Robyn Jankel

I'm often the target of people who loudly want everyone to know they're against fashion. I secretly think they do so because they want everyone to pat them on the back for being morally superior and more intelligent than us "sheep." Fashion is not limited to runways and red carpets. It surrounds us. Fashion includes how subcultural groups such as punks, skaters, and hip-hop fans dress. It's about cultural expression. People self-fashion even in non-capitalist societies. They even self-fashion in prison! Prisoners customize their dress as a way to regain some sense of humanity and individuality. It's central to human expression. The Met Gala theme this year is “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," which is based on Monica Miller's brilliant book "Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity." It tracks three centuries of Black dandyism, from when dandyism was imposed on Black men to when these clothes were a way for Black men to create new political and social possibilities. It's a great look at how clothing can be central to identity and self-empowerment. I've always believed that fashion is uniquely disrespected because it has historically been considered a "feminine" subject. Areas of culture or the arts that have been historically coded as "masculine" are not routinely treated with such disrespect and disregard. It has been a struggle even to get academic institutions to recognize the importance of fashion as a field of study. Since fashion is coded as "feminine," it's thus also seen as "frivolous" and not "high minded." IMO, you can take any area of study and link it to fashion: globalization, economics, politics, sociology, history, etc. If a story involves humans, it will likely include fashion because humans wear clothes. Every time I see someone loudly and performatively declare how much they hate fashion, I notice that they, too, are very particular about their dress. These people, often men, will have specific preferences about clothes. If given a choice between a free pair of pink jeans and $50 blue jeans, they will choose one based on what they think the colors represent. Counter-cultural types will also dress in precise ways to signal their cultural identity. They are not, in fact, indifferent to clothes. I try very hard to communicate that you should never judge a person's more profound, more important qualities based on their clothes. I've also spent the last 15 years writing about how to build a wardrobe on a budget (including doing three eBay roundups per week). I cover a breadth of styles, including workwear and Americana. The things many people project onto me are more about their narrow-mindedness regarding the importance of dress in society. Fine to hate me, but at least please accurately represent my arguments. I'm not telling you to buy Gucci and Louis Vuitton. I'm simply saying that dress is important to culture and a form of cultural language.

It hasn't. Sad music. Man has obviously lost his wife. Oh dear.