The Fashion of Cults

If you’re anything like me you will listen to any series or podcast having to do with cults with glee.

Leah Remini’s show on Scientology? Bring it on. Wild Wild Country? I loved it. At the same time fashion is seen as something trivial and insignificant. There are plenty of people who believe it means very little. (Cue that Devil Wears Prada monologue) But I started thinking about the significance of uniforms, and therefore fashion, in these groups.

Heaven’s Gate

I’m not sure what it is about this group that has always fascinated me. Maybe it’s the fact that it happened in 1997 when I was in middle school and was at that age when things stick in your brain. In 1997 the group committed mass suicide in a large house in California. They were all wearing matching black outfits with unisex cropped haircuts (early reports only men were among the dead because of the hair), matching black shrouds covered their upper bodies, and most famously they were all wearing matching black Nike Decades sneakers (which were quickly discontinued after the tragedy by Nike and are now auctioned off on Ebay for over $6000.)

They all had “Away Team” patches on their clothes. The uniform of this group served a dual purpose; the group believed they were hitching a ride on the Hale Bop comet to their next mission so it’s natural that some sort of mission uniform was created. However, the group wore uniforms before that because they believed in the next life, there would be no gender. It’s kind of crazily forward thinking when you think about it but it may have had a dysfunctional synthesis. Herb Applewhite was fired from his college job for having an affair with a male student. It seems that he was gay but as the son of a conservative minister never fully came to grips with this. So he created theology to help mask his sexualtiy.

Rajneeshpuram

Wild, Wild Country was a hit of 2018 and tells the tail of the Rajneeshpuram cult which took over a small town in Oregon and the bad shit crazy shenanigans that happened as a result. The

group’s mandate to only wear colors of mostly red, but also orange and purple. They were also instructed to wear their master Bhagwan’s face in a locket. While there is no clear reason for the color palate, it’s most likely related to Hinduism. But what is clear is the psychological effects of such a large number of people. I can only imagine what it must have been like to be in that town and then almost overnight seeming like you’re being swallowed by swarths of people all wearing the same color.

The Manson Family

You might be saying, “Wait they didn’t have a uniform!” You are correct but it’s undeniable that there was a distinct esthetic. Charles Manson had a physical type of woman that he found to join The Family; they were always skinny with long straight hair. In a way his uniform was that of hippie culture itself, but it took the free spirited, good natured elements and set them on end, almost in the same way he started using satanic imagery. Satan mocks the religion he grew up with, and using the costume of “Flower Power” to murder and attempt to incite a race war was another way to mock.

Unarius

This is one of my favorite “cults.” I put that in quotes because unlike the others some debate if it’s actually a cult. But for who I am I would be remiss to mention it. Sometimes known as the “1980s Cable Access Cult” this is a California based group that is also based in UFO beliefs. They believe (I say believe because they’re still active) in reincarnation and used their past life memories to create glitzy “psychodramas” that they filmed and had air on cable access stations. Their leader, Ruth Norman, dressed herself in the most outlandish outfits you can ever dream of. Some of with were so large and heavy she couldn’t stand in them. I think you can tell why I’m obsessed with her.

So, in conclusion what is the significance of the choices each of these groups made when it comes to fashion within their group? They either chose rigid uniformity, used the fashion of their era for maleficent uses, or made a decision to use fashion as a creative expression. But one thing is for sure, it is not insignificant. Clothing is a very important part of how we present ourselves to the world. And when you’re looking at leading a group of people it’s even more important.