It was a Saturday. A street in the west got its much awaited break from burning rubber. That street which led to a huge business district was calm with fewer cars. Things were slow as expected. Even the public transportation was taking its own sweet time! I had to wait for a long time, really long. It was me and the street who observed the ever changing and moving world.
The view of the surroundings was familiar. But when you start observing, you start finding deltas everywhere. These deltas are the changes that are defined in Wikipedia, Google pages, blogs and books. These changes are well documented everywhere, but it becomes euphoric when you witness it!
People walked with kids, shopping bags, carts, leashed dogs... they became my momentary mates on the side walk. Thanks to my sun glasses, people did not find me offensive when I observed them.
Once they pass by, I was again left with the same street and that's when I got a chance to think. I thought about that lady who wore that floral patterned skirt walked a while ago. About the mid-aged man wearing a pale white V neck shirt. About the teen who chose Khaki shorts over the blue jeans.
Over a period of a finite time, the relationship among the clothes and the people gets revealed. The mere stuff that someone wears, shares a series of complex relationship. The clothing represented the weather, their social status, their mood, their weekend plan, their thought process, their ego, the individual's take on the life and what not!
I realized that one could connect to a stranger just by looking at their clothes. I guess a true and successful fashion designer can decode this complex relationship. And a clever manufacturer is the one who finds the right designer at the right time and makes his art available to the general public.
Why do some people prefer high waist over low waist? Sleeveless over sleeves? Why not black or Why black? Why did we change from bell-bottom to straight-fit and went back to boot-cuts and again a pencil fit? Why did the blouses got and lost its flower-bouncy shoulders? At first, fashion might be an answer; but if you dig deep enough, the individual personality will be the reason for these paradigm shifts. Science, Technology, Religion, Culture, Age, Education, Profession and much more are hidden between the threads of the fabric!
An apparel is that assembled piece of fabric covering human body that can represent the individual and the relationship that they share with the society. That's for the definition and beyond that, everything is passion and art!
Well, I saw the bus arriving finally. I entered. I saw a bunch of people seated already. By the end of these 50 minutes, I had learnt basics (not mastered) of guessing ones character by their cloth. So, I was bound to put on my shades!
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