GETTING POWER DRESSED

By Aswin Nandakumar

Nikita, a young MBA graduate, landed herself an HR job in the bustling IT space in Kochi. A few weeks before she was to join her first job, she was busy taking screenshots of well-dressed women on Instagram. Last week when she had walked into sprawling IT campus, she saw men and women in their ritzy attire. She realised her wardrobe, which had a bunch of tank tops, slim fit jeans, brightly coloured cardigans and that shoddy canvas bag, with which she pushed her college life is a misfit. The lapel collared formal blazers and the wrap blouse, with which she completed her MBA stint, was looking dull and it was not required as daily wear. Her collection of salwar and suits had faded. Coupled with a big dose of warning from her mother about the average Keralite’s moral concerns about dressing, she knew that her current wardrobe needed an urgent revamp. The pressure to dress up well for each occasion did put the young girl under stress. 

American Fashion photographer Bill Cunningham once said, “Fashion is the armour to survive the reality of everyday life.”

 It seems it holds true for the millennials. The current generation believes that right attires brings in confidence at work. Professor Karen Pine, who leads a team of researchers at the University of Hertfordshire in the UK made a group wear Superman T-shirts at work and found an increase in productivity. Top corporates too emphasise the need to dress up sharply for greater confidence. 

Roy, an assistant director begs to differ. He explained his experience of spending time at Prasad Film Studio, both in Chennai and Mumbai. He says technicians in Chennai are more talented and faster but when it comes to their dressing sense, they are absolute simpletons. "On the other hand, going to Prasad labs in Mumbai is like a fashion extravaganza," says Roy. They are more sophisticated people. Roy feels the effect of Bollywood has rubbed onto all the affiliates of the industry. But, the same cannot be said with the regional film industry.

Divya, hailing from Chandigarh was transferred to Kochi where she worked for three years. Now transferred to New Delhi, Divya says that girls in North India wear comfortable clothing while girls in Kerala give emphasis to elegance. “Hot or cold, humid or not humid nothing matters for the Malayalis,” she adds. When asked, if Malayalis dress up aptly for the occasion she smiles and says, “Malayali has a broad definition for apt.”

Neville Jude who was on a brief visit to Kochi says, “It is surprising to see how women walk around wearing a saree with such ease even when it is raining cats and dogs.” Neville feels that most women just conform to the norms of society rather than dress according to the weather. 

But in the last ten years, the dressing sense has radically changed, claims Nitish, owner of a prominent restaurant in Kochi. He feels that youngsters have adopted avant-garde clothes because they want to break free from daily expectations. They want to place themselves outside the social norms that dictate how they should clothe their bodies. Even while hosting top IT companies, Nitish notices that the young adults have adopted sharp dressing but the guys in middle management are still stuck with loose trousers and unfit shirts and are fashion-blind.

Vaishali, a career consultant, is often dismayed by the lack of attention IT companies give to power dressing. I was shocked to see the HR of a top-level IT company wearing a formal shirt and low-waist trousers along with a pair of sports shoes for a business meeting! "Whether you like it or not, a person is first judged by the way they dress. If you don't dress appropriately people won't take you seriously,” explains Vaishali. “The notion, ‘What others will think, perhaps bogs people down to power-dress.”The trend to dress up primly is catching on. Youngsters are setting the bar high. They want to stay on top even if their career transfers them to cosmopolitan cities like Bangalore or Mumbai. 

A week before joining. Nikita went on a shopping spree and a complete makeover. She got a new haircut from Toni and Guy with well-placed highlights in shades of amber and copper. She picked four pairs of shoes: Flat slipper for daily wear, Jootis for the ethnic occasion and slip-on for weekend wear and wedges just to make her feel tall. Thankfully for her, the college-days Converse still sustained all the adventure and looked clean. 

She picked a couple of full sleeve-knee-length-low-cut cotton salwar suit, tunics, pinstriped shirts with trousers, a couple of palazzos with a crop top. She did pick up a pencil skirt with a dress shirt for corporate induction and presentation programmes. “Juggling it with a sleeveless black top makes it a perfect party wear too,” she thought to herself. Thankfully, her relatives gifted her with good salwar. She got them stitched at a well-known tailor in town. 

Meanwhile, her elder sister generously donated for the ‘fashion cause’ as well as a sleek office bag. Nikita invested in Maybelline lipsticks, Lakme eyeliners, Loreal Paris palette eyeshadow along with highlighter and foundation. A leather bag, lip balms and shades completed her look. Totally, she shelled half a lakh to get ready for her first job. She also got herself a full body wax. A day prior to joining, Nikita's eyes beamed at her wardrobe. In glee, she took a few out and kept it close to her and looked at herself in the mirror. A hundred selfies followed. The dashing youngster is all set to step up her life.

Published in Kochi edition of The New Indian Express Main Newspaper on 26 July 2019.