Do you dare to dress differently?
Are you bored of it yet? Tired, even? The endless repetition of the same outfits everywhere- jeans, T-shirts, hoodies, and leggings- on seemingly everyone. It feels like personal style in the Western world is merging into a shared uniform look of dread.
Halloween is my favourite time of year. Not for horror films or sweets, but for the dress-up. Anything goes; there are no rules. As famously quoted in Mean Girls (2004), "In girl world, Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it."
The whole process is electric, months of planning and crafting the perfect costume, finding events to attend with friends and finally showing up filled with energy. On Halloween, there are no boring outfits in sight, just people having fun, unapologetically expressing themselves without thought for judgment.
It's the same innocent child-like wonder of dressing as your favourite Disney princess when going to your local shop. Not a care in the world. I’m not sure at what age that stops. I can't quite remember when the wonder went away, and either my mum or I decided it was socially unacceptable to go in public dressed up. I miss it, the eccentricity.
You mostly see that kind of bold dressing, now, in Hollywood, with the likes of Lady Gaga or Chappell Roan really embracing the way they dress. Lady Gaga famously wore a meat dress to the 2010 MTV Music Awards. She has also stepped out in immensely striking 3D-formed outfits sharp enough to poke someone’s eye out.
Chappell Roan has consistently proven she is the opposite of boring. Inspired by queerness and drag, as you can tell by her signature white-faced makeup, skinny eyebrows and signature long red hair. Every occasion for her is an opportunity to outdo her naturally camp self. At concerts for her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, her outfits, inspired by her own songs, encapsulate maximalism. With looks centred around vampires, swans, wrestlers and even the Statue of Liberty.
Chappell works with her stylist, Genesis Webb, to create both of their aesthetic dreams. Genesis once remarked, “I hope what we're doing shows that you can do whatever and be whoever you want.”
As a collective, we should all take a page out of these fearless women's books and start dressing similarly, maybe not in meat dresses but wear a wedding dress for a walk on the beach, or black tie to the supermarket.
It is easy to find items that break the conformity of everyday wear. Charity shops all around the country are filled with beautiful dresses and unique clothes ready to be found and reworn. They do not have to be saved for a particular occasion or event; you can wear them whenever you want to. If you are nervous, the option is always there to explore another city where nobody knows you. People may stare, but it will be because they envy your courage to be uniquely yourself. We can end the collective dull uniform that is trying to control fashion. Why should it be saved for one day in October?
