So, I work in a well-known department
store. In said store, we - as with many other companies - have to wear a uniform.
Despite being an avid fashion lover/collector/worshipper, I spend most of my
life in this uniform. I am a reasonable person; I
understand the benefits and in some cases the necessities of wearing a uniform.
It creates a standardized aesthetic for the store and its staff, and although
sometimes – usually when I’m running late – I greatly appreciate the monotony
of my plain black uniform, I do see it mainly as a means to mask any semblance
of individuality. We become an army of sales assistants, made recognizable only
by the blindingly yellow name badges which invite perfect strangers to address me like an old friend.
In many ways
working in retail is an act, and in my opinion the costumes we have to wear
do not live up to the role we are expected to play. An all black outfit can be
sexy, seductive, darkly alluring, slimming, chic, smart… the list goes on, but
I doubt any of these things came into the minds of the company gods when they
were brain storming ideas for uniforms. So whilst wrestling trousers into
submission and battling tables of unruly t-shirts today, I tried to dream up what my ‘ideal’ uniform would be.
My first obstacle? Colour - how could I pick one that would compliment staff
members, male and female, without being too gaudy or downright tacky
looking? I sifted through the work garb of other stores and there seems to be
no template out there to aspire to. The staff over at McDonalds are currently
donning a rather dowdy swamp coloured polo, whilst Zara have traded in their
European-style all black get ups for a rather gothic/punk, candy cane vibe with black and white
stripes. Carrying on this striped trend Matalan too is following
suit with horizontal black and red (umm... is Dennis the Menace on the directors board?)
I thought I’d skip the colour dilemma and
think about style. Long sleeves? Too warm for the under air-conditioned store.
Short sleeves? Right, yes, we’ll go with short sleeves. Round neck? Possibly - anything too low will result in wandering eyes. Fabric? Something that
doesn’t fade or go quite so pug as the current style. The list went on and as
you can imagine my answers became more and more vague. Trying to create
something for everyone, I discovered is hard and frankly exhausting.
My mind then
wandered back to my dissertation in which I explored the wider cultural
implications of uniform dressing, particularly how bodies of power enforced
uniforms to eradicate individuality (something I have already touched upon) and
re-mold society into an aesthetic pleasing to them. I found this idea very
interesting and whilst I am by no means trying to compare my department store
uniform to that of some cult or dictatorship (I swear!), I was intrigued as to what the
company bosses were trying to communicate through our uniforms. Yes, we do wear
the company name across our chests but it’s easily overlooked. Maybe, in giving
us these rather blasé uniforms, perhaps rather than cloaking it they are offering us a blank canvas on which to project our individuality. Against all odds we must still
appear friendly and approachable so what better way to do that, than to be friendly and approachable rather than
relying on a sunny uniform to do it for us.
Don’t get me
wrong, I won’t be parading around in my uniform off hours, but I do appreciate
the challenge of making this uniform work for me. So as my signing out message
to the Man, I’d like to say thanks for limiting my sartorial expression, I’ll
be exploring a less materialistic route to channel my individuality from now
on.
(Picture from windyskies.blogspot.com)