A Sartorial Spin on 'Mom' Jeans - by Zoë Innanen:
Preface:
This piece is an essay I've written for school in Dr. Ben Barry's Fashion Concepts and Theories class. I had a great time interviewing my mom, and truly think she is an amazing style inspiration for any age. This essay is in my words and is written by Zoë Innanen. All references are cited and a reference list can be found at the bottom.
Aging is an inevitable fate that everyone must deal with eventually. People have been celebrating and denying this seemingly mythological aging process since before any of us here were even born. Over the past few years, I’ve watched as my own mother has struggled with accepting her ascending age. Although I have and will always think my mother is beautiful, I understand - as much as a girl can who hasn’t even lived 2 full decades herself - the issues she has with her self-confidence and body-image, and most importantly how she expresses and presents herself to the world. After many years of sitting on my parents’ bed and watching my mother pick out the perfect outfit for whatever the night’s occasion, I’ve seen that as the years changed, so has her personal style - and no, I don’t mean she has become a frumpy, middle-aged woman who has given up on the way she presents herself. In fact, her way of dress has transitioned into very much the opposite.
To date, I have never come across another ready-to-wear item that screams “look at me!” as loud as my mother’s J. Crew Collection Ratti tile jacket (refer to appendix, figure 1). In fact, I have never seen a garment that describes my mother so well as this one. J. Crew describes this jacket as, “a head-turning riff on pattern, proportion and color” and the jacket is imported from the Ratti print house in Italy (Collection Ratti Tile Coat, n.d.). Although it is made of wool and polyester (refer to appendix, figure 2), the jacket appears to be canvas. It sports a minimalistic and tailored shape, which balances against the geometric commotion of the motif - anything more complicated may appear too busy. The jacket has hidden hook and eye closures and even sports a daring striped pocket on the inside lining (refer to appendix, figure 3). When asked how my mother felt she stood out amongst her peers the same age as her, she responded with, “I usually wear one thing, whether its a coat - often its a coat - or shoes or something that stands out that’s fashionable and ‘me’ and colourful and fun” (Innanen, K., 2015).
I imagine this jacket would be a fun piece to wear, however, you must be feeling confident in order to wear this garment, as it is such an eye-catching piece of attire. The garment is rough to the touch because it is made of a natural fibre, but in spite of that, it is a light jacket that one might wear in fall or spring. There is not much give in the jacket, so it wouldn’t be the most comfortable to wear. Who knows, maybe one day I will be lucky enough to borrow this piece and see for myself how it feels to put on!
As previously stated, this jacket comes from the Ratti Print House located in Italy, where the factory produces more than 4 million metres of fabric every year (Pakistan Textile Journal, 2015). It is known specifically for its creativity, innovativity and state-of-the-art textile technology, which is why J. Crew chose to import fabrics that only this company could make (Pakistan Textile Journal, 2015). These prints are perfect for people like my mom, who refuse to adjust to simple or plain textile motifs. In this way, my mother constantly challenges the style norms of her age generation. According to the Journal of Adult Development, as most women grow older they give up in a way and “permit defiance of fashion and of ‘what other people will say’: she is freed of dieting and the care of her beauty” (Ogle, J. P., & Damhorst, M. L., 2005). Although I believe every woman is beautiful, I disagree strongly with this statement. My mother is a prime example of how with age, a woman can embrace herself and her body and make an impact on the fashion world instead of disappearing by resisting the fashion industry. Unlike the women in this study, my mom continually challenges society, social and demographic norms as well as the “young-loving” current fashion industry to prove that women of every age can be feminine and stylish. Yes, this J. Crew Collection Ratti Tile jacket still says “look at me” after a close reading, but the woman who dons it adds, “I am a bright and confident woman and I will not back down no matter my age.”
Interview:
In retrospect, my mother has always had an intense love for style, fashion and clothing. Her own mother influenced her by subscribing to each month’s issue of Vogue magazine and she of course, passed their joint interests in all things creative and fashionable down to me. My mom used to buy ruined Lacoste shirts from second hand stores just so she could cut off the little alligator logo and sew it onto another polo shirt. She reminisces about the United Colors of Benetton shirt everyone her age had in high school and always shakes her head when I pull on my 80’s inspired high waisted jeans (bad memories, I guess!). She has always had such a love for personal style and now that my mother has aged, her passion hasn’t left - in fact, it’s more bold than ever.
Describing her personal style is easy for my mom, as it is a true representation of her personality. She loves funky colours and quirky patterns, but most of all she likes an outfit that she can feel comfortable and confident in. Of course, one of her main concerns while dressing is to dress her age. “I’m trying to be age appropriate now that I’m approaching 50. I don’t want to be too ‘trendy-young’” (Innanen, K., 2015). Confused on what the term ‘age-appropriate’ means in today’s society? My mother explains it as not wanting to look like she is trying to look much younger than she is. She likes to balance out trends, stating, “if I’m wearing ripped boyfriend jeans I wouldn’t go crazy with the rips, but I still like to wear ripped jeans”. I think this is an important lesson to be learned by women of all ages, young and old. The term ‘dressing your age’ does not mean a woman must say goodbye to all things trendy and fashionable depending on her age, it only means maybe those trends should be portrayed in a toned down, conservative manner. Nonetheless, I am still a true believer in expressing yourself - if a woman wants to pull an Anna Dello Russo and wear a mini skirt, heels and crop top at 52, I am all for whatever floats her boat and makes her feel her absolute best.
My mother is a loyal customer when she likes a company’s clothing; which translates to: mom owns at least ¾ of J. Crew’s and Tory Burch’s inventory. Although the previous statement was loosely exaggerated, a wardrobe inventory concluded that roughly 35% of her wardrobe is from J. Crew (refer to Statistics and Wardrobe Inventory, Chart 2). Looking at her closet, it’s hard to believe they haven’t recruited her as a brand ambassador yet. She owns their shoes, dresses, handbags, tops, sweaters, jackets and skirts, but her all-time favourite item of clothing has to be either pants or jackets. This has led me to tease her about her pant collection, which secretly I really admire. “I dig my pant collection. I dig a super funky pant or a super crazy, funky coat” (Innanen, K., 2015). From growing up around her all my life (quite literally!), I have watched her style change subtly; Mom never used to be so brave with her clothing. When asked if she foresees her style and way of dress changing in the future, she answered quite confidently, “No, fundamentally I think it will be the same. I can’t imagine it changing fundamentally - my feeling about fashion and how it makes me feel - but if anything changes, I think it would be practical changes; shorter heels and as my body changes, clothing would change to address that. Other than that I think I’ll wear something crazy and funky forever” (Innanen, K., 2015). This makes me incredibly happy to know she is not going to forfeit her style, self-expression, body-image and self-confidence for the social ageing norms.
One of the most interesting responses I got throughout the interview was when I asked my mother what changes she would like to see in the fashion industry. Her response was an important message, and very powerful coming from someone who has kept up with the industry her whole life. “I get really tired of the same models. I want diversity, I want a different girl. There’s so many beautiful, interesting, lovely people in the world, and I just think its boring that the same models are shown. I really think it’s tiring. I really want to see unusual and interesting people in magazines and in advertising. And to put celebrities on all the time on the magazine covers, its tiresome. And people who have been looking at these magazines for years, its just boring. Show me something different! There’s so many interesting people in the world, so why show the same models in all of the ads, who have the same look? It really needs to change” (Innanen, K., 2015). Unlike the social factors we talk about in class about diversity in fashion, I had never thought that having diverse models would also just be more interesting for such a creative business. For such an innovative industry, it is mind-boggling how we haven’t embraced different types of people to represent fashion. Of course, this western beauty ideal of the young woman is also unmotivating for the woman who doesn’t fit today’s young ideal. “With the exception of high profile older women, advertisements use younger women, not only in the general run of women’s magazines but also including those purportedly aimed at the older woman” (Onyx, J., Leonard, R., & Reed, R., 1999, pg. 13). How is the young woman still the western beauty ideal when powerful women like Carine Roitfeld at 60, Grace Coddington at 73 and Anna Wintour at 65 hold such influential roles in the industry? It is our societal normalities that have brought this torturous relationship between women and their bodies. According to Social Theory and Aging by Jason L. Powell, women are “more likely than men to develop their bodies as objects of perception for others. The downside to this conscious embodiment of women is that as they age, they tend to lose a key asset, and thus come to think of themselves, and to be thought of, as invisible” (Powell, J., 2006, pg. 80). It is important that women realize that they are not losing anything as they age. In fact, women should be gaining the knowledge and confidence to show the world they are just as beautiful as they continue to age and to empower age rather than resist it.
As I’m sure anyone who reads this can see, I am incredibly proud to be my mother’s daughter. I am fortunate to have her as a fashion role model, however, I hope she will also inspire more women to follow in her footsteps. Wearing bright, quirky and fun outfits not only shows off who she is internally, but it makes people pay attention to her and to recognize that fashion and style does not have an age limit. And with that, I’ll leave you with this quote: “Here’s what I want to add, and I want you to put it in there somehow, because I really mean it. I love, love, love, love that you have your own style that’s different than mine. I’ve seen some cases where the daughter just emulates the mom’s style and I think you take a little bit from me, which I’m flattered, but you have your own style that you’re confident about and that you love and suits your body and makes you feel good and I’m totally flattered that you have found that for yourself. And it’s a little different than mine and its yours. That makes me feel good that I hopefully gave that to you. That you can create your own sense of style that suits you and makes you feel really good everyday and it doesn’t have to be like anyone else’s” (Innanen, K., 2015). These words should be interpreted by everyone, whatever age, gender, sexuality, race and body-type, to wear what you want, whenever you want. As long as your style is your own and it makes you happy, no one has the right to tell you how to dress and mothers certainly should not be compelled to sport mom jeans.
References:
Collection Ratti tile coat. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2015, from
Innanen, K. (2015, March 11). Wardrobe Interview [FaceTime interview].
Ogle, J. P., & Damhorst, M. L. (2005). Critical reflections on the body and related
sociocultural discourses at the midlife transition : An interpretive study of women's experiences. Journal of Adult Development,12(1), 1-18. doi:10.1007/s10804-005-1277-2
Onyx, J., Leonard, R., & Reed, R. (1999). Chapter One. In Revisioning aging: Empowerment of
older women (Vol. 4, p. 13). New York, New York: Peter Lang.
Powell, J. (2006). Postmodernism, Culture and the Aging Body. In Social theory and aging(p.
80). Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield.
Ratti S.p.A. Has Chosen Brueckner as a Partner." Pakistan Textile Journal 64.1 (2015): n.
page. Academic OneFile. Web. 22 Mar. 2015.
All pictures were taken by and belong to Jack Innanen.
