A recent photo of the following bag by Louis Vuitton made me think about this pretty popular trend: Transparent bags.

Transparent bags are cleary nothing shockingly new anymore and should be known quite broadly among fashionistas. You have probably seen them already in different shapes and sizes in stores or on the street. It has only been a few years since they have appeared and the hype doesn’t seem to calm down any time soon.

But what is it that makes them so appealing?
As there is not much variation when it comes to the use of material or colours, many bags come in very sophisticated designs. Originally just a plain totebag, you can now show off your goods with small see-through purses, clutches, bagpacks or holdalls. And that’s what it is all about: Showing off what is usually unseen.

But wouldn’t that contradict the whole purpose of a bag?
If you think about the core purpose of a bag, it is to carry various things around with you in the most comfortable way.
And since most of us do not want to carry a plain piece of cloth around, bags come in all different designs and colours, sizes and even additional pockets and zippers. Usually we would go for a bag that fits our sense of aesthetic. Maybe you prefer a red fake-leather handbag to a black long dress? Or you might go for a brown backpack that match your pair of jeans and a long sleeve jumper? For see-through bags however, there is no such thing as mix and matching, but you can use the things you carry in your bag to create your own personal design.

So here we have it: While see-through bags can differ in some points (size, type of bag) in the end it’s up to you to give it your last personal touch. And this could be anything. You could use smaller purses and pouches in cute designs to decorate your goods. Or you could go by a theme and only carry things in the same colour around? Or why don’t you display a cute plushtoy, your favourite drink or a book you are currently reading, for everyone to see?

But why would you want people to see something as private as the contents of your bag?

With Social Media being a part of all our lives, it is hard to tell what should be kept private anymore. Obviously it’s our own choice what we want to share with the public, but since sharing photos and small 260-words-long-texts have become so easy, there is a lack of caution when it comes to sharing personal information. You see people talking about their traumatic childhood, showing off their bodies online, talking about their diet and food plans, giving recommandations about books and videogames, sharing photos of their latest holidays and anounce with excitment that they quit their old job. Is showing off contents of our bag just another act of the lack of awareness about the importance of privacy? Or is it more like a liberating feeling of expressing ourselves?

See-through bags help you to give a statement
Forget about cool leatherjackets with slogans that criticise society. Forget about badges, big chuncky necklaces and wide T-shirts with certain symbolism. Transparent bags are just as useful to get your message accross nowadays. You could use letters, or t-shirts with slogans to express an idea. Or you could use symbolism – flowers, signs, figures,… to communicate or rise awareness for a certain topic. The possibilities are endless, because in the end you are literally carrying a portable vitrine around with you!

But as fashion and people, statements and opinions are all different, this doesn’t mean that everyone always has to have a critical claim towards society when carrying a black and red purse in a transparent bag around with them. I am sure that there are plenty of people who couldn’t care less about giving statements and just chose a PVC bag because they just liked the way it looked. And it can be as simple as that.

Or can it? Why would you not care if you are clearly aware that anyone can see the contents of your bag?
As Aemillia Madden from Who What Wear said:

However, asking myself if I care about whatever evaluations others make based on the contents of my carryall does play with my sense of self a bit. I don’t want to care,but it’s clear I do Or can it? Why would you not care if you are clearly aware that anyone can see the contents of your bag?

Maybe it’s more about your personality rather than your opinions
Most of us don’t think about political statements or activism when we choose our outfit to wear. Most of us are no rebells and just want to look aestheticially pleasing in our own eyes. And there is nothing wrong with that.
The same goes for see-through bags. In the end this is just a new and exciting way to style and personalise your outfit the way you like it.
And so it doesn’t matter whether you want to communicate your own personal style, awareness for a project or issue or just decorate your bag to make it look good – you’ve got all the freedom in the world.
For some inspiration – Vogue has you covered!

Most likely you, who is reading this, is from a county of the western hemisphere. You are most likely either from the US, Canada, South America or from somewhere in Europe. I welcome you from any region, no matter where you are from. The chances of you and me coming from the same city are not that high though. Though the first thing you and me have in common is that we both speak English (more or less). No matter if it is your first language or a second or even a third one, like in my case.
What else do you we have in common? Maybe we are the same age or gender. Maybe we have studied the same thing in university or maybe we share the same favourite movie. However, not everyone is sharing your favourite band, your haircolour or your prefered travel destination with you.

Is there something we all have in common?
To answer this question, we have to be less specific. We can’t think about any “favourites” or any tastes and likes. We also can’t think of experiences, relationships and talents. We need to think about something more generic. Something more vital to us. Vital as in that we are all humans. We all need to eat and breath in order to survive. We all get thirsty and we all need exercise and sleep. We need rules and regulations to get the tools we need for survival. In order to set those rules, in order to express our needs and desires, we speak. We speak to express ideas, to voice our opinion and to discuss problems. Communication is one of our vital and basic needs to ensure that our society works as we need it to. Our ability to speak is not the only option to communicate. What you are reading now is also a form of communication. The emotions you express, gestures, actions and non-action are all forms of transmitting an idea, feeling or desire. As soon as we are transmitting something to the public, we are communicating.

So to say, the act of communicating certain ideas and feelings is something we all have in common as humans.

But what does this mean for fashion?
Fashion is a way of presenting ourselves. Especially in our society it is a way of showing our own identity or aesthetic. However, fashion can also have a functional purpose primarily or can be rooted in tradition. It can be a rebellious act or doesn’t even have to have a purpose in the first place. We are all wearing clothes. No matter where we are from. And our reasons for it are all very different. And as something we show the public, as something for other people to see, we are communication non-verbally. Even if there is no deep meaning or no intention behind it. Someone might see you and have their own thoughts about the way you look. They might have prejudice, they might find you inspiring or they might totally ignore what you are wearing at all. You might wear a certain colour theme to an event to feel part of it. You might wear traditional clothing in honour for a celebration. You might wear a tricot to show your suppport. You might wear a pyjama to go grocery shopping because you really don’t care. You might wear a pair of jeans and a shirt every day to work because that’s what you feel most comfortable in…

The purpose of this blog is to satisfy my own curiosity about the way communication and fashion collide.
As a student of Multilingual Communication and as someone who has always been interested in extravagant fashion, I can’t wait to write about my latest discoveries.
My motivation is to find out the reasons why people choose to wear what they want to wear. What is their motivation? What do they want to express and what does clothing mean to them?
In the end fashion is the only language we all have in common.