Flicking through magazines you’re bound to come across a page with ‘who wore it best’ emblazoned across it. It highlights two women who have worn the same outfit. There is also quite often best and worst dressed lists. I’m not going to say that it isn’t occasionally fun to flick through these pages but there is something about them that makes me a little uncomfortable.
What I don’t like is that we are continuously judging women on how they look. The concept of ‘who wore it best’ also creates unnecessary competition between women.
Who Wore What
At premieres and awards shows women are always asked on the red carpet who they’re wearing. They also get asked how did you choose your outfit and who did your makeup? Men on the other hand are asked what movies they have coming up and how they prepared for the role. I feel like interviewers are getting better than they used to be but there is still a long way to go. Why are women reduced to just their appearance?
I know to a certain degree the dresses that are worn are a type of advertising and I do love finding out which dress is which designer. However, these actresses and celebrities aren’t just clothes horse. They can care about what they wear and have a career. Caring about fashion and how you look doesn’t mean you’re some kind of airhead (this may be a whole post in itself).
Personal Choice
The amount of times I’ve read how certain celebs ‘always’ make terrible outfit choices just make me cringe. What we wear is all about personal choice and we should be able to express ourselves without fear of being ridiculed.
These ‘who wore it best’ posts unnecessarily pit women against each other in pointless competition. There is no need to choose sides. Successfully siding with who is crowned best dressed does not make you a better person and it doesn’t mean you’re some kind of fashion guru.
We should be finding new ways to talk about fashion that actually empower women rather than bring them down. I would love to know what you think about this. Are these types of posts just becoming dated or will we always have them?
