Choose any two of Christopher Breward’s aphorisms from his foreword to Fashion Studies, which you read in Week 1. Explain what each of the two aphorisms means (in your own words) and explain why you agree or disagree with them.

“Fashion is intensely personal in the same way that poetry is intensely personal. It is a medium through which personal stories can be told, memories re-lived and futures foretold.”

This aphorism is saying that people use fashion to express themselves individually by telling their personal stories through clothes. I agree that fashion is very intimate. People wear certain things in order to express themselves/ personalities. People may also dress a certain way because of something they experienced in their past for example if a loved one passed away, one may wear their loved one’s jewelry. What we wear can express the person we want others to see us as. Fashion has a very intimate relationship with ones body. Each body is unique and thus garments interact with the body in different ways depending on size, color, texture etc. Even if two people are wearing the exact same outfit they will both appear as individuals because of their individual relationship with the outfit.

“Fashion is gossip. Never underestimate the power of gossip. Semiologists are driven into ecstasies of supposition by its whispers.”

This aphorism explains the huge influence of media and gossip on fashion. Especially because we are living in the age of technology, social media plays a large in our lives.  The use of social media to engage with consumers has created an even closer relationship between the brand and its “followers.” We are surrounded by the influence of media which is curated similar to advertisements promoting not only what we wear but how we act and carry ourselves. Celebrities use social media as a platform to influence us, encouraging us to purchase and wear certain styles. They work with brands to even further promote a certain aesthetic. Even outside of the world of fashion, online platforms dictate the information that we are exposed to. Influencing our way of thinking and acting. As the aphorism states,”never underestimate the power of gossip.”