Joanne Entwistle recognizes an inconsistent nature of fashion: it “[takes] inspiration from ambivalence and yet [tries] to fix identity in the form of an image or style.” Here, I would interpret ambivalence as identity: no one word or feature can define one’s identity. Fashion function as a powerful means of self-expression—thus, the birth of a famous cliché: “You are what you wear.” The construction of such social identity comprise of multifaceted contexts in which the Self has been influenced by or made of: gender, sex, culture, race, nationality, religion, and the list continues.
Although fashion is intended to function as a form of communication—allowing one to practice freedom of expression and creativity—the lack of agency in the consumers and industry, accompanied by mass consumption and a mass consumer society, allows fashion to easily establish conventional frameworks that restricts self-expression and even alienate some identities. Once a perspective on a certain identity or a group forms a design or an image, the fast pace and mass consumption of fashion imprints the representation as a social standard and reverses the intent of fashion: people fail to use fashion to create their identity, but are governed by this social product to fit into a category.
Today, we live in a postmodern era where we challenge universal beliefs and norms for “heterogeneity, differentiation and difference”: we promote postmodernism’s fundamental values and trends of increasing
(Choose a garment, which can be used to discuss fashion from the point of view of the consumer. This garment must be able to demonstrate how the consumer individually constructs their identity and conveys that identity through the style and styling of clothing. You should treat this garment as an object as a form of evidence, which can help you to explain theories of fashion discussed in the sessions. The intention of your analysis is to examine the ways in which we can ‘read’ objects and images, understand their meanings and explain them in the context of broader theoretical and social concerns. You should aim to be as analytical as possible. You may want to use further
We come across many different cultures and fashion in our society. Some may indicate that the culture influences one’s fashion while others may oppose and state that each aspect stands alone. Fashion and culture fall into the following identity categories: chosen and assigned. Culture affects many parts of an individual, in some cases you can determine an individual 's culture by their speech and clothing; in addition to traditions and the environment in which they were raised. Whereas fashion may be impacted by culture and tradition, but it may also not interact with culture at all.
Fashion is everything to society and the media. The fashion industry has transformed into a necessity in the life of people. Everyone wants to look good, feel fabulous and feel as if we belong with everyone else. The envy and desire to wear certain things and look a certain way all come, from wearing the latest fashion handbags, accessories, dresses, shoes, and the list goes on. But, when is considering fashion into an individual’s life going too far to the extreme? Many do not consider the whereabouts of fashion materials and how the environment is affected by the mere existence of certain garments. Some may believe these objects grow on trees. But that is clearly not the case. Even though it would be nice. The fashion industry as a
Fashion reflects the attitudes of a society more than any other art form. Like art, fashion is a material record of the ideals that swayed the nations at the time of their creation. Through examining the styles, and tastes of a particular era, we can realize where the interests and priorities of a time lie. As Frank Parsons wrote in his 1920 study, The Psychology of Dress, "There is surly no better field in which to trace the devious paths of human thought than in that of clothes, where man has ever given free play to self expression, in a way which, thought not always a credit to his intelligence, is yet quite true to his innermost self, whether he will acknowledge it or
Teri Agins, a senior writer at the Wall Street Journal, has publications in the Journal and wrote in 1999 The End of Fashion. Agins’ book gives a true overview of the fashion industry from the origin of Haute Couture to prêt-à-porter to mass-market consumption. Her focus is on marketing and uses Armani, Ralph Lauren, Donna Karen, Marshall Fields and Gap to demonstrate “(from) class to mass, (from) elitism to democratization; (from) art to commodity.” This is perfectly showed in a paragraph from Agins
We usually pay more attention to the inner core of human beings, but clothing is not simply an outfit that covers out bodies—it indeed delivers a strong message to the society. A particular style of clothing marks the fashion of an era or a culture, but sometimes there is more historical context and material politics behind it. Clothing is not superficial; it represents identity and dignity of a group of people. According to Miller’s “Why Clothing is not Superficial”, clothing gives us “such dignity, glamour and refinement”, and they “actually were what made us think what we think we are” (Miller). It sometimes may have a unique appearance but it could be a powerful challenge to the public memory and hegemonic forces.
The trendy apparel that stores offer to the public makes a person have the ability to be fashionable since it can be adapted to our own preferences, and it also shows how companies influence people through the way they dress. Clothing companies among others create and implant images into people’s minds that insinuate that consumers should follow in order to be able to fit in the society that is shaped by the beliefs of corporations and industries. While it should be okay for fashion to be promoted since it is a way to express oneself, it is important to note the ways how companies advertise clothing and current fashions, since it reflects how our products are carefully designed to control our
Article Title: Dedicated followers of fashion? The influence of popular culture on children’s social identities Author(s): Sharon Boden
The fashion industry is rapidly growing and constantly generating new fashion trends almost weekly. Fashion for some may seem ridiculous and unnecessary; but fashion is not just a meaningless usage of article of clothing or farcical materials sew together for coverage. There is more to fashion than meets the eyes, fashion is precious and significant. It is a reflection of self-image, it speak the ream about who we are and how we review ourselves. Not only is fashion the reflection of self-image but also the reflection of our history as Coco Channel have said, “Fashion is not something that exist in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” Fashion
Fashion does not simply consist of the clothes we pick out of our closets in the morning. That daily decision only constitutes the last step of a much larger process, foreign sweatshops, multi-billion-dollar businesses, celebrities on red carpets, and sophisticated advertising campaigns. Fashion emerges out of pattern-making and design, the cultivation and production of raw materials, the manufacturing process, and the distribution of the finished product. Although all this creates the materials, fashion is more than just cloth and jewels. Fashion is the expression of oneself whether it's based on emotion, fashion trends, or music videos.
During our life we construct many different identities of who we want to portray ourselves as to the rest of society; fashion plays a vital role in generating who we are. With the ideas from Storry and Childs they state that “the way that we dress can either serve to confirm or to subvert various facets of our identities, such as our gender,
Fashion has been a prominent aspect of a woman’s life throughout time. Women of different times and cultures have turned the routine of picking out clothes and putting together different ensembles into a sort of art, or a way to express and promote themselves. Many women also see fashion as part of their identity, or a way to manipulate the way people see them. What a woman wears can drastically change the way society views her - it can increase her chances of getting a job, or make her gain respect (or rejection) from her peers (Sika n.p.).
Moreover, Lang (1999) successfully demonstrated that young women within sorority clubs do gender as their role of adopting their traditional feminine characteristics become gender obligations in order for them to fit in that particular society. Therefore, the example of dress illustrates that individuals within society are deeply controlled by their body since non verbal communication has become a form of social control (Lang 1999). For instance, it enables users to project their identity and allow agents of social control to interpret their identity through their style of clothing (Arvanitidiou and Gasouka 2013). To conclude, the example discussed above highlights how garments are devised by humans which offer a clear distinction between how
“BEFOR I CAN TALK TO YOU, PEOPLE SHOW THEIR SEX, AGE, CALSS, POSITION, WITH WHAT THEY ARE WEARING. ALL THIS IS REGISTERED UNCONCIOSLY“ Those words said by Alison Lurie in the language of clothes (1992), reflect perfectly the main point of my research. The society we are now living is an extremely conscious society regarding body image and the way we are presented to the exterior. We found an obsessive trend on wanting to look like celebrities by having certain items or looks and in relation to that a fear of not being percepted the tight way. This is where we found relation to how clothes are part of a conversation we haven 't started and are a form of expression. As there will be explained further on, we use clothes as a sign of our identity,as a way of representing ourselves and stand out from the crowd and also influence on how we appear in front of others making them (clothes) a huge part of our non verbal communication. This essay will discuss the ideas behind self -expression and the role of clothes has changed in that mater thought time.
Fashion is historically known as a form of expression, and with style, one can portray their self-identity. Growing up I was clinically labeled as “obese” for my age, fluctuating between gaining and losing weight almost to this day. Since I value fashion and style immensely not being able to be comfortable with my body, and in hand with myself, had a negative impact on my daily life. Also, the negative attitude that came with being overweight in society and not fitting into the criteria of the “ideal body” didn’t help on my self-value and self-esteem. An impact so significant that I changed the direction of my future career in working in the fashion industry because I thought that my appearance wouldn’t have worked in my favor in the fashion and couture world of size zero models.