Cultural impacts of Fashion Depicted Through Relationships in Friends
In Friends, Relationship is the backbone which holds all the aspects of the sitcom together. When dates becomes a part of their daily routine,relationships are what kept them routed in where they are. A strong sense of this message can be seen conveyed through their fashion statement as well. Phoebe is known for being free spirited. She is the one who often comes up with vibrant colors and crowded prints. Some of the dresses that she wear reiterates her origin within a lower middle class family about which she is totally comfortable with. But when she meets Mike’s parents,we can see a sudden subtle shift in Phoebe’s dressing sense. It’s not the real Phoebe that we get to see, but the Phoebe that tries hard to fit into the high cultured life of Mike’s parents. She wears lavender coloured dress with a beautiful pearl neckpiece which is a usual attire of the royal family in London. Besides that lavender and pearls are epitomes of elegance, femininity and royalty.
Even though she didn’t want to hide her background,she was constantly trying to fit into the elite culture. When we compare this with Phoebe’s previous relationships, we can see how much she experimented with her clothes. Phoebe’s change when it came to Mike’s parents might also be because of the larger social structures into which she was implicitly trying to fit herself into. She wants to start a family and live with Mike. His decision that he will never get married might have put Phoebe in pressure and made her insecure.
Similarly, when it comes to Ross and Emily,the costumes were designed in such a way that it’s all grey. Especially after the episode after Ross spells wrong name at the altar. Ross’s high standards and principles makes him a person who would do anything to make a marriage work. He is totally overlooking the potential threats that his behaviour could create. Ross’s and Emily’s costumes reveals this uncertainty and inability to anchor at a particular extreme; it goes with the larger idea that there is nothing black and white, everything is grey. This can be related to the subsequent merging of the thin line between high culture and low culture. Initially contrasts were stressed upon and later it gave way to more light colours, especially grey. The episode where Emily gets ready o get back into the relationship reflects this the most. Chandler and Monica’s relationship can also be seen as reflecting various cultural elements. Chandler’s constant insecurity as a man is portrayed through his constant admiration over Richard when Monica was dating him. Its definitely not his job that makes him insecure and timid. He equates his inability to get more dates like his friends as a disability which will make him less than a man. The narrative shows how Chandler grew more confident and healthy after he gets into a relationship with Monica. This is reflected in his dressing also. The usual timid and loosely dressed Chandler becomes more sharp and confident. Costumes can thus be seen as radiating important socio-cultural elements across the timeline
By Anagha S (1733126)
Friends & Fashion 