I’ll be honest and say that from the time quarantine started, my ability to get dressed in the morning ended. After all, there was nowhere to go and no one to see; it only made sense to stay in my comfiest clothes. With no one around to see me but my laptop camera, I stopped putting in as much effort as I used to do when getting ready for school. However, I was surprised to find out that I didn’t miss what used to be my favorite part of the day.
In high school, picking out what to wear was the only thing that got me through high school. I loved the process of choosing the day’s fit, putting on makeup, and getting ready to take on the day. Clothes gave me the confidence for whatever lies ahead and I would debate with anyone who said it was for other reasons. I dressed for myself and myself only. Although, when the pandemic hit, it had me doubting if this was true or just something that I told myself. After all, when I stopped seeing people, I stopped dressing up, so indirectly, it must have been for other people.
From the time I first started wearing makeup in seventh grade, I wore it every day. I didn’t see my face as my face, but rather “my face without makeup”. I couldn’t leave the house without it and if I did, all I could think about was that everyone was seeing me bare-faced. This all changed when Covid-19 hit. I stopped wearing it during quarantine to let my skin breathe and surprisingly haven’t gotten back since. For the first time since I first picked up the mascara wand, I can confidently be in a room with other people without makeup.
This isn’t to say that I won’t go back to wearing makeup; I’m a Fashion major after all. Although, it won’t be the same as the way we wore makeup before. The overall sales of lip products have gone down not just for me, but for the entire world! According to Fortune, “Amazon sales in the U.S. tracked by McKinsey in the four weeks up to April 11 showed “lip care and color” saw the steepest decline in retail sales of any segment, with sales falling 15% and prices falling 28%”. Without mouths to see, people have been relying on the eyes as the focus of their routine, with eye products up 204%, according to a study reported by The Telegraph.
When it comes to clothes, I predict people will begin to be all about the athleisure. Due to the prolonged period of staying in our pajamas, it’ll slowly influence the way we dress when we finally begin going back to events. Back in the day, women subjected themselves to corsets that would cut off their circulation to give the appearance of a smaller waist. Our generation is now learning a similar lesson: we do not have to be in pain to be in fashion. This is what we’re starting to see in the fashion industry, with comfort being the new couture.