The Pandemic Fashion Trend.

Two months into the COVID pandemic lockdown, I was tucked on the couch, watching TV with a cup of now-lukewarm coffee in my hand. The microwave bell rang, and I sprang up to go check my warming food. Unfortunately, I spilled the coffee on my grey sweatshirt in the process. I proceeded to the bedroom to change into a new shirt. I swung open the wardrobe and saw my office shirts, still untouched. Especially the suits; I have not had the cause to put them on since the lockdown began, except for a few Skype meetings where I had to wear a shirt and tie over sweatpants. At this moment, it occurred to me that I needed to stock up on more casual clothes as it seems that would be more of the regular since the pandemic. I wondered if I’ll ever need the tuxedos and suits much again. I mean, they’re too expensive for a commodity of now-limited use. I mean, even Trevor Noah of the Daily Show swapped his crisp suit for a hoodie.

So, this makes one ask the question, is the COVID pandemic affecting our sense of dressing? Before jumping into a straight ‘yes’ or ‘no’, let’s examine the situations that affect what we choose to wear. 

The following are some of the ways that COVID has affected our fashion trend:

Comfortable Wears

This is no longer the Victorian Era. People now prefer to wear simple and comfortable wears to an elaborate whalebone corset hooked to some gigantic metal skirt frame; modern people might mistake a whale cage. So T-shirts, sweatshirts, jumpers, tank tops have all come up as popular choices of outfits, weather permitting. Even when we pick up our oversized anoraks from the coat hanger, the first thing that comes to our mind is that warm cosy feeling we expect. No one, or at least almost no one, wants some oversized collars sticking up to their chins anymore. 

Wears for Occasion

Cocktail parties, red carpets, Comic-con, funeral, name it. Whatever occasion it is, it has its own dressing requirements. So, it’s only normal to expect that certain types of clothes would sell less during the lockdown. Especially clothes for certain outdoor occasions.

Brandon Hunt, the boss of Dallas-based fashion label Livintage Apparel, says the pandemic hit him hard.d. The former model designed angular, tough-looking "streetwear" – such as leather jackets and thigh-length boots. He had to switch to designer hoodies and joggers because people stuck at home “wanted comfortable clothing that would still look stylish for virtual meetings”.

Cheap Wears?

Since the effect of the COVID, the pandemic had a severe impact on the business and finances of most people, it is only right that people would swap their expensive snakeskin shoes for something cheaper and still good looking too. Because looking good is arguably the biggest reason for fashion. 

According to a publication on fastcompany.com, it was projected that Fashion industry revenues are expected to drop by a third; that’s about a $640 billion loss. On the other hand, some projections indicated an 80% increase in the purchase of sweats and hoodies in April 2020. In addition, Google searches for the garment hit a 14-year high in the same year. These stats show that most people are now seeking cheap and stylish clothing. Also, fashion designer Elias Wu says that his first reaction was to offer clients a 20% discount if they prepaid for future suits at the beginning of the pandemic. But even with that financial incentive, his suit sales fell 40% last year. 

Buying Clothes Online

As the need to avoid crowded places became necessary and going outdoors reduced, online clothes purchases experienced a surge. As reported by Colleen Baum and co on McKinsey and Company, Offline retail had already seen massive declines in sales and traffic at the start of the crisis—

So, it can be said that the pandemic lockdown facilitated the need for online purchases of many commodities, including clothes.

Now back to our question, it is safe to say that the pandemic has significantly affected our choice of clothing and fashion trend in general so far. This is why we have tailored our services to suit this trend and even the future here in Ekobleu. And we’ll continue to do more to keep you ahead.