As a lover of fashion and the stories that clothing can tell about a culture, I arrived in Auckland curious to see the types of fashion and style that Kiwis in this busy city would sport. In our class session on culture, we discussed how clothing would be one of the outer layers, or observable realities of a culture (Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner 21). During my time here, I have noticed that Kiwis often dress in darker colors, particularly black. It is not surprising then that Lorde, a famous Kiwi pop singer, is known for wearing dark clothing (Duboff). I have also noticed that Kiwi style has a unique edginess to it that fashion in the United States seems to lack. Much of the clothing appears to be vintage, highlighting the value of sustainability that many Kiwis share. In my opinion, Kiwi fashion has a way of looking good while being grungy and less put-together.
In browsing through Metro, an Auckland-based lifestyle magazine, I came across an article entitled “Auckland’s Best Dressed 2015.” I loved the creativity that the Kiwis featured put into their outfits and the eclectic mix of pieces that they chose to pair together. I was struck by how different the fashion is from a similar article in the Washingtonian magazine I had read on the plane ride to New Zealand, entitled “These are the 10 Best-Dressed People in Washington Right Now.” The stylish Washingtonians in the article wear polished, fitted outfits with bright colors and patterns (Zlotnick). Kiwis, on the other hand, wear more muted colors. Layers also seem to be popular, as many of these best-dressed Kiwis are wearing vests or multiple jackets. One Kiwi in the article, Mika Haka, wears a bone earring as a nod to his Maori culture (Hendrikse).
To find out more about everyday Kiwi fashion and style, I took to the streets of Auckland and chatted with some clothing store shoppers. I asked two university-age students how they would describe their personal styles, and one said his style was more androgynous, while another said her style is an eclectic mix of vintage and new clothing. One of the students added that young Aucklanders are particularly fashionable and image-conscious. I interviewed another university-aged Kiwi and asked her if she feels there is a specific style that young New Zealanders have. She said that most people do not wear bright colors (even during the summer), and they mostly stick to wearing muted colors such as white, grey, and black. After noticing how much black New Zealanders tend to wear, I asked six different Kiwis what their favorite clothing color is to wear. The unanimous answer was black. Finally, I asked some Kiwis how they felt about tattoos. It turned out that most of the people I interviewed have tattoos, and they said that tattoos are openly accepted in New Zealand. One person also said that tattoos do not have the stigma that they may have in other countries. Another person mentioned that many New Zealanders get tattoos, such as ones of a silver fern, to show national pride. Others get tattoos to show pride in one’s heritage. For instance, many Maori people have tattoos featuring Maori symbols and designs.
All of this information I gathered about New Zealanders being fans of wearing black made me curious about how this trend originated. It is a bit ironic that people living in a place that has such moderate year-round temperatures would wear so much black clothing. Why not lighter colors? Interestingly enough, I found an article about this from the New Zealand Herald entitled “New Zealand’s Dark Obsession.” According to the article, black’s popularity in New Zealand roots back to the colonial days and was a sign of being higher class. People who had not done as well financially wore more natural fabrics, such as light-colored canvases. Cloth in black was more expensive and more time-consuming and costly to wash. For the Maori people, the color black also has importance, as it symbolizes the void that existed before the world began. Fast-forward to the 1920s, and black became an even more popular color for New Zealanders to wear. Many New Zealanders had lost loved ones during World War I and wore black as a sign of mourning. In addition, Coco Chanel’s trend of the little black dress began to catch on as well as the trend of the black flapper dress. During the 1990s, Karen Walker, arguably one of the most prominent Kiwi fashion designers, was inspired by a power crisis in Auckland and designed an all-black collection. The collection was so popular that many other Kiwi fashion designers followed suit (Hill). Even now, black is still as popular here as ever. An article about New Zealand’s recent 2015 fashion week sums it up best: “black is still the new black” (Knight). Perhaps the term "all blacks" can be used to describe more than just the New Zealand rugby team-- it is the state that New Zealand fashion has been in since colonization.
Duboff, Josh. "Queen of Darkness: A Journey Through Lorde’s Style Evolution." Vanity Fair 28 Jan. 2014. Web. 11 Jan. 2016. <http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/01/lorde-style-black-goth>.
Hendrikse, India. "Auckland’s Best Dressed 2015." Metro 20 Aug. 2015. Web. 12 Jan. 2016. <http://www.metromag.co.nz/city-life/fashion-shopping/aucklands-best-dressed-2015/>.
Hill, Rebecca B. "New Zealand's Dark Obsession." New Zealand Herald 24 Feb. 2012. Web. 10 Jan. 2016. <http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10787448>.
Knight, Kim. "New Zealand Fashion Week 2015: The highlights of day one." Life & Style. N.p., 26 Aug. 2015. Web. 11 Jan. 2016. <http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/fashion/71455821/New-Zealand-Fashion-Week-2015-The-highlights-of-day-one>.
Trompenaars, Fons, and Charles Hampden-Turner. Riding the Waves of Culture. London: Nicholas Brezley, 1997. 20-28. Print.
Zlotnick, Sarah. "These Are the 10 Best-Dressed People in Washington Right Now." Washingtonian 10 Sept. 2015. Web. 14 Jan. 2016. <http://www.washingtonian.com/2015/09/10/these-are-the-10-best-dressed-people-in-washington-dc-right-now/>.
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