My idea of Fashion and the Fashion System has changed DRAMATICALLY over the last 14 weeks. Learning the ‘science’ behind dressing, what it means to have celebrities as influencers of our fashion, what role age and even location plays in the way we dress… the importance of all these factors and more have come to light in this lecture. All of these elements of fashion have one thing in common though- they all depend on time and look into the future. I think the very first sentence of our course textbook, Fashion and Cultural Studies is fitting for this theme of moving forward- “Fashion is not a thing or an essence.” Kaiser writes “Rather, it is a social process of negotiation and navigation through murky and yet-hopeful waters of what is to come.” I am a very visual person, so viewing the three films for this class really opened my eyes to fashion in relation to age, couture and production in particular. I really benefited from these viewings as I feel I did not have extensive prior knowledge about the topics. Fashion is a system that can not be defined in words as it encompasses so many factors. People, places, machines, circumstances- I honestly believe a definition of fashion depends on the person evaluating the system. Fashion is also constantly changing, so I believe it is impossible to give it a definition as the system could (literally) change within seconds! I am much more appreciative of the ‘behind the scenes’ of fashion and I think environmental aspects of the system will influence the way I design and create in the future!
