COVID Couture: Trinidadian creative <PERSON> responds to the pandemic with a feel-good dress that has a deeper meaning · Global Voices
Trinidadian creative <PERSON> in her grocery bag dress. Photo by <PERSON> courtesy <PERSON>, used with permission.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Trinidad and Tobago has had several stay-at-home orders, curfew impositions and restrictions on gatherings, with limits on the operations of non-essential businesses. Supermarkets and grocery stores, however, have been a constant, with food-shopping giving people a genuine reason to leave the house—but with beaches still closed, COVID-19 cabin fever has been getting to many netizens. One of them—dancer, choreographer and filmmaker <PERSON>—decided to counteract the COVID blues with creativity.
In a September 27 Facebook post, <PERSON> uploaded several professional photographs of herself, decked out in a colourful gown made entirely of reusable shopping bags and branded with the logo of one of the Caribbean region's largest supermarket chains, Massy Stores, explaining:
Who says I doh dress up and go on hot dates in de pandemic?
I was thinking about this situation we're all in and where to find the humour in it. […] I decided to go haute couture (not). I'd been planning it since April, when we went into the second major ‘lockdown’. Everyone's style was seriously cramped – again. But safety first. Grocery and pharmacy second. In my lethargy and my feelings of being overwhelmed by this whole world crisis, it took me months to even draw the design, far less get the dress made. But it happened.
The post struck a chord with social media users, who found it refreshing, imaginative, and a welcome break from discussing infection rates and vaccine hesitancy. I suspected, however, that like most creative endeavours, <PERSON>’ dress display operated on multiple levels and I wanted to find out more. Via telephone and email, she offered deeper insight into what inspired her to take on the project and the message she hopes it will send.
<PERSON>, ready for her ‘hot date’ to the grocery. Photo by <PERSON> courtesy <PERSON>, used with permission.
<PERSON> (JMF): What was the genesis of your grocery bag dress idea—and what made you pursue it all the way through to a fashion photo shoot?
<PERSON> (SD): When Trinidad and Tobago went into its second major lockdown back in April, it was a very necessary move on the part of the government, but a very tense moment for the population. The number of daily COVID deaths had increased significantly and the virus was spreading, as well as the fear of it. 941
It felt as if we were back to Square One, or maybe even negative Square One. As the lockdown persisted, I grew increasingly frustrated with the isolation and the inability to do what I considered ‘normal’. As a person in the creative sector, it was doubly frustrating because much of my income also dried up. My life outside of home and temporary work spaces was centred around visits to the grocery, the gas station and the pharmacy. Those became what I call my ‘hot dates’ – the opportunity to be social – if only to mutter ‘Good morning’ or ‘Good evening’ to the security guard stationed at the door to ensure that I sanitised and took my temperature before entering the building.
<PERSON>: Take me through the creative process. Did you design and sew it yourself? What was involved, how long did it take, and how did its scope expand?
SD: I designed the dress in my head first. I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like but took months to actually draw it; it wasn’t really a priority. Strangely, I was even more busy with Zoom meetings and backlogs, even though there was less paying work. The dress continued to be just a cerebral protest about what my life had come to. But I knew other people were suffering from the same isolation, uncertainty, sadness and general feeling of being overwhelmed, and I thought that the dress might help to cheer us all up.
I finally made a couple of sketches back in July or August, and then took it to a seamstress who does many of the dance costumes that I design. She’s a brilliant craftsperson, as well as an amazing interpreter of my designs, and she knows how far out of the box I often think. I placed the sketches and the Massy bags on her sewing table. There were 7 big ones and 4 small ones (although not all were eventually used for the dress). She didn’t flinch. All she said was, ‘Costume? 820