Name: Amber Donovan
Age: 21
College: Josephine Butler
Subject: Philosophy
You couldn’t live without…
Velvet. Perhaps that’s a bit of a cheeky answer as it includes a significant chunk of my wardrobe (I am particularly proud of my collection of velvet shirts), but I adore velvet. There is literally nothing bad about it. It feels nice on your skin, it’s soft to touch and it keeps you warm when it’s cold (very useful in Durham). On top of all that, I feel so goddamn fancy in velvet!
Pro tip…
Shop in charity shops!! Clothes can be an expensive hobby, and as a student I’m hardly rolling in money. Shopping in charity shops not only greatly reduces the cost (and means that your money is going to a good cause and not supporting large tax-avoiding companies!) but it also makes shopping more exciting – you never know what you’re going to find! Although, I will say, once you start shopping in charity shops it is very difficult to stop! One of my favourite things about shopping in charity shops is that if you find something that is particularly bold or outlandish that you might not normally wear, it is usually cheap enough that you can take a chance on it – more often than not you will surprise yourself and end up wearing it more than you thought you were going to. Plus, things that you find in charity shops tend to be completely different to the things you find in high street shops, so you’ll never have the problem of showing up wearing the same dress as someone else!
Who is your fashion icon?
That would have to be my mum. My mum has always had a very unique way of dressing herself – in fact, I don’t know anyone else who dresses like her. She introduced me to the wonders of charity shops, and taught me about the patriarchy – which helped me to become aware of the fact that, the way women dress can be (consciously or unconsciously) dictated by the male gaze – think of pretty much every women’s clothing advert ever (American Apparel are particularly bad for this). That doesn’t mean that you can’t or shouldn’t wear clothes from shops like American Apparel (although I am loath to support them) but it’s worth being aware of it and asking yourself whether you’re doing this for you, because you like the way you look, or because you think it makes you look the way you should. As such, not only did my mum lead by example by wearing clothes that express who she is, but she encouraged me to do the same, and made me aware of the issues that make it even more important for women to do so. She gave me the confidence to wear clothes that were different to those around me and gave me the tools to appreciate why it is so important, particularly for women, that we dress ourselves for ourselves, and support other women in their endeavours to do so – if I notice a woman wearing something I think looks great. I make an effort to tell her as much.
Do you think how you dress is important?
That’s a difficult question. I think it is important for us to dress for ourselves, however, I do feel that in today’s society we have an unhealthy tendency to put too much emphasis on how we look; there is a lot of pressure to conform to a certain image and that has a lot of negative consequences. Whilst I dislike the fact that people (particularly women) feel so much pressure to look a certain way, it is an inescapable fact that your appearance plays a role in how you feel about yourself. I’m not sure that that fact alone is necessarily a bad thing, but it quickly becomes negative when we are made to believe that there is a certain way that we have to look in order to feel good about ourselves (another reason I prefer to avoid shopping in high street shops as many of those companies make money off making us feel that way). However, you can also choose to take a stand against this in the way that you dress by choosing to dress for yourself and in a way that expresses who you are. It’s also no secret that if you think you look good, you feel good about yourself, the important part is making sure that it is you, and not societal pressures, that determine what it means to look good – easier said than done, I know, I still struggle with it myself occasionally.
Your Philosophy on fashion…
Clothes are an inescapable part of living in modern society. I love clothes and I have to dress myself most days so I figure why not make the most of every opportunity? That said, making the most of every opportunity is not just about wearing nice clothes, but taking a moment to be honest with yourself and consider why you are wearing what you are wearing. The entire clothing industry is a hugely profitable industry that makes money off making you feel like you need to look a certain way. I like to view every day as an opportunity to wear something that I like, for me, as a big fuck you to an industry that has contributed so heavily to perpetuating the patriarchy and making women feel like shit. What you wear can be as much a political statement as not shaving your armpits can be. However, just because the clothing industry is vile, that doesn’t mean you can’t take pride in what you wear. Disagreeing with the industry itself doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t engage with fashion at all, I enjoy shopping for clothes and I enjoy the creative task of putting an outfit together and I enjoy feeling like I look good (as I’m sure most people do). I think it is important for people, particularly women, to do all of those things and to have the confidence to do it for themselves. I appreciate that this doesn’t happen overnight – my red velvet shirt is one of my favourite items of clothing but it took me a while to have the confidence to wear it out as opposed to just around the house – and that some people will find it easier than others (perhaps those who are already more conventionally attractive). However, I believe it is worth thinking about what you wear (and why you wear it) and cultivating your own style, not in order to conform to society’s beauty standards, but for yourself. Dressing for yourself can be liberating.
Having listened to Amber talk passionately about wearing clothes that express who you are, I decided to try this for myself and created an outfit that expresses who I truly am on the inside: