decency and holiness are meant to be the order of the day. We cannot talk about the media as well in this regard. One can’t argue that the purpose of clothing is to cover man’s indecency. Dressing is meant to make you feel comfortable as a person, it’s meant to make you look presentable in the eyes of all in the society and not the other way round.

It is right to say the media have not been helpful to portray fashion in a way it used to be portrayed. Entertainers with their works have so far described fashion as an expression of self and art. Both music stars and on-screen characters now step out in extremely ribald outfit making people thread their paths in fashion.

One don’t have to vulgarize fashion to be fashionable or dress in a trendy style, looking classically fashionable in your dress sense not only speaks well of you but also cause for people to admire you without negative vibe.