Back to the same question “what is fashion”, I think I have a pretty different understanding now compare to the first week. Before I take this class, I never thought about the definition of fashion, it’s such a vague word to define in my mind, I think for most of the people. The word fashion is extremely big to write, to think and to talk about. It contains more than just a popular trend, fashion weeks or models.
Based on the quote from the quote from week 13’s reading, “In the early years of her career, Chanel knew little about the technical aspects of dressmaking and was very much dependent on her seamstresses and tailors, but as Steele explains, Chanel’s strengths lay elsewhere: in concept and image: Her image as a modem woman has strongly influenced our perception of her contribution to fashion. She was a fashion personality.” Coco Chanel is a very great example as a star in a fashion design field, she does not has perfect sewing skills but she built herself as a fashion icon, as a great fashion influencer.” Fashion is not about any sewing skills, fashion designers are not tailors, but an influencer. Fashion is not just an aesthetical occupation, but an occupation attaches marketing, social problems or political problems. A successful fashion designer is also a great fashion influencer. Fashion is diversified, Mainstream fashion is not the only type of fashion in the industry, subculture fashion is also an important part of it, for instance, punk fashion and drag queen fashion. They are all fashion, but they are different. Before I take this class, I know nothing about subculture and drag queen fashion and a lot of other information. I never think about the question like does RuPaul’s drag race reality show changes the public perception of the LGBT community? Or how does subculture groups use fashion to achieve a certain purpose? After the whole semester of class, I think my definition of fashion is “fashion is society”.