Why Is Fashion A Topic Of Sociological Interest?

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 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.

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.

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

“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.

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

Change is a theme that is ever-present in our culture and society. Often this change is reflected in the dress of its people. From the fashionable silhouettes of the 1920’s to the colorful 60’s, hip-hop look of 90’s up to the modern twist of today, social change and change in fashion has, in theory and practice, been linked. According to ask.com, Fashion can be defined as a prevalent style by a particular group at a particular time, and, therefore, may be linked to a specific cultural and historical context in which there is general acceptance of a given style or look

Haulman’s use of fashion as a lens into larger issues in eighteenth-century British North America is innovative and useful because fashion acts as both a destabilizing and stabilizing agent for political, social, and gender hierarchies. Her emphasis on fashion’s destabilization of hierarchies comes across most clearly in her sections on class. The upper class idealized fashion as a marker of clear class distinctions in which they demonstrated their wealth and privilege with expensive and often imported dress. However, middle and lower class people could emulate the upper class and blur class lines by adopting elite fashions. The elites at the time saw this adoption of elite fashion as both emulation and a threat to their power, but

In How to Be a Victorian, I learned just how paramount clothing was as a class symbol. As clothes became affordable by switching “to printed cotton rather than silk,” middle class families and even their servants could afford such extravagant dresses. These were either custom made by a seamstress, a travelling dressmaker, or bought at a “second hand clothing market” . Despite this, it is intriguing how social divisions can be created simply because these dresses were made more readily available. Middle class women had to keep up with the latest trends in order

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,

When you think of the word fashion, what do you think? Do you think about outrageous runway outfits? Cocktail dresses? Tracksuits? Whatever your impression of fashion, it is obvious that fashion plays an important role in today's society. We are judged by our clothing and appearance on an everyday basis, so why not make the most of our choices?

Society is constructed in such a way that some people become inferior to other people because of how society treats certain individuals. Fashion has become a catalyst that leaves a gap between the lower class and the upper class; this brings out the aspect of social structure as it ranks categories of people in a hierarchy,( Macious & Plummer, 2008).Bourdieu’s concepts of field, habitus, social capital and cultural capital gives an illustration of the elite and the lower class in terms of their fashion taste. This essay consists of three parts; the first part will look at the London Fashion Week applying Bourdieu’s concepts, the second part will describe the difference sorts of capital required for elite women to join the ‘secret club’ of

I agree with Simmel’s theories on fashion today. I feel as though fashion is a way of not only expressing yourself but also letting people know “who you are” in a way. Some people find it extremely important to dress in brand names because it makes them appear “rich”. However, some people who have millions of rupees dress ordinary and do not care to wear name brands as long as it looks good on them. So sometimes it can give people the wrong impression of where you stand based on how you are dressed. I would never judge someone by their clothes but when I do see someone wearing high end clothing i do say to myself “wow they must have a lot of money”. But this might not be true because some people wear very expensive clothes and shoes but in really they’re debt because of this. I feel like people should wear what they can afford and not try to present

In Orderly Fashion, Patrik Aspers discusses the social order in the fashion industry. In Sharon Zukin’s Point of Purchase, she examines consumerism through the twentieth century, which brings the arguments of the above-mentioned authors into synthesis.