This weekend was a perfect time to watch a movie. Outside the window, a cold, persistent rain was falling. A fever had me burritoed in a fluffy blanket drinking tea on the couch most of the day. But, the twinkling Christmas lights kept me company and my favorite fashion movie was there as a welcomed pastime.
The movie Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris is delightful all around. On the surface, it is a lighthearted story set in the 1950s about a British cleaning lady who falls in love with a Dior gown and travels to Paris to get one for herself. It plays both to the fantasy of fashion and the romance of Paris.
Beyond the dreamy escape to full, tulle skirts and swing music, what I really like about the movie are the very real lessons it has about the industry and business of fashion. This week, I want to share those with you. (Warning: there will be spoilers, so if you haven’t watched the movie yet, go do so before reading the remainder of this and the rest of this week’s emails.)
“That’s what we are, Vi, the invisible women.” – Mrs. Harris
Woven throughout the film is the theme of workers – particularly garment workers – being unacknowledged by society. Still today, many garment workers are women. Whether it is the cleaning lady who scrubs the floors or the woman who sews the buttons on your jacket, how often are these women overlooked and underappreciated for what they do? This isn’t just an issue in the fashion industry, but it is certainly a problem here.
Part of it is the hierarchy of what occupations are respected versus looked down on in society. Part of it is undervaluing the contribution that each worker has. Talking to the Dior directoress in the movie – the “invisible woman behind the great man” – Mrs. Harris says “they don’t even know what we do, but sure as eggs is eggs, without us, it all goes tits up.”
This is true in fashion business today. Without the invisible women (and men) behind each stitch, the clothes wouldn’t get made. No job is too small to matter. Let’s not minimize the contributions of anyone in the fashion supply chain.