Whachu Wear?

Instead of choosing a single brand to cover for this segment of this fine class, I think I’m going to broaden my scopes a bit and talk about a whole industry who focuses on peer pressure, as well as sex appeal, to sell their products. It’s in a seemingly sneaky, subconscious way, where we don’t even realize it’s peer pressure influencing this area of our lives, but if you look in any junior high or high school, you will quickly be able to tell that it is, indeed, influenced by peers. What industry is it? Yes, you guessed it. The clothing industry.

Clothes aren’t something all of us obsess about to follow the latest pressure from peers or celebrities, but it is definitely something most of us are aware of when shopping for things to cover our body with. Especially in our pre-college years we are very aware of how our peers dress and strive to “fit in” by dressing in similar ways. The jocks dress athletically, the nerds dress geekily, the preps dress in the expensive clothing (which hugely uses sex to sell), and the skaters and musicians all wear skinny jeans. Even the “hipster” (what does that even mean?) group dresses similarly.

If the fashion industry can make something appealing to either a significant group of people, or to even a small group of influential people, they’re in the green. Peer pressure will do the rest and they’ll just have to sit back as people strive to follow the latest styles. The biggest example of this is just looking around. You can see evidence of it everywhere.

Before, when I was little, bell-bottom jeans were all the rage. My mom had old skinny jeans from when she was little, but I refused to wear them cause they weren’t “cool.” And now look around. Hardly anyone wears bell-bottom jeans anymore (I still rock them, though).  That’s just one example of how when some of the kids in my school started wearing skinny jeans, everyone else soon followed suit. Just one example of peer pressure at its finest.

The clothing industry not only uses peer pressure to get its latest products into the hands (or on the bodies of) the masses, it also utilizes sex appeal to sell its products. An exaggerated example is Victoria’s Secret. I visited my brother last weekend, and he lives in an apartment with all guys. But there was a Victoria’s Secret magazine sitting on the counter. Now what market is Victoria’s Secret really targeting? Why would there be a women’s clothing (or lack there of) magazine in an apartment of all males? Because sex sells. In almost all clothing advertisements (I have yet to find one that differs) the models are thin, attractive, and posing in quite possibly seductive manners.

Again, as Christians, you often hear the classic saying “be in the world, not of it,” but what does that really mean? Live detached lives? Dualistic lives? Rejecting everything the world holds in high regard? I think it means seeking first the kingdom and His righteousness, and all else will be given to you as well. We are called to live in solidarity, with and alongside others, but we are not required to all be cookie-cutter Christians who fit the mold society has created for us. The body of Christ is diverse. It is comprised of many parts, all looking and acting a bit different. Solidarity doesn’t necessarily mean following all of the cultural fashion trends or latest styles, it means humbling ourselves and living alongside those around us, more than empathizing.

We are a people created to love and be loved, so naturally, we desire to be accepted and fit in. But Scripture says that our identity is to be found in Christ (Colossians). We love because He first loved us. We are able to live freely, free from the pressures of society and trends, embracing the beauty of the freedom we find in Christ. We are free from the pressure from our peers. And it’s a beautiful thing. When clothes are kept in perspective (i.e. not the end of the world if we don’t pay tons of money for them and don’t match the latest style), it is good. God can be honored in every part of our live. He is a redeeming God, redeeming even that which seems too far gone.