Whenever I hear people talk about how their dress once embarrassed them at an event or just at a public place, it brings back my share of the embarrassment I had many years ago. Sometimes, I do ask the question of whether we should blame the dress or the person who wore it when this embarrassing situation happens.
Speaking of fashion, I am someone a lot of people don't seek advice from when it has to do with fashion. My fashion sense is horrible to many but perfect for me because I believe fashion should mean comfort.
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My cloth has to be free, I don't like heavy or colorful dresses. I love to keep things as simple as possible when it comes to fashion but there are times I went out of my style and it backfired.
The first experience I had was immediately after secondary school when my mom's friend invited us to a church event.
A few weeks before the event, my mom got me and my siblings a native attire known as Ankara. We have a fixed tailor who has my measurement so all I needed to do was take the cloth there and pick it up when he is done.
I have only one style for my native dresses so we usually don't discuss what style he should sew. But for that cloth, I decided to choose a style because I wanted to look really good for the event.
Days passed and I went to get the cloth when he finished. I tried it on and didn't feel comfortable in it, it was kind of tight.
The tailor said that was the best way he could sew a slim fit trouser that I wanted so I took it home and even my mom complained, she scolded me for picking such a style.
The event day came, we left the house and took a bus all through the trip. We got to the last bus stop before our destination and we had to take a bike. Climbing the bike wasn't comfortable because I couldn't stretch my leg well.
The road was terrible but we eventually arrived there. As I was about to alight from the bike, I felt this cool breeze gushing into my thigh and I paused for a moment trying to remember if I felt that way earlier.
After thinking shortly, I concluded that something terrible had happened. I gently climbed down and tried touching my trousers from behind.
I got the biggest shock of my life, the trouser had ripped apart. I felt really embarrassed, I couldn't break the news to my mom immediately because she warned me about the cloth. When I eventually told her, she took pity on me and gave me transport fare back home.
Another experience I had made me miss my first official job interview. I got an impromptu interview notice scheduled for the next day late in the night.
I couldn't press any of my trousers because there was no electricity throughout the night. I already thought I might not attend the interview but my guardian's firstborn gave me a trouser so I wouldn't miss the interview.
I tried the trouser but it was tight, I showed him and he just laughed. I remembered him saying that I know nothing about fashion.
He showed me pictures of himself in his trousers and told me that was the exact way it should look.
At daybreak, I set out for the interview. The traffic was terrible and it was draining me so I decided to take a bike because I didn't want to be late. It was my only option but it turned out to be a terrible mistake.
To avoid traffic, the bike rider started going through shortcuts in the streets. I was happy he knew the shortcuts very well but the happiness was cut short when he ran into a pothole because immediately we bounced out of it, I felt cool air in my thigh. The memory of my first experience flash before me and I figured out what happened immediately.
I told the bike rider to stop so I can check the level of the damage and after verifying, I told him to take me back home because it was very bad. I felt bad but I didn't have an option because I can't be going around at the bus stop or even to an interview with a torn trouser.
I learned my lesson after those two experiences and since then, I have stuck to my style of dress.
I believe wardrobe malfunction is just a term used to avoid blaming ourselves when our dress turns out to be a disaster in public, the truth is that we most times know that things like that would happen because the dress is tight and it could be something else but we choose to still rock that particular dress.
The blame is ours and not the dress should be blamed for our carelessness.