A Clothing Swap Breaks the Age Barrier

Mutton dressed as lamb? Why not!

A photo series that’s going viral on the Internet looks at the way style influences our relationships across generations and suggests that a little intergenerational cross-dressing might be in order – not just for our own gratification, but to cure a list of ills, including senior loneliness and health problems.

How so?

The series, “Spring-Winter,” is by a young Singapore-based photographer, Qozop. He invited young people and their parents or grandparents to participate and asked them to swap their outfits. The clothes fit fine; the style switch was a bigger deal. Not many Asian seniors embrace contemporary styles, and younger people feel disconnected from traditional style and culture – in part because they’re disconnected from their elders.

Qozop told the Huffington Post he wants to help break Asia’s generational divide. Westerners tend to idealize the Asian tradition of respect for elders, but it turns out this deference has had a crippling effect on intergenerational relationships.

Writing on the site Pokod, Amanda Lee Koe, who references Qozop’s images, says: “From a young age, we are told first and foremost to respect our elders…. The notions of respect and deference often mean that senior citizens expect to be treated more delicately.” Koe believes that putting young and old on a more equal footing could lead to closer relationships and help older people stay happy and healthy by alleviating loneliness.

Qozop told HuffPo that getting seniors to agree to swap clothes for the series was hard, but in the end,  some “were curious and amused to see themselves in their son’s or grandson’s attire – some were so comfortable in their new getup that they joked that they wanted to remain in that attire for the rest of the day!”

On his Facebook page, the photographer says he’s decided to expand the series and is looking for more willing subjects. Stay tuned!

See more of Qozop’s “Spring-Winter on his site by clicking here.