All clothing is political. How we dress is probably the clearest expression of who we think we are, how we identify with others, and what we aspire to be. Clothing is the means by which we determine if someone is more or less powerful than us and what their values are. Where we buy our clothes, what we demand from them, and how we reinstate or challenge the conventions of what is 'acceptable' within our social milieu are all determined by our position in the network of human relationships on both a local and global scale and how we view the world. It is true that 'fashion' complicates the issue by constantly updating the sartorial codes that allow us to interpret a person's clothing correctly - but still, most of us average folks are pretty darn good at making accurate judgments of who a person is by what they are wearing.
A current exhibit at the Museum at F.I.T. examines the most overt examples of the relationship between fashion and politics. It would be a misleading to say that most of the examples are the kind of everyday political statements we all make with our clothes (that might not be the most exciting show) but still, its a good introduction. People should check it out - its free!
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