That shirt says more about you than you think.
It could be what you have on right now, or the one that’s still in your cart waiting to be checked out. Or, maybe it’s that design; you know, the one that still lives in your head? The shirt that’s yet to meet print.
That shirt says more about you than you think — because clothing has always been and will forever be a mode of meaning-making. Clothing is matter-making, in the literal and physical sense, as well as in the philosophical. Clothing is space-taking, truth-telling, community-building, opinion-challenging, trend-setting, barrier-breaking. It’s just a matter of meaning.
We live in a world where digital buzz has become bread and butter. But beyond the hype that clickability, searchability, and virality bring, clothing has always been a mode of meaning-making. And we’re here for all of it.
We’re here to celebrate the moments when clothing means something to the people who make them, and when they matter to those they were created for.
Clothing fosters a sense of (comm)unity
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Clothing brings us together — there’s no doubting it. The proof’s closer than you think. Just take a look at uni swag in high circulation all throughout the academic year, merch-turned-collectibles that signal love for brands with cult followings, shirts with company logos you whip out for team building, and yes, even themed holiday apparel from your favourite family member purely ordered for some happy snaps. Say cheese!
The point is: Clothing brings us together, whether or not we mean for it to. History has also seen clothing as a unifying marker of identity, fostering a sense of belonging in many communities.
For example, cloaks fashioned from animal skin and fur were commonly used by first nations people. The Koori people preferred possum skin whereas the Noongar people, on the other hand, used kangaroo or wallaby skin. Etchings that embellished these cloaks also reflected symbols significant to these communities. If you wore one of these cloaks, it meant that you belonged and honoured the origins of your community.
Today, we see the same patterns of using clothing to nourish camaraderie in identity, whether in protest or support. Hong Kong’s pro-democracy citizens in black, banding together for their future. Just Stop Oil advocates donning hi-vis vests — a beacon for the current climate emergency. The rainbow colours in support of Pride, from members of the LGBTQIA+ or allies.
And, recently we’ve seen in Australia, brightly coloured t-shirts to reflect a sense of unity, purpose, and safety for those who were affected by flooding in the Northern rivers. Printed in block letters on these shirts was a slogan, as simple as it was comforting: “HERE TO HELP.” If you see volunteer teams wearing them, don’t be shy, say hi. Maybe it’ll inspire you to ask how you can help, too. We may not be wildcats, but we certainly “are all in this together” — and these designs proudly represent this.
Clothing empowers, period.
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What’s the saying, “There is strength in numbers”? And even when it’s worn by only one person, clothing empowers — if they stir the right ideologies and emotions for the wearer, that is. The idea that clothing empowers the wearer is evident on any catwalk, fashion editorial, or even in every iconic teen flick that zeroes in on the ‘makeover’ as a quintessential balm to soothe all social aches. Cue: Clueless, She’s All That, Princess Diaries, The Devil Wears Prada, and, the Netflix era’s Do Revenge (where, interestingly, the makeover was finally recognised as “problematic” but “fun” — but that’s another story. We digress.).
Clothing as a tool for empowerment is part and parcel of it fostering a sense of unity and community. French-American fashion editor, columnist, and icon Diana Vreeland once said, “Fashion is part of the daily air and it changes all the time, with all the events. You can even see the approaching of a revolution in clothes. You can see and feel everything in clothes.”
Those feelings, ideas, and ideals tied with articles of clothing are power, personal and otherwise. When these concepts suddenly transform into something tangible, say, in the form of clothing, it becomes even more powerful because human perception tells you it’s real.
Just like when the folks at She Shapes History hold historical explorations in their pretty printed merch, their walking tours become an even more empowering exercise in unearthing narratives lost in Australian history. The Canberra/Ngunnawal Country-based tour company sets their sights on aspects of history that often don’t make it to school textbooks and the role that women played in shaping Australia’s storied past.
Clothing kickstarts doing
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To borrow Donatella Versace’s words, “Fashion is about dreaming and making other people dream.” Let’s go a step further by ruminating on yet another clothing affirmation: Clothing, in all its versatility, also lets dreaming turn into doing. What some people dream, clothing might just push you to do; and that’s quite powerful stuff, if you ask us.
So then, clothing bridges a sense of community and empowerment to bring us to actual movement. As we know well by now, mere colours in fabric unify factions. Symbols printed on textile tell us something about the person wearing them before they even utter a single word. Statement shirts breathe life into advocacies, bringing them with you to every shop, cafe, pub, town, city, country, continent — every place — you go.
Articles of clothing act as beacons for causes and beliefs, as we saw clearly in shirts designed by Brisbane Birds, in support of bushfire relief efforts in 2020. To raise funds for the Glossy Black Cockatoo Recovery Program, the organisation didn’t beat around the bush. They drove impact and action by spotlighting a sad yet very possible future for species affected by bushfire: “EXTINCTION IS FOREVER.”
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Similar compelling sentiments were felt in Ngukurr Language Centre’s printed t-shirts that read, “Lurluj-ngarraginyu ra-manabarru” — “Buffalo gonna chase ya.” Warndarrang language worker Kieran Thompson designed the merch as a way of telling the stories of the country’s dying indigenous languages. But perhaps, more than contributing to the language centre’s information campaign, what the design successfully did was encourage discourse and action towards language revival and resilience. Now, that’s a genius shirt that quite literally does the talking for you.
Clothing remembers and rallies support
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And if it isn’t obvious by now, let Tosk’s Queer Sister Smackdown 2022 merch show you how clothing rallies support. The custom apparel business based in Brisbane/Meanjin is an avid supporter of local queer communities; their participation in Queer Sister Smackdown 2022 is just one of the ways they let fans of drag wear their support like a badge of honour.
Here to Help shirts, by giving a hand. As was the case, too, with the printed merch released early this year for flood relief efforts concentrated in Lismore/Tchukarmboli. The shirt reads as a reminder to those lucky enough to have been given the chance to move on from the devastation: “We are still here.”
Clothing sends a message
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Whether they’re for collective storytelling, for speaking personal truths, or for emanating a sense of community or even urgency, clothing sends messages founded in spheres of constant meaning-making; which is why we always go back to our ethos of “saying something on something.”
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And even when you don’t quite know what you want to say yet, here’s some wisdom from our gal Coco Chanel: “Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”
By extension, as long as something’s happening, we’re pretty sure you’ll have something to say. In the spirit of treating clothing as community-building and matter-making, we’ll be here to help make what your mind creates. Can’t wait.
