Hate-wear and Sad-wear Dressing Is How We Are Coping With The Pandemic Blues In 2021

Hate-wear and Sad-wear Dressing Is How We Are Coping With The Pandemic Blues In 2021

2020 might have been full of surprises but this year is no less. No, I am not talking about the new strain of virus, even though that too remains an unpleasant turn of events we didn’t see coming. However, 2021 has brought its own share of unexpected affairs in terms of fashion and clothing choices too. After spending what feels like an eternity in sweatpants, we expected to have a fashion reboot this year with larger-than-life outfits, vibrant colour schemes and aesthetic textures and patterns. Two weeks into January, we already know that’s not happening. As we still recover from the year we’ve had, it seems like people are coping with the pandemic with hateful and comfort-seeking dressing. No avant-garde or runway-ready wardrobes, but the fashion trend of 2021 is hate-wear and sad-wear dressing.

Nothing about this trend is cute or flattering; in fact, it emotes stress, sadness, detestation towards the pandemic and reflects the fact that we’ve almost given up on life. It may sound weird but hear us out. We often wield fashion and clothing to display our emotions and mood and that’s what made us think we would be dressing ourselves up in gleeful attire. But are we there yet? I don’t think so. We are still coping with the lockdown blues and its exasperating effects. And, so we are dressing the part too. Hate-wear and sad-wear are two latest fashion expressions largely influenced by the lockdown that have gained a momentum this year. Let us elaborate on the two dressing styles.

Also Read: #Culture: 5 Fashion Trends That Gathered Momentum In the Pandemic And Are Likely To Stick Around Post-Covid.

Wearing an ill-fitting shirt, uncomfortable jeans or funny hat that you don’t particularly love but put on to express how you loath the grave time is what hate-wear dressing entails. It is all about reflecting the rollercoaster of emotions we went through last year with wrong-sized clothes that you don’t specifically find stylish or even comfortable. Basically, nothing peppy, vibrant or aesthetically pleasing but what makes you recall the extremely uncomfortable and uncertain times we’ve been through last year.

Meanwhile, sad-wear dressing helps you deal with the stress and sadness that was unleashed on us by the deadly virus with comfortable and relaxed sartorial choices. Your sad-wear wardrobe would feature a funny-looking fashion article like a mask or a hat, a cozy sweater or your warm grey joggers that you wore everyday for stressful WFH meetings which made you feel slightly better during the pandemic.

It makes sense to me since I might be in 2021 physically, but sometimes it seriously feels like 2020 is still going on. Maybe because we have linked the pandemic to that year and now, we are relying on the mundane and uncomfy clothing styles to revisit the tiring and troublesome year. I have a T-shirt that I bought a few days before the lockdown started and sort of liked until I came to hate it because I practically wore it every alternate day in the isolation. Now, wearing that again takes me back to the quarantine memories. So, if anyone asks, we’ll be donning hate-wear and sad-wear for some more time, at least till the new vaccine works and the pandemic gets over for real. Until then, our dressy outfits and flamboyant wardrobe can take a backseat, like they have, all through 2020.

Also Read: From Mask Chains To Mask Dresses, Fashion Brands Are Tapping Into New Pandemic-Inspired Categories We Didn’t Know We Needed

Anjali Agarwal

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