COVID Couture
The quarantined of 2020 show how to dress during our pandemic… Welcome to the post-apocalyptic dystopian fashion show.
It started with a group text between my family members: a photo of my father suited up to go grocery shopping in a white face mask, latex gloves and a bright yellow slicker. The first responses were warm tidings, encouraging him to stay safe and wishing him luck out in this dangerously infected world. I decided to take a different route sending, “And now we have him coming down aisle 6 in his best post-apocalyptic ensemble. That yellow screams caution!” The humor broke some tension and gave me the idea to look at the fashion of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Amidst the social media posts of boredom, baked goods, and babies, I looked to Instagram and Twitter for the first realistic glimpse of post-apocalyptic fashion, and it’s mostly glum. Unfortunately, we see a ton of pajamas, sweatpants, and other loosely fitted clothing that most reserve for housework. Comfort rules all with soft materials and elastic waistbands gracing our screens and supermarkets. But, there are a few like-minded individuals who see the opportunity to express the dystopian present we so often see in popular culture. And, there are others who found a way to share art of the ordinary.
How I expected my apocalypse outfit to look vs. How I actually look:
The scale and impact of this global pandemic has led to constant comparisons to the apocalypse. From The Matrix to Mad Max, science fiction movies often portray earth as ravaged, lifeless, and violent, while the costumes in these films range from tattered and loose earth-tones to sleek black and metallic. No matter which reality you choose, leather, accessories, and fit are key.
Our reality has moved online and social distancing has our interactions and voyeurism shifted to the screen. There are countless posts with similar tags all contrasting the costumes reminiscent of apocalyptic pop culture to our now fifth week of quarantined life. The juxtaposition between twenty-first century lounge-wear and science fiction cosplay shows how popular culture has created an unattainable image in our increasingly casual life.
HAZMAT & Full Body Suits
Step aside Marty McFly, Naomi Campbell just showed us how to make your hazmat suit sophisticated. Boarding her flight home, Campbell glided along the terminals in a stark white hazmat suit accessorized with a Burberry cape, classic medical-blue mask, pink latex gloves, and don’t forget those goggles!
The news and internet flipped over the famed supermodel’s video sharing the protective gear for her flight at the early exposures of COVID-19 to the Western world. Over a month later, Campbell’s actions seem less extreme and more realistic as even a trip to the grocer involves covering as much skin as possible.
COVID Couture
Is that the Beak Doctor? No, it’s your neighbor transforming a gas mask into a steampunk gentleman. Across our nation, creativity blossoms as individuals show off their skill and sense of humor in their homes.
From bedazzled masks to towels and sheets as garments, every and any ordinary object can transform the ensemble. Masks are mandatory, toilet paper is scarce, and restlessness aplenty.
Portraits of solitude
On March 14, 2020, a new Dutch Instagram account went viral for featuring do-it-at-home photographic recreations of some of the greatest and well-known works of art in history.
The account @tussenkunstenquarantaine translates to “between art and quarantine” in Dutch. Anneloes Officier and her roommates started the project, while quarantined at home, by recreating Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring using a towel, a placemat, and a clove of garlic.
Instagram took the idea by storm flooding the account with images of people imitating a famous artwork using three items lying around their home, photographing the still, and tagging the account. In less than a month, according to Caroline Goldstein of ArtNetNews, “...more than 6,500 contributors have sent submissions from as far away as Iran, Norway, Canada, Argentina, and the US.”
Museums jumped at the opportunity, beginning with a promotion from the Rijksmuseum. The #gettymuseumchallenge, announced on March 25th, from the Twitter account of the Getty Museum in Los Angeles looked to its followers to recreate works from their collection similar to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s #MetTwinning challenge, launched months before the epidemic. Others have been sharing similar images under the hashtag #museumathome.
#tussenkunstenquarantaine #gettymuseumchallenge #museumathome
A sense of humor is required to enjoy and join this campaign. From Byzantine to contemporary, art enthusiasts have truly impressed the digital world with their creativity. Some more professionally styled than other, the majority center around European art male artists. The images above were chose to further emphasize art history’s obsession with maintaining the fame of Western art, those posts receiving more “likes” and more often shared to major accounts. But, the ingenuity is in the objects used to complete these recreations. The extraordinary shines in the everyday items; art lives in everyday life.