The summery of my first LP post was the fashion is a trend growing from something in the societal unconscious. I do still believe this, but it lacks “dress” and “style.” Style will not grow out of society unless you have never been in it. Even movements like punk grew out of getting away from societies norms, but they wanted to be seen as not in society by society. Dress I think is climate and practicality driven, but dress would not exist without the other two. We can’t really get away from fashion because, though it is a different subject it influences the other two. As cliche as this reference is, in The Devil Wears Prada the magazine editor tells her new “unfashionable” assistant that her sweater is cerulean blue and explains that it came from some designer all the way down to the “bargain bin” where the assistant found it. The assistant is a perfect example of dress, just plain old dress, but cannot escape the influence of the fashion industry. The color would have never been made into a sweater if not for the designer who did the collection of dress, there is no escaping fashion in the realm of clothing. Even if you don’t care the people producing for that season will or will have been exposed to “fashion” because of seasonal market research. I’m not sure my definition of fashion changed because to me its a societal manifestation of primitive collimation of factors, like sex, age, etc., but my understanding has deepened into those factors.
