Ratfashion

I am not my patch nor my clothing - leave that to the streets

— meta

When the human right to adequate clothing, together with the right to food and the right to housing, have become - due to the 2051 global revolt against the "elites" - an enforced and globally supervised part of the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to clothing got additionally concretized under Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) saying that everyone below an annual income of 10,000 Satoshis will automatically get a standardized set of clothing: 1 pant, 1 pair of shorts, 3 cotton shirts, 1 water-resistant, warm jacket and a hat with reflectors, 6 black socks, 3 sets of underwear, 1 scarf, 1 pair of work gloves, and finally a pair of Crocs.

For cost savings, a few UN-sponsored fabrics were producing the same standardized grey uniform with a focus on durability and health, whereas design and comfort were not neglected - many famous designers have given their input de bono and were heard and recognized by the UN decision board - but limited by a tough budget.

When the so-called "ratfashion" was introduced in 2055, many took advantage because of a lack of alternatives. When survival has become your priority, pride, style, self-expression, and even comfort sit in the second row.

Only when the basic needs were satisfied did people begin fighting for more individual choice, variety, and comfort—not really because it was needed, but for the increasingly degenerate, uneducated, blunt, and passive street folks, clothing is the last resort to express an individual "personality" and standing somehow out of the "masses". And so, in the 60s, only the financially lowest were seen in their ratfashion still for a while and then became extinct with the advent of cheap second-hand clothing.

And only when the UN had stopped mass production, ratfashion was demanded again, and it has risen as a collector's piece and statement that was worn with pride and confidence it never had before. Prices for the robust UN uniform were rising in the extreme, and many who had foreseen the trend and have collected the remaining pieces from the poor have made a fortune.

Only when the privately held OOO started mass production again with its additional Velcro fastener for tactical and expressive patches on the chest and on the back did the prices stabilize - still not affordable for street folks but for everyone above going for the streets expressing their philosophical, social, or esoteric beliefs with the patches they were wearing with pride and fully aware of how confrontational, provocative, and aggressive they were to the ones who could not afford them.

And finally, when the "Yogis" had chosen the "disk pieces" for their logo, ratfashion with the "disk-graffiti"-patch became a highly recognized global cult similar to last century's rocker leather jackets : ultimately beloved, supported, and defended by their owners and hated by the rest who either were unable to afford it or felt their properties and values threatened by this increasingly aggressive mob.