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Recommended: Influences of fashion
“Keeping up Appearances: A Look at How Fashion Trends Negatively Influence Consumers”
Mokokoma Mokhanona, a sociologist and an activist, once stated, “Expensive clothing is a poor man’s attempt to appear prosperous” (GoodReads.com). Many people today, dress to impress. Following trends and copying other people’s style of dress has become an open window for many people to feel excepted and important. The problem is that these people, aspiring to be important to others, are hurting themselves by trying to impress others. According to Soloman and Rabolt, “Fashion is a form collective behavior, or a wave of social conformity (Mandhachitara 23).” As people become accustomed to following behind people in high ranks that establish trends, they lose themselves and become conformed to society. They lose their own identities because they are not keeping up with their appearances to satisfy themselves. Author Hemphill, stated in an article that, “Consumers have a taste for trends—that is, for goods that enable them to move in step with other people (Hemphill 9).” Essentially, what Hemphill is stating is that people are now making choices on what they want to wear based on what celebrities and popular people wear. Peoples choices are not their own, their choices of attire are based on the styles of trendsetters. The motivation for the styles and trends today are often influenced by celebrities and the media. Every outfit put together by an individual is based off of an original idea of someone before them. This could be considered an imitation instead of a new creation. People are often using fashion to shape identities, to gain social status, and to build their confidence.
Many people use fashion as a way to shape their identity, whethe...
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Schiermer, Bjørn. "Fashion Victims: On The Individualizing And De-Individualizing Powers Of Fashion." Fashion Theory: The Journal Of Dress, Body & Culture 14.1 (2010): 83-104. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
Sika, Varyanne. "Fashion for Feminists: How Fashion and Dress Shape Women's Identities | Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA)." Fashion for Feminists: How Fashion and Dress Shape Women's Identities | Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA). N.p., 10 Jan. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
Sproles, George B. "Analyzing Fashion Life Cycles--Principles And Perspectives." Journal Of Marketing 45.4 (1981): 116-124. Business Source Complete. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
Twigg, Julia. "How Does Vogue Negotiate Age?: Fashion, the Body, and the Older Woman." Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture 14.4 (2010): 471-490.
In the article, “The Fashion Industry: Free to Be an Individual” by Hanna Berry, Berry discusses how for decades women have been told to use certain products and that if they used those products they would be beautiful. Women over the years have believed this idea and would purchase items that promised to make them prettier, thinner, smarter and even more loved. However, in reality it was never what they wore on their bodies that helped them be any of those things; but what it did help with was to empower women to become fearless and bold by what they chose to wear on their bodies as a form of expression.
Fashion in the 21st century is a big business, as its production employs millions of people and generates billions of dollars in revenue. Fashion has for the past century been, and is still today, used as an indicator of social change and progress, as it changes with the social norms of the society and the political changes of the world (Finkelstein 3). Works Cited Finkelstein, Joanne. A.S.A. & Co. Fashion: An Introduction to Fashion. New York: New York University Press, 1998.
It’s no secret that some women believe fashion portrays who they are. Therefore follow every season’s new trend. This leads to spending money that they don’t have. Waller Lea, a journalist, suggest that “for some communities, purchasing knockoffs or generic products are frowned upon, forcing minorities to spend more money. Now businesses and companies are targeting minorities, causing more debt problems.” Addicted to retail or brainwashed? Opponents claim that fashion is simply a creative way to express themselves. There are others ways to express ourselves that are no based on our appearance. Through drawing, painting or through our thoughts and ideas. What happens when someone can’t afford expensive clothing or doesn’t have access to fashionable clothes? They are singled out and excluded from society for being different.
Sigismund Schlomo Freud, an Austrian neurologist and the father of psychoanalysis, once stated “When you meet a human being, the first distinction you make is ‘male or female?’ and you are accustomed to make the distinction with unhesitating certainty.” Had Sigismund Freud lived through the 21th century instead of the 19th, he might have had a good reason for hesitation. Now we live in an era when gender norms- and many other standards- must perhaps be questioned and dismantled. Over the last several years, the broader cultural shift in how people perceive gender has picked up speed in almost all spheres of society- politics, education, art, literature, and of course in the fashion industry. Clothing has become one of
Ziff, S. (2012, February 13). The ugly truth of fashion's model behavior. theguardian.com. Retrieved , from http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/feb/13/ugly-truth-fashion-model-behavior
Gardner, Marilyn. "Fast Fashion Is a Problem." The Fashion Industry. Ed. Roman Espejo. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Fashion Industry Gives Rise to a 'Disposable Culture, '." The Christian Science Monitor. 2007. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 22 Nov.
Fashion plays an important role in the lives of billions all over the world; people, as part of a status craving society, turn to “fashion capitals” of the world for ways in which to dress and carry themselves. New York, Milan, and Paris are leaders among this fierce industry that the world lusts after. Fashion can speak volumes about ones personality, or also about the condition the world is in at the time. In France, fashion changed rapidly and feverously as the times changed.
6. Hammond, Colleen. "Dressing with Dignity - History of Women's Fashion Industry - How to Fight Sexual Revolution and Immodesty in Dress!" N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2013.
Nowadays, the fashion industry is such a negative push on teenagers’ standard of beauty that it is now becoming an unsolved dilemma for our society. Firstly, Sarah Murdoch, the representative of Bonds underwear, is of the opinion that the fashion industry encourages “unhealthy body images” (Dunkerley, 2008) that are thought to be unrealistic and unhealthy for most women and girls. Besides, the fact that most designers prefer to choose thin models than bigger size ones (Bolger, 2007) shows us an astonishing phenomenon that there are series of clothes from size 0 to size 4 seen not only in the fashion shows but also even in the sale markets because they think that there will be “stigma attached” when doing something for “plus-size people” (Stevens, 2010). Naomi Crafti, representing Eating Disorders Victoria, thinks that teenagers are becoming obsessed with “the very skinny models on the catwalk” in the fashion shows (Stevens, 2010) which gradually leads to “eating disorders, mental health” and “negative body image in young people” (Stevens, 2010).
An individual may choose to express a persona that goes against the social norms within a society. From Simmel’s perspective, fashion can bring this, social mobility and integration of individuals from lower social class backgrounds become conscious of styles and fashions of the elite. (Ashley and Orenstein: 314) Famous icons and elitists habitually create innovative looks and styles within fashion leading to them to inevitably create a subculture. (Simmel, no date) With this case, we can see this in today’s modern fashion culture, disreputably known hip-hop artist Kanye West has created and designed an array of clothing styles.
The act of consumption has been the primary means through which individuals in society participate and transform culture. Culture is not something already made which we consume; culture is what society creates through practices of everyday life and consumption involves the making of culture. When attempting to understand certain acts of consumption it is necessary to observe the relations involved in production and consumption. Through technological innovation, the fashion industry has been expanded to play a prominent role in consumers’ purchasing decisions and styles are becoming less difficult to obtain. With the expansion of department stores and shopping being viewed as a leisurely activity, this has continued to transform the act of fashion consumerism. The functional interests feature a rational attachment to clothing items. Symbolic benefits involve status and prestige to fulfill the achievement for positive self-esteem. Further benefits include a provided experience for the individual consumer and the created use of imagery and desire used to enrich one’s life.
middle of paper ... ... It also analyzed the influences of modern dresses. As Palmer and Clark (2005) mentioned earlier, both decades are the classic era in fashion history.
There have been many instances where I am stopped and commented on what I’m wearing. Depending on a single item of clothing, I am either a “certified hippie”, “lesbian”, or “law student”. This has brought me to raise an important social question: How have fashion and advertising built identity stereotypes? Stereotyping can have a strong and negative impact on a person, especially younger generations that are now at an influential stage in their mental development. By subjecting them to these stereotypes based on what they wear, they may begin to think of and see themselves as society claims, rather than who they are or aspire to be. By conducting further research on stereotyping in fashion designs through their advertisements, the aim of this research is to understand the history and social ideas behind fashion. By thoroughly understanding the problem, a solution would be easier to reach. In order to gain further insight on the matter, two practitioners have been selected: Dr. Rebecca Arnold and Dr. Roman Meinhold.
To begin with, I shall look at what fashion is; it is a currently popular style or practice involving clothing, footwear or accessories. It mostly refers to the current trends in looks and dressing style of a person (Cumming 234). In most cases, fashion is confusedly related to costumes; when a person talks of fashion they are seen to mean fashion in terms of textile. Fashion is seen to originate from the Western world and it is copied by other places. In this paper, we shall look at how fashion affects lifestyles and the group of people who are affected most. The paper further investigates how media is used to transmit fashion from one region to the other. Although it has been seen to affect people’s lives many people have different perspectives on fashion and dressing.
To live in style with fashion is mostly preferred by college going youngsters who are the main follower of fashion. Fashion is related with all age of people either male or female in different manners. Mostly girls fashion is too much trendy and advance then any others. Fashion is not only limited to dressing style but it includes all other different aspects of life like the house they live in, what they eat, what kind of work they prefer to do for their time pass and many more. In our country, source of fashion is generally the glamorous and entertainment industry where every week a new style of dressing, makeup and hairstyle is introduced. Some of the people have registered their name for introducing the new trend of fashion in the glamorous world. These are Manish Malhotra, Ritu Kumar, Tarun Tahiliani, Ritu Beri, Sabhya Sachi and many