Dbq Essay On Fashion

Technology brought the “ready-to-wear revolution” to the people. The spinning jenny and the power loom makes mass production of clothing effortless. Various clothing and sizes were now available to everyone. The value of clothing and jewelry declined due to overproduction.

If you look back through the past sixty years of fashion, you may notice a pattern.

The Victorian Era is a remarkable time in history with the blooming industries, growing population, and a major turnaround in the fashion world. This era was named after Queen Victoria who ruled United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from June 1837 until she passed away 64 years later in January 1901.When Victoria received the crown, popular respect was strikingly low. The lack of respect for the position she had just come into did not diminish her confidence. Instead she won the hearts of Britain with her modesty, grace, straightforwardness, and her want to be informed on the political matters at hand even though she had no input. She changed Britain into a flourishing country. She also impacted how women interacted

Before the Civil War, mass produced clothing was not readily available. During the Pre-Civil War era, clothing was largely “made by tailors, by individuals, or by their family members at home” (National Institute of Standards and Technology). Yet, after the onset of the Civil War, there was an increased demand for

For the past hundred years the need for clothing increased since the number of people of keeps growing. As the years go on, producers must find new ways to produce more clothing to make more profit and keep up with demand. Before people would either have to ride all the way into town to have tailors make their clothes, or have someone at home make the clothing for them. But as the years progressed, methods have changed dramatically.

As a child, I have always been a visually observatory person. Patterns, textiles, and fashion have always been high interests of mine. My childhood consisted of many Barbie dolls as toys, and it wasn't the Barbie dolls that I wanted to play with, but the clothes that I loved to collect and interchange between the dolls. Creating different outfits for the dolls made me feel as if I was making my own mark in fashion. As I grew older, begging my mother to purchase fashion magazines like Vogue, Elle, and Harpers Bazaar were typical and became expected. While flipping through the pages of fashion magazines, I was enthralled while examining the latest trends from celebrities and models. This is what influenced me to want to work in the fashion industry.

Clothing has existed for many centuries and has evolved over time. At one time, clothes were made very simple; over time the stages of developing clothes has drastically changed. The design and style of clothes changed as well.

Technology has had a major impact on the progress of fashion between the 1945’s and 1960’s and beyond. People used to have busy lifestyles before the growth of technology to help them. During WW2, there was a shortage of fabrics and people needed to preserve them. However, once the world got into a stable post-war time which were the 50s, there were more intricate outfits which used large amounts of fabric. Technology also allowed more different varieties of dyes and fibers to be made which added more of a personal touch to fashion and gave a feeling of wellbeing and comfort.

Fashion is very important in modern day society, and can be seen all around. Most of what people know about fashion today came from the fashion during the renaissance. From the vibrant fabrics to the spectacular jewels, renaissance fashion has been thoroughly threaded in the fashion of modern society. Modern day women often wear shorty, fun gowns, tightly fitting jeans, and lower cut tops. Popular fashion trends for men in modern society include saggy jeans, V-neck shirts, and stylish watches. “A fashion is merely a form of ugliness so unbearable that we are compelled to alter it every six months” (Oscar Wilde). Fashion in modern day society is ever changing, but most changes do not stray too far from the original product.

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

The industrial revolution promoted change within the working classes meaning the couture business could never sustain the pace required to keep up with the evolving times. Couturiers were soon aware of this and realised they needed to pay more attention to business rather than indulging their time in create time consuming pieces. The Americans were fast becoming innovators in the fashion industry, and were able to knock off Paris originals easily. They were using machinery for the production of textiles and garments which allowed them to produce much faster and on a larger scale and it soon paved the way for prêt-à-porter clothing. The industry was then able to provide clothing to the masses at an accessible price. As a result Paris lost its

With the birth of industrialisation mass production became possible bringing fashion to the masses. Whilst such an innovation allowed for a cycle of innovation and change and provided a vehicle for the lower classes to dabble in reproductions of upper class fashions, there were still differences evident within the products, which ensured distinctions between classes could be made. Such symbolism included obvious differences in fabric and even sometimes, sewing quality. Other symbols that were highly prevalent in the late 18th century included ribbons and the number of buttons a man wore fastened on his coat or

2. Richard M. Johns (2006). The Apparel Industry. 2nd ed. UK, London: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.. 1-124.

Today, being politically correct is the norm. Whether its talking about hair or where we’re from–our gender to party costumes to ‘triggers’ in general–the PC culture has found its way into every aspect of our lives. So when we toss high fashion into the PC arena, we shouldn’t be opposed or even surprised to acknowledge how it too, is influenced by the current political climate. High fashion has been traditionally and notoriously dominated by white men in brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dior, Burberry…the list goes on.

Ferraro, Sands, and Brace-Govan conducted a quantitative study, which explored second-hand consumption in relation to consumption and motivation theory. Weis argued that “second-hand consumption has evolved over three distinct periods: emergence and expansion during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; decline and stigmatization in the twentieth century; and de-stigmatization and renewed popularity since the 2000s” (as cited in Ferraro et.al., 2016, p.262). The revival of second-hand consumption stems from a variety of motivating factors such as recreational, economic, and fashionable. Recreational motivation is a significant factor because consumers can have differing experiences from traditional retailers, by providing an authentic and nostalgic moment (Ferraro et al., 2016). Browsing a large assortment of merchandise and finding unplanned items is a factor to why people like to second-hand shop, it’s unpredictable and every second-hand shop is different than the next. The next factor is the economic benefits of second-hand consumption. Economic motivation encompasses bargaining and low-price points, whereas fashionable motivation is directed towards originality, enhancing personal fashion, or nonconformity to mainstream fashion directions. In the study, they divided participants into four segments, in which they surveyed shopping frequency, loyalty, demographics, psychographics, etc. Segment 1