Wizarding World Fashion

[Iverian Gnash]

From the start of the books, fashion has quite a bit of the spotlight, from the Dursley's pointing out the oddly dressed people on the street corners to the wizarding population worrying about wearing "muggle" clothing. However, when the movies came out we notice there aren't that many differences between muggle and wizard fashion (at least among the younger generations).

The International Statute of Secrecy says this concerning fashion:
"When mingling with Muggles, wizards and witches will adopt an entirely Muggle standard of dress, which will conform as closely as possible to the fashion of the day. Clothing must be appropriate to the climate, the geographical region and the occasion. Nothing self-altering or adjusting is to be worn in front of Muggles."

It seems as though the problem here is wearing clothes that have long been out of date or not fitting with the weather in the area, the 'occasion', or the region they are in. It also appears as though a big fashion problem is altering your clothing through the use of magic while in the presence of muggles.

So, besides cloaks and a few miscellaneous items like witch's hats, the children seem to wear about the same thing, while the older generations do tend to be a bit out of the muggle fashion loop. Though, the older generations can blend in with muggles when needed.

What do you think? Are wizard and muggle fashions more alike then we think or are they quite opposites?

[Prof. Maxim Trevelyan]

I think that they are far more alike that we realize, or some wizards and witches want to admit. Besides the obvious in cloaks and hats, I think the bigger difference is in materials.

For example, some magical creatures' fur or hair is used in clothing, like Demiguise and the Invisibility Cloak and dragon hide gloves. Clothing could also be enchanted with spells, for example, to repel rain, no dirt, changing colors, and so on.

So, the two fashions might look the same, but if you check deeper, they can be quite different.