Does 'spiritual' Have To Mean 'frumpy'?

It's 1967. The Beatles releases their seminal Sergeant Pepper album, the first issue of Rolling Stone magazine is published and Flower Power is in full swing. The Summer of Love, baby! On one hand there was the Safari look pioneered by Yves St Laurent and on the other (perhaps its diametric opposite),'hippie fashion'. The individuals who tuned into an awakening consciousness were pioneers of the latter. Waists disappear, skirts get longer and shoes become optional. Hippies were a group to be sneered at for their 'naivety', perceived lack of personal hygiene and sartorial cluelessness. It seemd the more 'awakened' you are the less you cared about the way you look.

It has been much more fashionable for designers to be concerned with decay, darkness, nihilism or deliberate banality than to embrace love, awareness and acceptance. Notice also the insane pressure people in the fashion industry to be thin and have almost Teflon-coated chic and all times (has anyone seen Anna Wintour's hair actually move?). (That's a shout-out to you, Karl Lagerfeld!) On the other hand, who has not seen (and secretly wished they hadn't) the individual who has maybe found 'enlightenment' and is now wearing whatever they pleased? Washed-out, shapeless kaftkans accessorized with the de riguer mala beads and other assorted items? Or a T with yet another chakra graphic? Clothing in the yoga/spiritual world is generally pretty boring. No-one who reaches the upper echelons of spiritual growth is working a 'look' anymore. A shame. Or there is a disturbing 'sliding backwards' of if something is clean and comfortable, it's fine.

It is no wonder that in this modern age where many spiritual practices have become global such as yoga, meditation and Buddhism, etc. have become mainstream, the young, the cool and the influencers would rather wear something anarchic or ironic instead of something that actually means something. There is no-one who is a renowned spiritual teacher who inspires genuine style imitators. Perhaps there is no quick fix in sight. There's not even a middle ground! But as times are changing pretty rapidly with economies contracting and old ways of relating and doing things failing, there will be another re-emergence of heightened consciousness. It will shake the foundations of human culture. More and more fashion designers have either been openly practicing yoga (Donna Karan) or doing it on the sly (everybody else). There may be hope yet. A mass awakening of consciousness is unfolding on this planet; an awakening in those that shape human culture, including fashion designers. And the girl wearing her Self is the Guru T with her skinny jeans and Louboutin heels will be ready.