What’s love got to do with it?
For you it might usually involve an expensive, three-course dinner adorned with candles, or popcorn and a rom com with your besties, or perhaps it just makes you roll your eyes a little more than usual at the insufferable couples around you. Maybe it’s a day that forecasts vast quantities of reduced supermarket chocolate; or a day marked by a single anonymous card sent; or perhaps it means nothing more than the passing of another twenty-four hours no different from any other. However Valentine’s Day usually materialises itself in your life, one thing we all share at present is that this year it’ll be, like everything else, a little unorthodox. So seeing that the usual celebrations are likely off the table, why not focus on those simple celebrations of love that are a little closer to home?
Delving beneath the commercial glaze of roses, teddies. and cards that coats Valentine’s day like a sickly chocolate ganache, there is an undeniably fundamental message somewhere at its core: celebrating love. Beneath the grand romantic gestures, fancy dinners, and heart-shaped chocolates hide the quiet, unassuming, and mundane acts of love. Behind the distraction of the shiny red and pink hearts twizzling above supermarket aisles and the walls of shameless cards resides a powerful and wonderful thing. And despite what the films and supermarkets might lead you to believe, the most magical celebration of love can come from the simplest of interactions.
Love can indeed be shared through grandiose gestures and expensive gifts, but it can be spread just as equally with buttered toast and a morning cup of tea, or folded neatly among the laundry on the stairs. Let’s look beyond the lavish and salute the simple; those uncomplicated everyday acts might just be the least impressive but the most transcendent signs of love.
All drawings are by the author.
It is at this point in my article that I remind myself that this is a fashion blog. So what does fashion have to do with all this? And what does love have to do with fashion? Yes, you might usually buy an elegant new dress especially for date night or pick out a cheery outfit to flaunt at your Galentines brunch, but I suspect that clothes have more power to share love than we might think. (I mean, have you ever seen The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants?!)
Although a pair of jeans that magically fit you and all your loved ones perfectly is probably not the most realistic method of sharing love through fashion, you can still think about that old moth-gnawed jumper you adore that your grandad used to wear, or that jacket you nabbed from an exchange student who couldn’t fit it in their homebound luggage, or those bold sunglasses you and your best friend debated over painfully before you purchased. Clothes can be so much more than fabric held together with zips and buttons – they hold memories, feelings, excitement, longing. So let’s spread a little love this Valentine’s Day through style, shall we?
Just a few ideas:
Swap an old jumper with a long-distance friend
Organise a costume party Zoom call with your pals where you pick out each other’s outfits
Post your long-distance pal a T-shirt of yours so they can sport it and think of you
Embroider a heart or a loving message onto a T-shirt as a gift for a friend
Do your partner/brother/sister/mum/dad’s laundry for them and fold it beautifully with love and care
Buy a loved one a fun pair of socks – everyone always needs more socks. and it’s about that time of year when the novelty of Christmas socks has worn off
Check that your loved one has a pair of gloves before they head out the door
One for the ambitious amongst you: take two T-shirts , cut a vertical line down the middle of both, then sew the odd halves together and give one to your best friend. (Much cooler than the bff necklaces we all lusted after in 2009.)
Go through your closet and donate your unloved clothes to charity to be re-loved once more
Post your best friend a cosy jumper – the closest you can get to giving them a warm hug
In these less than social times, sharing things online will never quite match up to the real deal. A picture on a screen or a buffering video call on a laptop will never come close to the warmth of a hug or the buzz of a first kiss. However, in a time where we have little other choice, why not share love in every way we can until such a precious a time when we can hold each other in our arms once again.
