We spend most of our time dressed in garments we choose ourselves. They serve to protect us from the climate, but also increasingly fulfill aesthetic or decorative functions. Many of the decisions we make about what we wear are influenced by beliefs, values, and social norms that are so ingrained within us that we may not even realize they exist (or where they come from), blinding us to the symbolic weight behind the clothes we wear.
In 2024, one might easily dismiss religion as a factor influencing our dressing decisions. However, despite numerous sociocultural changes leading to secularization, a cultural footprint persists – subtle yet deeply ingrained within us, stronger than we often realize in our day-to-day lives. This questioning of religious influence might begin with the many beliefs or daily rituals we engage in, yet we rarely inquire into why we do them or where these beliefs originate. Fashion can become a ritual in itself. The way people dress can be part of a ceremony or act of devotion, where each item of clothing has a subjective but symbolic meaning. This sartorial ritualism reinforces fetishism, by transforming fashion into an act of faith and a means to connect with ‘the higher self’.
Like religion, fashion then can be understood as a method for excavating inner experience, and speculating about the ways human beings touch into divinity. To establish a clear connection between body, dress, and identity, there must be a reconciliation between depth and surface. It is only when both aspects meet that we get the chance to catch sight of ourselves. Fashion thus serves as a channel to articulate the aporia of identity. In other words, it attempts to express what cannot easily be put into words—the unraveling of the soul—acting as an intermediary between honor, difference, justice, and awareness. It becomes a contested expression of cultural and traditional moral values and practices, intertwined with the anxiety about the kind of person one wants to be in this life, and thus, the type of soul that resides beneath the garments.
Anthropologist Terence A. Turner called this exchange of realities “the second skin”. In such examinations it's imperative to think of fashion not as a cover but as a membrane between imaginal realities: soul and body, surface and depth, domains of aspiration and devotion — and how these two are always in constant conversation with each other. By unpacking the relation between surface and soul, there’s an opportunity to see where the beliefs about clothing elevating our spirit come from.
Contemporary fashion often adopts aesthetics and symbols from religious cults and sects, transforming them into trends. This adoption may be motivated by a desire to provoke or by a fascination with the esoteric and the occult, often with a fetishistic approach. For example, Kanye West’s Sunday Service is not solely intended to convey a spiritual message; it also plays with the fetishization of the ‘sacred’. By adopting religious aesthetics and contemporary fashion, the artist created a kind of modern ‘cult’ that blended music, fashion, and religion, reinterpreting Christian and spiritual elements in a way that both attracts followers and recontextualizes the sacred in a secular and commercial framework.
While fashion plays a significant role in disciplinary regimes, it also serves as a catalyst for breaking down boundaries. Fashion animates dreams, fantasies, and any imaginal realm. As Owen Barfield points out “the world does not necessarily extend away from the subject like a stage but is instead a garment worn about the body”. The process of making decisions in fashion reflects the primitive aspects of the human mind and our desire to express both imaginary and material concepts.
This dynamic can lead to a situation where individuals unconsciously connect their exposure to these familiar ritualistic symbols and objects, creating a strange sense of familiarity — almost magnetic. This, in turn, offers a new form of community by stripping away the rigid meanings and norms associated with these symbols, leaving space for personal interpretation.
Fashion and trends have been influenced predominantly by communities, subcultures, streetwear, and the people in everyday life. However, with the decline of major subcultural movements, the influence of religion, and the exponential growth of social media and globalization, a profound shift occurred: people became aware of an overwhelming number of identities, aesthetics, and lifestyles available to them. This awareness often led to feelings of insignificance and meaninglessness, particularly among younger generations who grew up amid these changes.
This collective numbness, combined with overproduction and the relentless quest for identity, has diminished the societal importance of “correct” or traditional uses of clothing. Today, people exploit every possible aesthetic or garment as a tool for expressing individuality, disregarding their original symbolism or context, including religion. This detachment from the meaning and substance of garments and symbols has fueled an obsession with aesthetics.
Some internet users have identified this phenomenon, often labeled the “aesthetic” trend, as an anti-trend. It plays on the categorization of styles through the suffix “-core,” which denotes a genre or movement. While interpretations of this trend vary due to its novelty and fluidity within the internet space, it serves as a stark commentary on the oversaturation of specific online niches in contemporary culture.
If recognizing dress practices brings the emotions of the soul to life, then embracing a deeper code of dressing could be a potential solution to curbing today’s consumerist mindset. This also prompts us to reflect on how we express the inner world we carry within.
While this may seem like something bigger and more abstract than it truly is, these practices are present daily, especially on social media. The ritualistic practice of dressing consciously seems to have a real influence on people's state of being. We need look no further than the popular Get Ready With Me (GRWM) format on TikTok. Dressing becomes ritualized as they explain their outfits in detail and, with each piece added on, more and more like themselves, confident, and believing that ‘a good outfit equals a good day.’ This daily ritual, where they put on everything that aligns with their reality, eventually becomes an autopilot action — something unconscious but necessary for a good day.
When these rituals are turned into public performances, they may be perceived as performative. It is open to speculation whether this is an unconscious mechanism for individuals to embody the garments thoughtfully. After all, putting their soul on display in public could be a way to express their true selves, or perhaps it is simply an act of vanity.
Dressing deeply requires an understanding of the inner life and the potential for dress to articulate and examine the mysteries of subjectivity. This invites us to constantly ask ourselves: What are we dressing? The body or the soul?
