Comfort and sustainability over trends: How lockdown changed the way we buy clothes

“The lockdown was like a skin-tight pair of hideous printed pants with a badly fitting corset for me. But in terms of my clothes, the months were like comfortable cotton shorts with oversized t-shirts,” says Nikkon Balial, 24, a development professional and researcher based out of Kolkata. “I think my gloomy mood, and my inability to visualise a set future for myself impacted what I wore. For the first time I didn’t know what was next for my career and that determined a lot of my lockdown dressing mood.” For her, as for many others, last year’s lockdown had a blunt and direct impact on what she was reaching out for in her wardrobe. From experimental, colourful clothes pre-lockdown to trans-seasonal neutrals in relaxed silhouettes post isolation, the range Balial’s clothing choices have covered over just one year are, she says, reflective of how she felt at a certain time. While industry trends direct towards an increased demand for loungewear as people found themselves in need of variety in what they had to wear almost every day, some were coming to terms with the changing definition of who they are, and what their wardrobes meant to them. And if what we wear is a medium of self expression, how much of it has really changed with what we’ve gone through individually over the past year? [caption id=“attachment_9556881” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Nikkon Balial before and after lockdown[/caption] “Clothes became a vehicle for escape in the peak quarantine period and even now, I’m kind of holding on to how I dress as a means to express my taste, given that there are not many other areas to exercise that in,” shares Radhika Malhan, 24, Digital and Features Director at The Dirty Magazine, and Creative Director (digital) at SOAK. “Clothing for me is an expression of my identity, an ever-changing whole greater than the sum of my experiences. On the other hand, an outfit is a function of the said identity, the mood at the time of dressing and basically the clean/ironed clothes in my wardrobe”, she adds. For Joan Dominic Rai, a Kolkata-based gender-fluid fashion influencer, fashion has “always been an integral part of who I am, a representation of my true self. It has given me the voice to show people that clothes have no gender. Through fashion, I have found an audience who I can influence by expressing who I am and what my beliefs are, to tell people that being different and being queer is okay.” As we went from hoping to be out and about in a matter of weeks to feeling indefinitely trapped inside our houses, and finally, going out on tiptoes, what people chose to wear and where they shopped from became as uncertain as their lives. “During the lockdown, I became more aware of my wardrobe. I realised it did not speak of who I am and that was fine all this time but now, it is not anymore,” observes Tushar Kumar Jha, 25, a fashion designer and writer based in Delhi. Jha isn’t the only one who felt disconnected with what he bought and wore before the world locked down and the extent of the pandemic couldn’t be guessed. “I think pre-pandemic, looking/feeling good was very closely knit to being seen/going out for me. Right now, I am trying to wrap my head around looking good just for myself. Even though I have been privileged and had a job and been around people I love, the last year has been unsettling. And I am desperately hoping that if I get that jacket stitched from my mum’s saree and wear that brocade trouser I stitched in college, life would be a little easier,” adds Jha. With rising anxiety about keeping up with online meetings, a hundred new apps to learn to connect over, and striking a healthy work-life balance, many traded the added burden of pencil skirts, trousers, and fitted dresses for the comfort of shorts and PJs. “I used to wear shirts for Zoom calls, but under that was only shorts or pyjamas and during winter, hoodies and sweatpants, of course,” says Shudita Ahluwalia, 22, fashion communication graduate from National Institute of Technology (NIFT), Delhi, whose pre-lockdown outfit choices were more experimental than the white shirts, relaxed trousers, and comfortable flats she relies on now. And even now that workplaces in parts of the country have opened up, for most, comfort is still king. [caption id=“attachment_9556851” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Shudita Ahluwalia before and after lockdown[/caption] “Once you get used to the relaxed fit of oversized garments, it’s very difficult to feel comfortable in skinny jeans or fitted shirts. I kind of became less interested in getting ready and going out. I was at my best wearing my pyjamas and loose t-shirts,” says Dhvaen, 24, textile design graduate from NIFT, Jodhpur. Also read: Online thrift stores proliferated in 2020, but questions remain about how such businesses can be sustained While some prioritised comfort over skinny dresses and super skinny jeans, some admitted to finding solace in experimenting with their style, transitioning slowly from darker, ‘safer’ colours to bold neon shades, or from baggy boy t-shirts to body-hugging silhouettes. For Adrija Ghosh, 27, an illustrator based out of Bangalore, it has always been comfort over style. But over the lockdown, she realised “that my outdoor wardrobe was super boring mostly because of the loose fits and my obsession with comfort over style. It took me a while to come to terms with the fact that I wasn’t liking my wardrobe anymore and I needed a change.” Her wardrobe now has the baggy t-shirts she picks for gloomy days as well as a beetle-green sequin pencil skirt, a bodycon suit, and two bikini tops which, she says, “I never imagined myself wearing ever! But wearing them on the beach was the most liberating experience I could have before the year ended. Who knew bikinis could be the solution to issues of self-confidence!” Sharanya Chakraborty, 20, a student from Kolkata said that they, “prioritise the element of style a lot more now than I did before. I am more into experimenting with different pieces and accessories, I wear bolder and brighter colours as well as a lot of men’s clothing and shoes.” Clothes are directly related to how we perceive and feel about our bodies, as well as what we see represented on social media. With increasing conversations around the importance of representation of ‘real bodies’, people were motivated to not just experiment with their clothing, but also be bolder with colours and fits. “I was concerned way too much about my size before the lockdown, but this time made a lot of social influencers speak up on body positivity, including sharing their personal narratives. Now what matters is eating good, wearing more colours, and comfy clothes,” shares Aveeshikta Chatterjee, 23, a working student based out of Kolkata. [caption id=“attachment_9556891” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Sharanya Chakraborty before and after lockdown[/caption] Sauhardya Sengupta, also 23, is a graphic designer based out of Mumbai, who too admitted to his style changing as per his changing perception of his body, “I just accepted the fact that the lack of an outdoor life was changing my body and to cope with it my choices in clothes changed too. Maybe that’s another reason I don’t wear tapered fits anymore.” However, for Bodhi, 25, a law student based in Pune, even though their style didn’t change over the course of the lockdown, they admit to finding more comfort in the clothes they already wore and continue to wear as per their new-found identity, “I discovered that I am a non-binary person and I don’t have to cater to a particular image. I can just be myself. I realised my idea of style just catered to the male gaze and not to my individuality. Now that I have come to terms with my gender, I am way more comfortable with my style and myself.” For some, staying at home gave them the confidence to experiment with styles they wouldn’t be comfortable wearing outside. Ahona Das, 24, is a research scholar who shared that her choice of clothes depends primarily on how she feel at a given moment, — “and who is going to perceive me where I’m going. It’s a constant struggle out-gazing the purveyor.” [caption id=“attachment_9556821” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Ahona Das before and after lockdown[/caption] Ghosh too admits that living alone during lockdown allowed her “that buffer time to readjust my body issues for the better. Earlier, all my clothes did a very good job in hiding these insecurities. It was hard at first, but on my occasional masked grocery runs I started wearing clothes that flaunted my curves. I realised that the years of societal conditioning had turned me into a subconscious believer of ‘unsexy is safe’ and I really wanted to regain ownership of how I saw my own body.” With more individualistic and conscious preferences in clothing came an almost unanimous understanding of our collective tendency to buy more ‘trendy’ clothes in order to look good. But as the irresponsible practices of fast fashion giants like H&M, Gap, Zara, Muji, and Uniqlo, among others, have come to light, the shift to conscious consumerism that was set in motion even before the pandemic got evidently accelerated as people’s purchases got more value and need driven than want and trend driven. Almost every interviewee this author spoke to agreed that they realised they had way more clothes than they needed, and started shifting towards a more considerate and mindful approach towards buying new clothes. “I would sometimes stare at the clothes neatly folded and stacked over one another and wonder how I didn’t wear 50 percent of them even when there was no lockdown,” admits Sengupta while Dhvaen shares that he now thinks “even more about the lifespan and utilisation of the garment.” “How can I use it for different occasions and can I keep using it for the next two years or not. It feels like an investment now more than ever.” Rai also admits to rediscovering his beliefs and priorities “in terms of fashion and lifestyle”, and what changes he can bring to “actually shop less and things that are necessary rather than buying mindlessly” — a practice that has helped him become a responsible buyer, he admits. Ghosh, like Balial, was also happy to jump on the online thrifting trend that saw an unprecedented rise in the country over the last year when making new purchases “because it is sustainable and also the limited collection “drops” felt like I was not spoilt for choice. I could spend more time contemplating on what to buy and why to buy it. The no return/no exchange policies made me think extra hard before making a buy.” While the numbers for fast fashion takers kept going down, as H&M Group sank to incur losses in the second quarter of 2020 with the pandemic causing sales to plummet 50 percent year-on-year, and with Zara shutting 3,500 of its stores worldwide, those for general demand for clothing did not. “I see a lot of pent up demand as an immediate aftermath of COVID-19 across the board, and this will take at least six months to play itself out,” predicts KH Radharaman, the founder of contemporary womenswear label Alamelu, founded in 2020. “I also see a lot of readjustment in the seasonality of buying. I think seasonality has gone out of the window. People will buy when they feel like buying. We will see a less seasonal approach both from a designer and consumption point of view. Now, people want their pieces to be versatile because they might feel like wearing it at home or dressing it up or down as they want to,” he adds. Devyani Kapoor, the founder of Shuffling Suitcases, which curates an offline and online selection of sustainable homegrown brands, points towards a similar trend in her newly launched e-commerce store as well. “Even though there was restricted buying capacity due to pay cuts and lay-offs, people were still buying. However, instead of demand for what they usually buy, there was a lot of demand for loungewear and timeless clothing and jewellery that would work now as well as when the pandemic is over and when they go back to work. There was a lot of revenge-buying when it came to non-precious jewellery pieces, perhaps because that is what would be visible on Zoom meetings.” All trends and market observations suggest a palpable pattern in people’s purchases and the major motivators driving the same — comfort, sustainability, and most importantly, highly individual choices informed by nothing but what feels good on the skin as opposed to impersonal, ubiquitous industry trends. According to Chatterjee, “Clothes aren’t primal anymore. Now, the other stuff which was supposed to seem important, seems important. The place, the people, the experience — these things previously didn’t matter as much as the outfit. There were times I had cancelled meeting friends because I couldn’t find the right outfit. Nowadays, I go to clubs in pyjamas and slippers. I feel more concerned about the time spent and how.”