Revenge fashion is not about being all-out, revenge fashion is being all-you, it’s all the ever-changing you

Fashionably late. Mismatched clothing. Print-on-print-on-print and even more prints. Pajamas, slippers, and a snug hoodie. What’s your go-to look when you want to socialize in this multi-hyphenated society we live in?

Re-entering society lately has been a tower of challenges for everyone. There’s the pandemic with no end in sight, the endless Lazada check-outs and deliveries, the seemingly enticing McDonald’s fries and sundaes every other midnight, and then there’s the unending daydreaming and formulating of what to wear on the rare occasion you do get to go out. That’s what we’re diving into: Clothes. Fleeting moments in the form of fabrics hugging your body, keeping you warm, and making you feel good about yourself. Is that not why we wear what we wear?

We often forget that presenting ourselves outwardly, physically, or however we want to call it, has always been part of our day-to-day lives when everything was still pre-pandemic normal. People take every chance they can get to dress up now and go all-out because they don’t know the next time they’ll have the chance to do so. Catching The Rona is like buying your next favorite pair of pants—You don’t know when that is, but it’s bound to happen unless your luck is maxed out at 101 percent, and your guardian angel’s always there, lurking, by your side.

Fashion has a right to exist because it permits the people to define themselves over and over again. —Ann Demeulemeester

Outfit checks have been at an all-time high throughout this godforsaken pandemic. Now, some people care more about how they present themselves to the world, getting the funkiest button-down shirt paired with ripped jeans and loafers, and all that for a trip to the nearest convenience store. And then, some just wear a reliably cozy combo of oversized hoodie and a pair of comfortable slides to the mall—and about anywhere you can think of.

You don’t have to be Vogue-ready, or Dazed Magazine-approved to show yourself to the world. Just wear what you want to wear. If you want to dress up, without any agenda other than going to the sari-sari store, do yourself a favor and go. If you want to wear pajamas to a fancy restaurant, or even to a date, to hell with those prying eyes. If you want to dress up like your favorite rockstar even if it’s 1,001 degrees here, go wear that leather jacket, use that eyeliner, and feel that passionate heat burning inside you. You can even wear a dress paired with some sneakers designed for long-distance running, to a gallery opening or even your own exhibit, and still be the coolest, loveliest, most fashionable, and “every-beautiful-adjective-you-can-ever-describe-someone” person in the room.

Fashion, clothing, and any fabric-related item you resonate with will always be an extra personal choice. However one puts it, clothing yourself the way you want says a lot about your style, your confidence, and your sense of freedom. There are occasions when you prefer to look objectively presentable, and there are times when you just want to don your colorful blazer and pair it with tattered jeans, or even sweatpants, with some black Birkenstocks to complete the whole laid-back look. You can always mix and match everything in your wardrobe. It doesn’t have to always be the greatest look on the internet, because almost everything has been done and worn. It is just a matter of choosing between comfort and beauty, but surely it can also be both.

The world is your runway. It is yours and yours alone. You should strut around with the clothes you choose to wear, to the tune playing in your headphones, or even the loud car horns coming from every direction.

It’s always a matter of how you want to be perceived and, more important, how your choice of clothing truly reflects the real you. Always dress for yourself, and not for others. Who judges your outfit should not matter. There will never be anything sadder if you dress for the approval and validation of the people you only see through your mobile phone screens. It should always be for you, and not for anyone else.

In the words of Ann Demeulemeester, “Fashion has a right to exist because it permits the people to define themselves over and over again.” That is the pure essence of dressing up—You are the only person who can define yourself and your style.