The Social Structure Of Fashion And Music

Clothing has its own meaning in communication. We are being judged by our clothing every time we come in contact with someone. Human communication is accomplished by two ways, one third by words and the rest by nonverbal communication (Hickson, 1989). Clothes serve to be protection, social identification, sexual attraction, and many other services. Someone’s clothing can be different compared to others. Their clothing is based on their age, gender, occupation, personality, and values. According to William Thourlby, there are ten decisions that people around someone make based on their clothing along (Hickson, 1989). The ten decisions are:

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.

Many subcultures inside the United states of America society have been different throughout individual cultures. This difference has made sub cultures seem planets away. Surprisingly, these subcultures offer and share regular traits that are alike. The most common trait that is shared within subcultures, are through style and fashion. In this article “false connections,” Alex Kotlwitz focuses and analyze around the idea of inner city poor, describing the role of both subcultures, white well living suburban kids verse the inner city poor kids. This referred to black American children. Despite to two cultures being different, culturally what more important. How they utilize the trademark of fashion; also within this understanding they have the

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

In his essay about fashion and its sociological importance Georg Simmel argues that fashion is extremely sociologically important as it is a method by which the elite classes can distinguish themselves from lower classes in western society and therefore acts as a facilitator for emphasising and maintaining class distinctions. Simmel’s argument will be explained in this essay however it will be argued that SImmel’s theory is not relevant to society today and fashion is no longer a method for the elite classes to distinguish themselves from the lower classes. This will be discussed with reference the theories of Bauman and Veblen who emphasise the importance of fashion in maintaining class distinctions, however Blumer’s alternative theory of fashion as a collective approach will be analysed and will suggest that Simmel’s theory is no longer accurate in describing and explaining fashion in today’s society. Therefore this essay will offer an explanation as to how fashion is sociologically relevant through Simmel’s theory of fashion however will go on to critique this theory and offer an opposing theory as to the place and importance of fashion in society today, supported largely through the theories and ethnographic findings of Blumer.

The progression of tolerance associated with the hipster image has led the millennial youth to question and remove gender identity boundaries related to fashion. Before the hipster trend the idea of males wearing bright

Cunningham (2016) defines fashion as the manner of dressing that is accepted as being in style. Fashion can segregate people from one another simply by the style you wear or the color you have on. The different style of fashion represents people character in life. Fashion makes many people immune to different change in society. Fashion reflects and has influences on the people you tend to interact and associate with because of the different fashion of clothes you wear. The different fashion of clothes is a form of self-expression. Fashion can tell who you are and what types of styles you like to wear. Fashion has made society believe what is popular in stores is fashionable. Fashion can also include hints about people wealth, religion, and social status. Fashions bring out who you are based on what you

Subculture refers to a minority of individuals who adhere to different rules, dress codes and lifestyle choices from mainstream culture. Throughout this essay the traditional definitions of subcultures, that mainly concentrate on class and style as their main features, will be looked at and explained. It will then be demonstrated how these ways of thinking are no longer relevant to the 21st century therefore the term 'subculture ' needs to be rethought for it to be an applicable category in the 21st century.

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,

In the article published by research journal Intellect, Otto Von Busch, a professor of the New School of Design, and Ylva Bjereld, a doctorate of the University of Gothenburg, discuss the effects that fashion has on people. In this article, “fashion is examined as an everyday site for establishing social distinctions, where violence in the form of microaggressions and bullying is masked by the apparent superficially and innocuousness of clothing” (Busch 89). It also speaks on how fashion is used as a form of self satisfaction, and wearing certain clothes can make a person feel good about themselves. Furthermore, these individuals harass and degrade others who wear clothing that differ from theirs, which is also another form of self satisfaction.

If you look online, there are millions of pictures of Harajuku style. Guys and girls dressing up androgynously, or wearing the most bizzare pieces of clothing ranging from sky-high platforms to mixing unlikely prints together. Some even wear their hair and makeup in the most avant-garde way. Japan for a while has been displaying fashion that intrigues us and influences us in many ways and what people don’t know is that of these fashions there are different communities and subcultures of fashion that these people in the pictures conform to. Japan has a vast array of street fashion styles and trends. They are all mixed with elements of traditional, foreign and/or local styles. Their street fashion cultures vary from the tan skinned Ganguro girls to the victorian styled Lolitas. One of the most popular and biggest Japanese fashion influencers were the high school girls of Kogyaru. What exactly did these schoolgirls do to become one of the biggest trendsetters of Japan? The answers are within their signature style, Japan’s popular magazines, and ability to popularize certain products.

Fashion media constantly and consistently create, and promote a lifestyle to its viewers. More often than not, it is concerned with the selling of an idea of an ‘ideal life’ and creating an image of a desired lifestyle in the viewer’s minds. It plays a vital role in shaping the viewers’ identities, notions and norms about ethnicity and race, sexuality, class distinction, and self-image amongst other things. In their work, Rhodes and Zuloaga (2012) have pointed out that fashion media describes a spectrum of identity, unified in a general type of signifiers—young women, high status, high sexuality—and through the constant repetition and variation of images on these themes serve to create this identity spectrum. "It is important to remember

Although celebrity culture is typically associated with actors and actress, consumers may also rely on the trustfulness and credibility of politicians and first wives when deciding fashion trends. In the 1960s, fashion icon Jackie Kennedy took over the fashion industry (Joel 1). She appealed to many stay-at-home women because she was commonly known to have a “sophisticated simplicity” (Joel 1) approach to fashion. Her successor, First Lady Michelle Obama has instantly become a fashion icon herself as well. She is commonly seen wearing American designers therefore pushing “the American fashion industry into the international spotlight” (Givhan 1). People are often so draw to her style because it gives a glance into her personal life. As Givhan states, “Obama’s clothes have connected with the public in contemporary terms, in the language of Hollywood’s glamour, Seventh Avenue’s bold entrepreneurship and the democracy of the mass market” (Givhan 1). In March 2009, Michelle Obama appeared on the cover of US Vogue which showcased her “dress, style, and poise” (Gibson 40). Brett Schenck, president of Hart Schaffner Marx states, “It’s usually the frenzy behind the first lady” (Jones), but in the some instances, President Obama has also made an impact on the fashion industry. In the summer of 2009, designer Donatella Versace created a runway show that was designed and dedicated to him. The clothes she created where inspired by President Obama because it showcased “a relaxed man

“I speak through my clothes.” (Hebdige, 1993: 100, quoting Eco, 1973) Fashion is one of the ways that one creates identity. In particular, since the rise of youth culture in the 1960s “fashion has become… a way of defining one’s identity - or else a way of avoiding such definition”. (Gonzalez & Bovone, 2012: 23) The 1960s saw a rise in mass production of consumerism fashion, and has been used as a form of expressing ones identity; whether it be inspired or interpreted from religion, social status, habitus, gender, cultural icons, or subcultures (such as punk, pastel goth, hipster, etc.) Crane states in Fashion and its Social Agendas, that due to the “availability of inexpensive clothing… that those with limited resources can find or create personal styles that express their perceptions of their identities” (Crane, 2000: 6); “the consumer is expected to ‘construct’ an individualised appearance from a variety of options.” (Crane, 2000: 155) However, Polhemus argues that “Fashion is an arbitrary language system where things are really what they appear to be” (Polhemus, 2011: 49), suggesting that fashion is a tool used for illusion. Bovone contributes, stating that “On the stage of everyday life, the performer declares what he is… his image is at stake and he is involved in a continuous negotiation with his fellow performers and the audience.” (Gonzalez & Bovone, 2012: 72) Polhemus and Bovone both illustrate that whilst fashion helps to create identity, it is not a reliable

To gain knowledge of how we communicate to others through the way we dress, we have to first understand what identity is. Identity is what we choose to represent ourselves as, be that a gender identity, a sexual identity; it is completely up to the individual as a person to make that choice. Identity forms the basis of one’s pride and being accepted socially only adds to that ego and integrity. The psychology of the matter is the way we dress is more or less based on our moods, habits, inspirations, past, present and future. The character of a person is reflected in the way that they dress, Clothing can act as a simple glance into someone’s life, as we are already know that different clothing can represent different means of culture; Clothes are used a language to communicate with society and to commonly let them know what you want to be viewed as.