Be that to create their personal statements or to just follow fashion for the sake of it, youngsters are setting a whole new trend in the fashion world.
In this edition of chitchat, we invited four youth who hail from the capital to give their opinions on what it means to be ‘fashionable’ and to what extent they follow it. Amul Regmi, 19, 1st year student of Bachelors in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Kathmandu Engineering College, and Anjali Shakya, 21, Rabina Maharjan, 21, and Kriti Vaidya, 21, students doing Bachlors in Social Work (BSW) at St. Xavier’s College, joined the conversation.
“Media have played a pivotal role in setting new trends and have also helped people get more exposure to fashion. Teenagers are specially influenced by the media and Hollywood trends,” puts in Anjali, who admitted to have followed fashion to some extent.
“I believe youngsters today are very much inclined to be fashionable and there’s also an intense pressure to follow the latest trends to fit in and save oneself from embarrassment,” she adds.
Anjali, who had done a diploma in fashion designing from IEC, shared, “Fashion is mostly about copying style which is then followed by the masses.”
Agreeing to what Anjali had to say, Kriti added, “Fashion reflects one’s personality but it is also important to be comfortable in your own skin rather than just follow what’s trendy just for the sake of it. You should follow fashion only if you understand it.”
Amul then added, “It is true that fashion shows one’s personality because from how one dresses up we get to know what kind of person he or she is.”
Rabina then joined the conversation, “I think that everyone has a personal style and we should respect that.”
They all spoke in unison acknowledging the impact of globalization and the influence the West exerts on fashion.
Even the girls admitted having looked at different fashion sites and television shows to get ideas on latest trends. But they all admitted they were being balanced and that they splurge on shopping once in a while
They all agreed that to be fashionable and setting new trends is one thing but copying fashion blindly and reproducing what is already in is quite another.
The conversation then turned to the peer pressure and the obligations the youngsters have in the wake of latest fashion trends. “The peer pressure is always there to fit in a particular group, especially for college-goers. For instance, if you belong to a certain group where everyone is fashionable, then you feel the need to look fashionable is pressing,” said Kriti.
“Also you wouldn’t want to get the tag that says you are unfashionable,” she added.
Agreed Rabina, “If one is not fashionable then obviously he or she will feel left out.”
“We can even see in colleges that fashion also plays a role in setting up different groups. Fashionable people have one group and non-fashionable have another group because they can relate themselves much better that way,” added Kriti.
They all acknowledged that in colleges, there is a trend that if someone wears something fashionable others have to follow suit. And those who do not follow the latest trend feel quite let down. Some others, who don’t have proper clothes, are on the horns of a dilemma whether to attend social gatherings or not.
“It has also become a necessity to own certain gadgets and we can see that those who own such gadgets flaunt it and others get quite intimidated by that,” said Amul.
Asked how inclined are boys to fashion, Amul said, “I feel that compared to girls boys have less choices so they are less fashioable.” Anjali then interrupted, “But I feel otherwise: Boys too are fashionable these days because we can see them sporting those Korean looks and the latest clothes and different hairstyles.”
Finally, they all agreed that youngsters are steadily being assimilated to Western culture instead of following their own country’s tradition.
“Personally I don’t like wearing those stuffs what everyone is wearing because I like to create my own style and wear things that are not usual,” added Rabina. Amul too says he doesn’t believe in blindly reproducing other’s fashion. “For me, fashion is being smart and also maintaining your personality,” he said.
“Personally, I like styling up and I think it’s important to be fashionable in order to keep track with the changing world and the latest trends. But I don’t mean that we should change ourselves or wear things that don’t suit us,” said Anjali.
“To stand out from the rest of the crowd it has become essential to be stylish and fashionable,” said Amul.
They all believed that fashion is an art and a way of expressing one’s personality. There are pros and cons of following fashion but one shouldn’t be so much inclined and blinded by it that they can’t focus on other things.
Talking about how much fashion has affected our culture, norms and society, they expressed the view that the older generations do not usually approve of what the youth of today wear and there are differences of opinions.
Amul then shared, “Values that the older generations practice cannot be applied in today’s changing times. We should follow the trends without affecting our culture and identity. We should have freedom of choice but we should limit it to some extent.”
They also said that in society, there’s a misconception about being trendy. Being trendy is usually associated with rebellious attitude and as someone who is not serious about life.
“We shouldn’t make culture a barrier in following fashion. Culture and fashion should go hand in hand,” said Kriti.
“I think that the society and fashion do not go together because most of the people who are illiterate have conservative attitude and judge people by their dress up. Only those who are educated tend to respect fashion of others,” added Amul.
According to Rabina, fashion has come to influence even the culture. “For instance, in Teej, even youngsters can be seen wearing fashionable saris,” said Rabina.
Anjali then added, “We should promote our traditional clothes especially during festivals.”
Kriti then added,“During beauty pageants too, cultural dress should be promoted because it exposes our culture internationally.” According to Anjali, “One has to adjust to changing times so it’s important to be fashion-conscious but you shouldn’t be too much obsessed with it.”
Rabina then added that one should choose their own style, be unique, personalize the trends and create their own unique style.
“Staying comfortable and remaining fashionable is a twin challenge,” said Kriti, when Amul added, “Everyone has their own identity and style so be yourself.”
They all outlined that from gadgets to clothes to owing bikes and cars, youngsters have very much become slaves of fashion. Due to commercialized market and easy accessibility, the urban youth are more inclined to fashion. They believe that the first priority should always be career and studies. “It is important to be fashionable but not a slave,” they echoed.
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