As India prepares to vaccinate itself utter confusion and anxiety prevail everywhere. But a section of the fashion industry elsewhere, waking up from the slumbers of lockdowns and cancelled shows, has jumped on to the vaccine bandwagon. A global clothing brand, Revolve, actually has a vax-ready line. A timely piece of marketing gimmick no doubt. And we here, who have already had the shots or at least one in this country, thought an old piece of clothing was good enough.

It was one of those rare pieces of sane advice from my spouse. “Wear a sleeveless for vaccination,” he had said. But then a colleague pointed out: “Bare as little as possible in times of Covid.” True. What if the virus splotches on my ample arm. And then came the mobile news alert: “72-year-old Dolly Parton gets her jab and urges others to do so” with a picture of the blonde veteran showing off her cold shoulder top. The fashion rage of the 90s is back again, thanks to the pandemic and the cold shoulder’s practicality for vaccination. Bare enough to get the jab, wearing the cold shoulder seems to be the fashion mantra to beat Covid in a certain part of the world.

The West is so privileged.

Following the country singer Hillary Clinton, too, posted an Insta shot of herself in a black cold shoulder, exhorting followers to make it a vaccination trend. Not just get the jab, get it in a cold shoulder. “Shall we make it a trend?” she asked. Both Parton and Clinton were making fashion statements, Parton in a sparkly navy-blue knitted top with cold shoulder cut outs looked slightly jaded with a matching blue mask. Her luxurious blonde curls a little limp, the veteran had donated dollars to Vanderbilt University for development of a vaccine along with Moderna. Clinton’s was a throwback pic in stately surroundings with drapes and large windows with her hair fashionably tousled and held up.

In this part of the world, amidst huge, unfolding tragedy every day during the second Covid wave, fashion has been rendered irrelevant in many ways. But a look at the struggle that the vaccinators in Calcutta are having rolling up the tight sleeves of women wearing blouses with saris, and the discomfort of the wearers themselves, makes us question women’s clothing. A senior lady in the family did not have a wearable sleeveless blouse to go with her sari. She has never worn anything but a sari or a housecoat depending on whether she is outdoors or indoors. And since the pandemic, she has led a shielded life, so for all practical purposes the blouses sit too tight. And it’s not just her. Tight blouses have been holding up vax queues in hospitals. Few have partitioned cubicles that allow the struggle to happen in privacy.

But what about the less old, 45+? The colleague who defended covering her arms, wore a full-sleeved top to the vaccine centre. She generally favours the sleeveless in a sultry summer. And how was she jabbed? “I had to take off my top,” she said. Which made her feel immensely uncomfortable.

Now as the vaccination will open up for the young, here’s hoping they will be practical – fashionably or otherwise – and maybe even don a cold shoulder from their discarded wardrobe. Take your pick from the cold shoulder, off shoulder or single shoulder, or the tube top, leopard prints, block colours or summery florals. But don’t forget the vaxxie! Get it as soon as soon as it’s time.