Fashion is something we deal with everyday. Even people who say they don’t care what they wear choose clothes every morning that say a lot about them and how they feel that day.

One certain thing in the fashion world is change. We are constantly being bombarded with new fashion ideas from music, videos, books, and television. Movies also have a big impact on what people wear. Ray-Ban sold more sunglasses after the movie Men In Black. Sometimes a trend is world-wide.

Fashion is revealing. Clothes reveal what groups people are in. In high school, groups have names: “goths, skaters, preps, herbs.” Styles show who you are, but they also create stereotypes and distance between groups. For instance, a businessman might look at a boy with green hair and multiple piercings as a freak and outsider. But to another person, the boy is a strict conformist. He dresses a certain way to deliver the message of rebellion and separation, but within that group, the look is uniform. Acceptance or rejection of a style is a reaction to the society we live in.

Fashion is big business. More people are involved in the buying, selling and production of clothing than any other business in the world. Everyday, millions of workers design, sew, glue, dye, and transport clothing to stores. Ads on buses, billboards and magazines give us ideas about what to wear, consciously, or subconsciously.

Clothing can be used as a political weapon. In nineteenth century England, laws prohibited people from wearing clothes produced in France. During twentieth century communist revolutions, uniforms were used to abolish class and race distinctions.

Fashion is a means of self-expression that allows people to try on many roles in life. Whether you prefer hip-hop or Chanel-chic, fashion accommodates the chameleon in all of us. It’s a way of celebrating the diversity and variety of the world in which we live. Fashion is about change which is necessary to keep life interesting. It’s also a mirror of sorts on society. It’s a way of measuring a mood that can be useful in many aspects, culturally, socially even psychologically.

One of my favorite fashion exhibition at FIT Museum, Norell’s exhibition which focuses on his last twelve inventing years of his fashion career, impresses me and shows his unique techniques. I think he perfectly and creatively infuses haute couture techniques into his collections on the level of ready-to-wear. Based on my interest to him, I have learned that he has involved into two decades of business since the World War II started. He creates bold, highly wearable, and fashionable silhouette outfits. As a successful innovator, Norell has created lean, narrow silhouette costumes and the culotte for day and formal wears in the 1900s, which gain widespread popularity. One of his most “dazzling” piece in this exhibition is undoubtedly his glittering “mermaid” gown which is hand sewed with thousands of sequins onto kitted jersey carefully. The jersey fabric perfectly stretches with movement of bodies and highlights sexual female body shapes, with the beautiful reflections of the sequins. All the formal outfits displayed at the exhibition are noted for clean, neat lines, comfort. The tweet reefer coat by Norell for Prince of Wales created in the late 1960s is continued and started to getting popular and the style has developed nowadays. 1900s, in the period of creative great fashion works, fashions has always kept tracking back to the 1900s. Also, it is clear that Norell has invented and used “A” line silhouette in most of his collections. The sharpe shoulder silhouette, narrow waste, bowknot and deep neck and high neck, puffed balloon sleeves, obi dress in the style of V neck and kimono designs, cute mini capes Norell created and contributed to fashion industry has not only showed feminism, but also successfully emphasized the power of females and modernism. Some creative details on his costumes for example the buttons and buttonholes, they not only enhance aesthetics but also are being extremely functional and practical, which can change the sizes of the outfits making them better fitted onto the bodies. Growing up wearing sailor suits, Norell is not surprisingly producing amount of formal gowns and suits throughout his career. Among his collections, he has used most of the finest and luxurious materials, such as furs, heavy woolen, sequins, etc. Difference from The Body: Fashion and Physique exhibition, Norell’s collection has fitted to limited diversity of body shapes which focus on leaner, thinner or narrow body shape.