Reflecting back on the question of “what is fashion”, I began to realize how much more in-depth my concept of fashion has become compared to the beginning of the semester. I believe i answered, fully aware of how cliche it sounded, that fashion is an amazing way to express one self. I still stand so firm on that answer because as cheesy as it sounds, it is true. I believe fashion is an art, and the body is our canvas. Fashion is so much more than wearing clothes. Fashion is style, fashion is design, fashion is an identity, and fashion is an ongoing cycle that truly never ends and has no expiring date. This leads me to the subject that intrigued me the most; the topic of fashion & age. It is obvious, that even though we grow old, we still dress. Everyone dresses. Nonetheless, the way we took this topic in class truly shaped my vision towards the correlation between fashion and age. The “normal” thing we see within the elder group is a much more simple and comfortable way of dress, but that is simply due to society, and its ‘ideals’, you could say. We are all aware that there are norms within a society, specially when it comes to fashion. But one thing that amazed me was how little we considered ‘age’ to be one of them. In one of our readings called “Fashion, Body & Age”, the author, Julia Twigg mentions how when we’re getting dressed, we do so within the bounds of a culture and its particular norms, and how age is one of them. It amazed me to learn how individuals are aged by culture, exploring the network of meanings and practices within how later life is experienced and understood.
So to answer the question of ‘what is fashion’, I love to say i can walk away from this class with a much broader perspective on the “limits” os fashion and style. Fashion is changing and style remains. Style develops and style is inspired by endless things in one’s everyday life. I really love this topic! An amazing class with really interesting discussion! Thank you!
