Fashion Communism

‘Who cares? Nobody is unique,’ I yelled. ‘It’s not like every item of clothing you wear has been specifically made for you’, ‘great minds think alike, she just has a great taste like you do. Get that in to your head and if you can’t, go buy yourself a fashion label!’

I’m sorry for losing my temper in public but I have had it up to the peak with Wunmi and I just had to speak my mind. It was meant to be a fun evening at least so I thought. We had planned a Saturday to unwind after the ‘stresssssssssss-ful’ week and I was looking forward to seeing the movie ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. On our way to the cinema, we decided to stop to grab something to eat. Approaching the entrance of the eatery, Wunmi screamed, “Arghhhhh, not the same top” “What is it?” I replied. She stared at me with the oh-my-God-I-wish-the-ground-could-swallow-me face! And then, I got the message.

Standing across the parking lot of the eatery was a babe wearing a top identical to what Wunmi was wearing. I thought it was “dress up as twins” day. Wunmi, pulling me and walking rapidly towards the car, soon put distance between herself and ‘her twin’. She then stared at me wanting me to do the ‘who wore it the best’, of course in her favour. Like an actress on cue, I tried playing the role making remarks like “she should come to you for lessons on how to wear it next time”, “she does not even have boobs enough to pull it off”.

As the words came tumbling out of my mouth, I realized this was not what she wanted to hear. Not quite and so I had to yell. I don’t know which one of my actions made things worse for the pretty purple top, now shoved in The box, unlikely to see the light of day until aunty Imole’s daughter comes from the village.

I am sure this has happened to most everyone. There was probably a time when you were out at a club, or the movies, or the mall, eatery or at school, and you suddenly noticed that someone there was wearing the exact item you were wearing. Probably the same shirt, dress, t-shirt, shoe, whatever it was, that sudden, awful realization made you think, ‘Oh no!’ and caused you to want to take off the item immediately or leave the place before you get spotted.

I thought Wunmi’s actions were rather stupid at first before I realized that she was not the only one in the hatred of ‘fashion communism’ (as Naomi Greenway puts it). Wunmi is just one of the many girls who have a box of “never to be worn clothes”. Not because the clothes are worn-out, but because Ope, Nkechi and probably Silifat have the very same type. She is one of the girls who feel they should have ‘copyright’ of a clothing item. “I just hate people having the same stuff as me. It annoys me too much. especially if the person who has the same item as you looks better in it, or has disgusting taste in clothes, and brings what you’re wearing down”. ‘Why can’t there just be one of an item in the world?’

But what does Karl Marx say about ‘communism’? Abolish all PRIVATE property. The concept of Communism was based on the holding of all property in ‘common’. Communism says that the people of any and every place in the world can all own the same clothing, shoe, the same atmosphere top. This particular social process is known as ‘fashion communism’. Political communism may not be in existence anymore but there is nothing wrong with its namesake ‘fashion communism’; there is nothing ‘arghhhhh’ about Ope, Nkechi and silifat wearing your favorite atmosphere sweatshirt if they can afford it.

So, can you remember a time when someone else was wearing the same thing as you? How did you handle it?  Imagine you were wearing the same clothing item as Beyonce, what would you do? So instead of asking “who do I kill to make sure no one else has that dress?” play it off, kini big deal? It’s not as if the cloth was custom made for you alone in the world, someone out there somewhere is going have the same thing eventually.

However, to all those that still want to fight for their freedom from fashion communism, you can only be as free as your financial possibilities allow you to be. (You could buy a fashion label, or better still, start your own)

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