Classifying “Anti” Fashion Philosophies

Since I mentioned the term anti-fashion in yesterday’s post, it’s necessary for me to clear up some definitions about different ways of thought which eschew fashion in some sense. In my experience, these different views are often mistaken for one another.

There are three basic ideologies which often get lumped together as anti-fashion: (actual) antifashion, afashion, and nonfashion.

Antifashion

Antifashion is the strongest of the three viewpoints, and the most antagonistic. Antifashion means two things: actively avoiding the current fashion trends or dressing in a way opposite to those trends. A staunch antifashionist must be aware of the fashion world so as to avoid participating in it. Given that, it’s unsurprising that there are very few people dressing completely in antifashion. We also note that a strict antifashionist is almost as controlled by the fashion industry as someone who follows all the trends.

Afashion

Afashion (asexual is pronounced similarly) is the most common of the three philosophies. Someone who believes in afashion will claim that the fashion trends are irrelevant to how they dress; that they actively ignore rather than oppose the fashion industry. Obviously, perfect afashion is impossible (unless one we’re to dress randomly), because our subconscious molds our personal aesthetics based upon what we see in others. Conversely, a large proportion of the population has some measure of afashion in their personal style.

Nonfashion

Fashion only exists because humans can afford to adorn themselves with clothing at a level beyond personal survival. This allows the fashion cycle (of rising and falling popularity and replacement) to work. Certain garments, such as traditional or ceremonial dress remains unchanged over time, and is thus removed from the fashion influence. This type of dress comprises nonfashion. Certain aspects of our world exhibit nonfashion, to a degree. For example, church garments are partially nonfashion, though in today’s world there are different cuts and models, the basic idea of priestwear is largely removed from fashion.

It is important to distinguish these concepts, because often what many people call antifashion is really a measure of afashion. Most people have a degree of both antifashion and afashion in their personal style philosophy, and to describe it as pure antifashion is incorrect.