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All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go: Clothing in the Time of Covid-19
I’ve recently taken up learning Italian. Although, to say I’ve taken up a language seems a little frivolous, as if I could put it down again like another lockdown whim. The word recently, too, is somewhat deceiving. In actuality, I have been learning Italian for more than a year, but the slow process of rewiring your brain for a whole new process of understanding has an uncanny way of making you feel like a permanent beginner. What I have – so far – is a good grasp of the basics. I can translate simple children’s stories and it’s a thrill each and every time I do so at an almost…
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How Self-Expression Through Personal Style Promotes Positive Mental Health
A lot of people use their fashion and style to express themselves and there are many reasons for this. It may be to show their culture, or their lifestyle, or it could be to show their creativity or it may also be to simply show to the world who they are. Either way, this can be an extremely positive tool for people who may have trouble expressing themselves in other ways. Personal style is the best way to introduce yourself to the world without the use of words. Not only that, but it also gives an opportunity to look deeper within and learn about yourself. The more we know about…
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Is the Size of our Clothes Determining how we View Ourselves in the Mirror?
So I went into River Island and picked up a pair of size 8 jeans and did the same from Topshop, yet the pair from River Island were too tight for me! Does anyone else have this problem? After trying on the River Island jeans I felt really deflated and down about my image. However, I couldn’t understand how the two pairs could differ in measurements so much. No wonder I struggle to clothes shop without having to buy 3 different sizes. This shouldn’t have to be a problem in this fast moving industry. We all have Differing Body Shapes In today’s society we seem to think that the size…
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Is Fashion Fuel to the Fire of the Mental Health Crisis?
From the outside, the fashion industry looks full of luxury and glamour. It’s an industry many of us strive to be a part of in one way or another – whether that be by buying in to new trends, studying fashion at university, following fashion influencers on social media or working in the industry itself. However, the harsh reality of this is that we have all become subject to the negative effects to our mental health, despite turning a blind eye. According to the World Health Organisation, 1 in 4 of us are affected by poor mental well-being. People that work in the fashion industry are 25% more likely to…
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How Does Fashion Make You Feel?
Mental hygiene is crucial Mental health is something that most of us never learn to focus on and take care of. Our lives are more stressful than ever due to often demanding working environment and difficult relationships. Finally, the stress we are facing every day has made us notice the need for mental hygiene. For each of us, mental hygiene means a different thing. For someone, it might be meditation or yoga while for others it’s re-watching the favourite series or going out with friends. No matter what way we decide to use while dealing with stress, we must not forget to try our best to find the mental balance.…
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Use and Abuse: Fashion’s Mental Health Problem
Use and abuse culture Use and abuse culture facing graduates and young professionals as they enter the fashion industry is often the source of poor mental health. Having experienced several unpaid internships myself within the industry, I have seen first-hand how long, relentless hours can take their toll on personal wellbeing. Graduates and students bursting with fresh creative talent and youthful enthusiasm are over-used and thrown out on a continuous cycle. The high stress environment with constant pressure to stay ahead of trends and work at top-speed is impossible to maintain. Sadly, unpaid work in fashion has become normal. We see internships as the holy grail merely get your foot in…
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Instagram and Mental Health: an Endless Cycle
Instagram is arguably the most used social media platform today. Yet what are the consequences of our casual obsession with Instagram on our mental health? Why is Instagram useful? Instagram is useful for several reasons. From that one app we can stay in the loop with friends, keep up with fashion trends, follow our favourite celebs and even grow our own platform. The limits are endless when it comes to Instagram, that’s why we tend to not get bored with the app compared to others. Over recent years, Instagram has become a useful tool to those trying to gain a large following on a social platform. The use of hashtags…
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Is Instagram Detrimental to Society?
Instagram is one of the most used social media applications in the world. It launched in 2010 and within two months it already had one million registered users. As of 2019, they reached one billion users. I got Instagram at the young age of twelve-years-old but at that time it was just images of your food and random things with awful filters. Now, it has transitioned into a billion-dollar industry with people craving for likes. You get users being paid to promote everything from diet teas, waist trainers and beauty products. The promotion of these products promotes a false reality fed to users. They show all the good parts of…
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Cancel Culture: Isn’t it Time We Cancelled it?
In a time where mental health has become such a widely discussed topic, why does cancel culture still exist? It seems ridiculous that we live in an age where so many people struggle with mental health issues, yet it is a trend to tear people down online. To add to the irony, more than ever people are using social media to advocate for mental health awareness. Yet influencers and creators are forced to take time away from platforms to take care of their own mental health. It is slowly becoming accepted that social media is a toxic space and criticism is normal. This criticism, as most of us have probably…
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How much longer can fashion ignore mental health?
Whilst industries such sport begins to wake up to mental health, it seems that fashion is still in its infancy in understanding the real pressures and tribulations of the industry. How can a sector as profitable as this be so behind when it comes to mental health? Can it be considered that fashion is ignoring mental health? It shouldn’t have taken the death of Alexander McQueen, one of the country’s finest designers for fashion to wake up to what is going on around them. Of course, they’re not alone in being behind on the discourse and conversations around mental health. Many other industries were and possibly still are having the…
