Katwalker
When I tell people I work in the fashion industry I'm generally met with one of three contrasting reactions. On a good day I get "Ohmigod how cooooool! Does that mean you get heaps of free fashion?" (Answer: No, unless someone finds a way of creating a knock-out wardrobe out of tights, spa flyers and pearlescent nail polish... the contents of most show bags). On a bad one I'm met with either: "What do you mean, work?" or worse, a sniff of derision and a speedy change of subject. The first reaction generally comes from a group I'll call GIGGLES (Gucci Intoxicated Girly Girls Lavishing their Earnings on Shopping), the second from so-called friends and the third from DOFFs (Deriders of Fashion and Fun). DOFFs generally divide into three categories; FRUGALs (Frivolity-Rejecting, Ultra Green Amish Look-alikes), WoTSITs (Women who Think Style Is Trivial) or just simply BLOKEs (Beer Loving Oddballs Knobs and Eggheads). In case you hadn't noticed I like to think of myself as falling into the GIGGLES camp, but without the requisite spending power... a wannabe giggler if you will. So it does irk me that fashion gets such a bad rap from the DOFFs of this world. Sure, fashion is the province of starved models, sweatshops and crazed, vainglorious celebrities, but it is also a great unifier. I mean, where would we be without clothes? (Answer: a)Most German saunas b) Studland Beach, Dorset, South England, where I came across my first nudist: I was eight years old, and even then I was impressed by nudists' penchant for accessorising. I noticed headscarves, beads, bangles sunglasses, sun hats, heeled sandals and a variety of handbags during the fevered field study that followed my discovery... which goes to show that fashion, or the urge to adorn, is a primal instinct.)
Clearly, as I have just demonstrated, there are strong arguments in favour of fashion. But to anyone who still remains misguided enough to think it irrelevant - less important, say, than being able to re-configure a global bank's mainframe - I have this to say; it's official, fashion is in higher demand than civil engineering or information technology (at least from an educational point of view). This is shown by recent revelations the universities admission index score required to study fashion and textiles design at Sydney's University of Technology (86.6) currently exceeds that required to study information technology (80) or civil engineering (76.4).
When I read this it made total sense. Right or wrong, in our image-obsessed world fashion is sexy, whereas reinforced steel girders and microchips are not. Let's face it, It is geeky, and civil engineering will never make a hit on the red-carpet... although there are always exceptions. I believe Dame Edna Everage has famously sported outfits based on Manhattan and the Sydney Opera House in her time... the latter's main auditorium played havoc with her bra strap, but that's another story.