I’m mid-shopping trip, and some fashion goods have been bought. Things, so far, are going seemingly well. Perhaps a little too well. Merrily perusing the racks of clothes, your eyes light up. What is that perched so gloriously before you? A chic yet simple crisp white shirt, perfect for the androgynous look you wish to achieve this season? Its collar billows effortlessly and beautifully out from beneath the neck of a sweet yet, admittedly, uninspiring tank top. No offence to the tank top, but it is the shirt you wish to examine further. You reach out, young, hopeful, on the cusp of a new white shirt fulfilled future.
Such hopes, as with so much of life, however, are ephemeral. On seizing the shirt collar for closer inspection, you discover, to your horror, that the shirt you have fallen for is not a shirt at all, but a piece of evil and deceiving material designed to emulate the appearance of a collar. This is a tank top with false and misleading intentions. This is one of those ‘two in one’ tops- arguably the criminals of the fashion world.
Such garments (although part of me is disinclined to even bestow on them such a title) seem alarmingly popular and so often pop up on friends and relatives when we least expect it. It is more than likely, owing to their often worryingly high powers of deception, that they are in our lives more than we know. Both sexes fall into the category of ‘wearers’ of such creations, as so many men mislead us into believing they are sporting two layers of t-shirt when, in reality, only bearing the weight and thickness of one.
For my own state of mind I try desperately to understand and enter the mindset of those who enjoy these two-in-ones. For those lacking in confidence to combine clothing items themselves, I can recognise they are an ideal solution. I cannot help but feel, though, that an unacceptable level of laziness is being endorsed through their existence. It is almost as if people do not want a challenge (and a colour coordinating one at that) in life anymore. On a more admittedly boring, yet vitally practical level, I cannot also help but worry about the logistics of washing such articles of clothing. If one part is knitted, whilst the other cotton, or similarly in terms of contrasting colours, one side of the clothing partnership will always be compromised.
For me, furthermore, as a student on the verge of so many possibilities in life, now is not the time to be tied down. Two-in-ones ask for far too much commitment and it is with this that I take the greatest issue. Indeed, one combination of items is pleasing for a period of time but it is not long before you surely wish to change your look. With every t-shirt, shirt, and belt already attached and therefore committed for the long haul to another garment, there is no potential for change. It seems they deny creativity, independence of thought and flexibility in one’s wardrobe; three criteria which, for me at least, drive my love of fashion. To a more cheap and easy life two-in-ones may lead, but at what moral and fashion cost?
Polly Harper
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