Quick Guide

Australian Fashion

"overseas, people's clothes indicate the social class they come from. In Australia, clothes are meant to disguise it."Robert Treborlang

Although “fashion” and “individualism” are somewhat contradiction in terms, Australian fashion is very individualistic. To be fashionable, individual Australians (particularly men) often dress in a manner that makes them look like someone trying to be unfashionable, or as someone who doesn't care about fashion.

This approach to fashion is quite different from most countries around the world. In most countries, to be fashionable requires skills in matching individual items of clothing into an outfit that is suitable for the social context it is worn in. For example, a lady wearing an evening gown, high heals and a necklace would look lovely at a cocktail party. However, a lady wearing the same clothes would look misplaced at a football game. Furthermore, if she substituted the high heels for a pair of sneakers she would look misplaced everywhere.

Australians have probably gone for the individualistic approach because a lack of commonality in Australia has made it difficult for individual Australians to develop a stylish or refined eye for fashion. Even if the individual did somehow manage to gain some style, the lack of refinement in his or her fellow Australians would make it difficult for them to ever be appreciated for their style. For example, if a man walked down the street in designer brand clothing, he would look a little silly when walking alongside the average Australian wearing a pair of old jeans and t-shirt. He just couldn't be appreciated as refined because he would not be in synergy with the people around him. If anything, he would look worse than the other men because he would look as out of place as a man wearing thongs to the Opera.

Tiger woman out of the jungle - An effort has been made to match the earings with the skirt, shoes, sunglasses and jacket, but rather than the tiger stripes helping her blend into the environment, they make her stand out.

Big sunglasses - Superlarge colourful sunglasses are often paired with the understated casual look. Sometimes they are paired with a polar explorer look.

Anything goes - No need to worry about buying new clothes or designer brands because no new styles are in, and arguably, haven't been in for decades.

Aside from mismatches occurring to individualism, mismatches also occur to differences in gender identity. For Australian men, there is status associated with being laid back and egalitarian. This is reflected in Australian English, where the likes of ex-prime minister Bob Hawke and the late billionaire Kerry Packer were celebrated for speaking with the same broad Australian accents as tradesmen. The egalitarian attitude to speech was reflected in their laid back attitude to fashion. Bob Hawke once gave an interview wearing only a pair of shorts while eating iced cherries from a bowl perched on his chest. Likewise, in his free time, Packer often wore K-29 sneakers, the lowest status shoe after Dunlop Volleys. Unlike the men, Australian women do not gain status from speaking with a broad Australian accent or from dressing in sloppy ways. Any woman who does is seen as excessively masculine or trashy. The result of the different gender approaches to egalitarianism is that a group of men and women may go out on dates with the women looking as they are going to the theatre, and the men looking as though they are going to the football. The resultant couplings really don't match.

Historical development

Australian fashion styles are probably so diverse because fashion designers and merchants have traditionally taken a top-down approach to fashion, and failed. They have imported styles from abroad without giving consideration to the type of people they expect to wear the fashion, or the climate they must wear it in. For example, in the colonial era, fashion merchants imported top hats and black jackets. Although such attire could be comfortably worn in cool European climates, they made their wearers look stupid in the heat of the Australian summer. To compound matters, fashion was used to demean the Convict population. As part of their punishment, Convicts were issued with demeaning prison clothing known as 'Magpie' suits. An arrow printed on the uniforms intended to demean the Convicts by signalling that they were owned by the crown. Repeat offenders were dressed in yellow and black uniforms that had them resembling a jockey or court harlequin. Such suits were specifically designed to be extra humiliating. Understandably, being forced to wear demeaning clothes did little to endear Convicts to the expression: "clothes maketh the man."

The lack of respect for stylish fashion was soon expressed in people wearing clothes that publicly mocked high fashion. In the colonial era, an emancipists named Billy Blue operated a ferry between Nth Sydney and Circular Quay wearing a top hat and a discarded military uniform. Billy's eccentric attitude never really left Australia. In the 1940s, PM Joseph Benedict Chifley refused to wear ceremonial clothes and became a Privy Councillor in his own suit. In the 1970s, politician Robin Boyd wore shorts to parliament as they were more comfortable. In the 1980s, Aboriginal artist Clifford Possum met the Queen wearing a top hat and a pair of hand painted sneakers.

Billy Blue - A black convict that became famous for his top and discarded military uniform.

Aside from the high-profile examples, it is not uncommon to hear about surfers dressing up for a wedding by wearing a suit and socks in addition to their thongs. Furthermore, there used to be a saying that "if you want to see if a businessman is Australian, look at his shoes." The implication being that either Australians wear cheap shoes, or don't bother to polish them.

Although most Australian fashion designers have taken a top-down approach to fashion, and failed, a few have taken the bottom-up approach that true culture is built on, and which is necessary for refinement to be achieved. The bottom-up approach has considered the values of the people the clothing is being designed for, as well as the climate that the clothing is being worn in. The end result is a fashion style biased towards function over the aesthetic.t

Without doubt, Australian fashion's marquee piece has to be the Ugg boot. A tremendously adaptable accessory, in combination with jeans and a flannelette shirt, a pair can be worn by men to convey a sense of roguish masculinity. They can also worn by upper class princesses to achieve a playboy bunny sex appeal. Legend has it that the boots were invented by surfers needing easy to put on footwear that was comfortable for the trek home from the beach. After considering the problem, an enterprising individual wrapped masking tape around wool to create 'ugly boots.'

If the Ugg legend is true, it is by no means the surfing community's only contribution to Australian fashion. Brands such as Billabong and Piping Hot have been producing cutting edge designs for almost three decades. Aside from being innovative in the use of material use as canvas, corduroy or denim, surf shorts are made extremely durable. Often double or even triple stitched, they are able to withstand being torn apart by the big Australian surf.

Female surfwear is particularly sexy. Short skirts are fashioned out of light material that flutters subtly in the ocean breeze, giving onlookers a suggestion of the bikini concealed beneath it. Still teasing men, female surfwear is sometimes embroidered in a strategic location with a suggestive word like "naughty". Not only do the words draw attention to curvaceous lines, they trigger the imagination when doing so.

To ensure that the curves of the breast are well packaged, bikini tops are usually unpadded. Although Australians generally think this is normal, in Asia the bikinis are padded as the ladies are embarrassed about their nipples protruding in the cold ocean.

Fall in love with Australia - In some ways the outfit is conservative as it uses relatively more material than other beach outfits and doesn't use any profane language. In some ways it is riske as it positions the state of Tasmania in a place where it suggests something else.

Tap dogs - Tap dancing with workboots. A juxtaposition of ideas and style.

Aside from the Ugg boots, great Australian footwear includes Blundstone boots. Initially made to specifications required by Diggers during the gold rush, they are able to survive the tough Australian land where the thin toil soil exposes sharp rocks that take little time in tearing ordinary boots apart. Their durability has them prized by bushwalkers, farmers, wine makers and outdoor photographers. In recent years, they have also found a sympathetic eye in the cities, helped along by catwalk appearances and the dance trope Tap Dogs.

The sleeveless Australian rules football jumper is another unique and adaptable fashion item. On the football field, its durability allows it to withstand being pulled from every conceivable angle. As Australian football players develop impressive arms, being sleeveless also allows for the display of flesh that improves the chance of evoking an appreciative eye from a female onlooker.

Off the field, the jumper remains a tremendously adaptable item of clothing. The lack of sleeves makes it perfect for working on machinery such as car engines where loose material can get caught. Furthermore, the choice of jumper allows an individual to express an aspect of their personality. If one wishes to express an association with the obnoxious or criminality, a black and white Collingwood or Port Adelaide jumper is a good selection. If one wishes to make a statement that looks aren't everything, there is no better jumper than the brown and yellow of Hawthorn.

In a barren land with harsh sunlight and a thin ozone layer, it is no surprise that Australia has produced a large range of hat styles. For the ladies, hats are crafted out of materials as diverse as leather, felt, straw, feathers, gum nuts or ribbons.

On the first Tuesday of every November, new designs are paraded before an appreciative audience at the Melbourne Cup. Although people come to the track to look at the horses, most men need blinkers to prevent being distracted by the ladies.Such fashion parades have a charm lacking on the catwalks of Milan and Paris. Melbourne Cup fashion is culture in its natural setting, not removed from it like some wild animal in a zoo.

The classic unisex hat is the broad brimmed Akubra. So attached to owners become to their hats, they are retained even as time wears holes into them. But rather than lessen its appeal, the holes actually increases it. Aside from improving ventilation, the holes express a sense of durability and ruggedness.

The most famous hat of all is the cork hat that was initially invented by Aboriginal jackaroos. Preceding the days of aeroguard, the swinging corks keep away the flies. On the downside, arguably the cure is worse than the affliction. Swaying corks can make one feel dizzy, almost as if the wearer is still be affected by the bottles of booze that had to be drunk to attain the corks.

The biggest fashion events on the Australian calendar revolve around department stores such as Myer and David Jones. At present, there are no fashion houses in the vein of Versace or Louis Vuitton. Perhaps if Myer and David Jones manage to achieve some uniformity in the market place, they will have laid the platform for some refined fashion houses to emerge.

Collete Dinnigan, arguably Australia's finest fashion designer, has achieved fame by designing in a way that is consistent with the casual nature of Australian culture. There is nothing particularly innovative about Dinnigan, but there is something very relaxed about the clothes she designs. Just as Australians don't look out of place in surfwear, they don't look out of place in Dinnigan outfits.

Although fashion is on the improve, at present world opinions about Australian fashion are still quite derogatory. It is generally accepted that Australian Olympians are the world's worst dressed of all Olympians, and Qantas stewards are the least well-groomed of all airline workers.

Even though the occasional individual may wear high-class fashion well, there are just too many other Australians who wear it poorly. A beautiful girl may wear a Versace shirt but not take enough care to ensure the tag is concealed. Likewise, metasexual men may take time to be fashionable by putting half a jar of fudge in their hair, however they will then mess their hair up and untuck their shirt to pretend that they aren't trying to be fashionable.

 

Melbourne Cup Fashion

Melbourne Cup fashion is the other rare time that Australians can look sophisticated. It is one of the few times when a large group of Australians will take the time to ensure that there tags are hidden and their shoes match their outfits. Of course intermingled with the sophisticates wearing refined fashion, are yobbos who have made hats out of beer cartoons or decided they want to dress up in a gorilla suits. If they were alive today, the eccentric pioneers such as Billy Blue and Clifford Possum would no doubt be proud.