| SANTIAGO TIMES |
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| FASHION COLUMN |
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WAKING UP TO FASHION IN CHILE
A Chilean Perspective on Changes in Fashion
By Eva Medalla
(June 22, 2004) As I walk around downtown Santiago, I realize how much Chile has changed during the last decade. I look around me and see the same faces, walking down the same streets, in a world that is no longer what it used to be.
I was born in Chile during the seventies, after a military coup that had deprived the country of most of its music, customs and freedom of expression. People had to be part of a system that had been abruptly installed, and had to appear as if they had lived in it forever. Many needed to blend into the crowd in order to be unnoticed, saving their jobs – and lives – along the way.
I grew up in a Chile filled with uniforms. I was surrounded by school buddies who dressed just like me, and who had to wear their school outfit just like I did: no “personal touches” allowed. We lined up every Monday and sang the national anthem, looking like an army of children. After that, we would all march back to the classroom. And the day would go by, until the next, when we would wake up and put on the same blue uniform.
It was during my early school years, however, that I had access to an unusual toy: a doll that was fairly new to the Chilean market. It was in 1983 that I got my first Barbie.
I am part of what some psychologists refer to as “The Barbie Generation.” My doll could be anything she wanted: a flight attendant, an astronaut, a business woman, a mother, a teacher, a doctor, a party-girl. She was a hero. Anything I could think of, Barbie could do. And her clothing reflected who she was in every role she played. This doll stood out from all others in every toy store display.
During the eighties, Barbie fever invaded Chile. I grew up surrounded by flashy outfitted Barbies, owned by classmates who wore the same dull garments I wore, whose parents also dressed alike. Who can forget Raquel Argandoña – former Miss Chile, then turned TV personality, actress and politician – when she stated that Chilean men were “boring” because they all wore grey pants and navy blue blazers. Unfortunately, and in spite of the rejection her comment received, Argandoña was right. Businessmen did dress alike, as did the working women.
In a country where wardrobes were ruled by black, brown, grey, navy blue, and red being the feminine exception, Barbie became the most stylishly dressed character I knew of. She could wear anything I wanted her to: spangles, spandex, leather, gauze, etc. The more shiney the better. She would always look good… to me anyways.
I left Chile at the end of the eighties and moved to Canada, where I spent my teenage years during the nineties. Unlike in Chile, children in Canada were allowed to wear street clothes to school. There were no uniforms. Not only that, but the rest of the people could wear anything they wished to wear, and not be judged by their choice (even though I saw outfits that should be considered a crime).
It was in Canada that I had access to multiculturalism. My classmates were from all over the world and they all dressed according to their own style and, hopefully, taste. It was then that I realized how deprived I had been of the rest of the world. I was full of prejudices, for there were things I had never seen. I was scared of the teacher who had dreads, while I had little respect for the one who wore jeans and a sweater. I was used to uniforms, and this world of fashion freedom and expression was new to me, and to many other immigrants.
But by the end of high-school, I had decided I wanted to make the world of fashion my world. I wanted to work in it, and spend most of my time surrounded by fabrics, new designs and campaigns. During my last year in a high-school that specialized in art and design, my friends and I managed to pull three fashion shows together. We each designed and made our own collections, took photographs, and searched for media coverage.
We wanted to see a fashion awakening, and we succeeded. For the first time, male go-go dancers holding whips danced to the music while models flashed their skin in our see-through garments, in the school auditorium, while the whole audience applauded in amazement.
And so, years later, I walk down the streets of Santiago and do notice change – lots of change. People have opened up to colour and design. Major international fashion brands have opened shops in our country, and have helped national brands pick up on modernity and allure.
Still, I feel there’s a long way to go. Chile has undergone many changes, but is in need of more. I feel there is still shyness towards taking liberties with fashion. While many women do wish they could look like the girls on the HBO sitcom “Sex and the City,” there are too many prejudices that inhibit them.
This is why I am starting this new column for The Santiago Times. I will focus on the Chilean fashion scene, for it is time it got the attention it deserves. Hopefully, we can all become more aware of who we are, and how it is that we present ourselves to the world, without the need of uniforms.
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Fashion Column |
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| Courtesy of Mattel |
| When Barbie landed in Chile she represented a freedom of expression most Chileans lacked |
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