If you think about it : what are so-called Western clothes?

If you really think about it, Western clothes are not cultural clothing representing any specific ethnicity or nationality. If you really think about it, what we refer to as Western clothes such as pants, shirts, skirts, T-shirts, jeans, are really mass - produced capitalist products. When we rail against Western clothes in order to attack Western culture or apparent lack of values and ethics despite that there is no single Western culture, we are blindly railing against mass-produced clothing. If you really think about it, before factories came along and tailors and fabric shops were chucked out, clothing was hand made. Of course, if you were wealthy, you could afford silks and satins to make ornate gowns by high-end tailors and, if you were poor, you were making your own clothes as per the cultural traditions of your land. But advent of capitalism must have pushed out hand made clothing and, mass produced clothing became the norm and, now, the fashion industry now is apparently the 2nd or 3rd biggest pollutant. 

In Pakistan, we have started consuming fast fashion like nobody's business. It's everywhere and, so-called sales have started producing frenzied shoppers. Of course, tailoring is still in demand and, everyone still gets clothes tailored for both everyday and Eid and weddings. So, guardians of patriarchy should not be worried that Pakistani women aren't covering themselves in so-called traditional garb. 

In Monrovia, too, tailors are busy busy. Women and men love getting traditional outfits tailored. Lappa material though isn't cheap and, it is obvious only those who can really afford it, can wear beautifully made traditional elegant clothes which beat so-called Western attire any day. It is the public , the street sellers, the dangerous unemployed Liberian youth quote unquote, which is wearing used American clothing. 

I noticed the same thing in Ethiopia during my 2018 trip. During various conversations , I learned that people can't really afford to wear traditional clothing and, what's more, imported clothing was also very expensive. 

I remember seeing women wear polyester saris in Mumbai during my 2019 visit. It showed me that ordinary people simply can't afford good quality traditional fabric. They are far removed from good quality, hand-made fabric in today's modern world. And, they are working in factories making fast fashion for high streets in Europe or their own urban centres which sometimes burn down. 

Patriarchy in the Global South rails against Western clothes for no other reason than to control what women wear.