What the f***k do I wear today? It’s a question that every single one of us asks ourselves or our family members. What do I wear today? And in someways it’s a question that matters more to us than the question that the somebody special might pop one day too. Because, even after you say yes to his proposal, the first thing that’s pops in your head is, what the f***k do I wear for D-day? The pressure is mind-numbing, even killing.
Now picture a nude comedienne standing in front of her audience, exclaiming the very same thing. What the f***k do I wear today? This bold new video by FabAlley aims for shock at first sight, but it drives home the message hard.
In the video, comedienne Radhika Vaz begins by saying that the reason she is always in bad mood because she starts the day with a question she has no answer for..what to wear? In her own funny, nonchalant way, Radhika talks about the pressure of appearing good, according to skin type, according to body shape. “I got my body shape tested and apparently I am upper half square and lower half pear,” she said with a shrug, evoking laughter from the audience.
“I could come on-stage naked and talk about my sagging vagina and hairy nipples, but I couldn’t throw on an outfit without wondering what everybody would think,” she says. “Are they going to think I am dressing too young, too old, too bold, too fashion victimy, too body con, not body con enough…the pressure is f***king exhausting!”
I am sure this video strikes a chord in all of us and evokes many suppressed memories. After all, dressing up for work or a date is probably the most stressful part of our day. With every outfit that we try on, there is an imaginary member of the fashion police going tch..tch..tch…in our head!
Over the years, we women have shed many of the extra layers that we were confined in, whether it be our rights, our likes and primarily, the right to live and succeed in our lives as we see fit. Well, upto a point. The one layer we still haven’t been able to shed is our exterior; rather this image of ourselves that we want to show the world, but it isn’t always real. This constant nagging worry about what the others will think of us or perceive us to be. The truth is that nudity frightens us. The very thought of baring our real inner self, no embellishments, no touch-ups, just our true naked selves makes us feel vulnerable.
This video is a gutsy move by an online fashion brand. But what FabAlley seeks to establish is that it’s time we all be ourselves, dress according to our likes, not fixate on what others would think about it and follow what the trends dictate. It’s about the inner you. It’s time to #Unfollow.
Also it would be criminal if we did not include a standing ovation amongst all this for Radhika Vaz. This may be only a video, but it takes enormous guts to stand up there in front of an audience, buck naked, but with such confidence and élan, especially an Indian woman. She brings the video alive and makes it the poignant question that it is.
Image Courtesy: FabAlley
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