Fashion is always present, and always changing, adjusting, and adapting. While fashion is always present, it can not be accurately studied in the moment. To study Fashion accurately, it must be looked at through a larger lens of time, and studied for overlapping occurrences and trends. This tells us that Fashion is history. To guess future trends, past trends and events are used. Fashion is the way a person, a group, or a society subconsciously/consciously express where they are at, their ideals, their frustrations, what is important to them and issues close to them. Fashion is used to connect with culture, age, demographic, personal identity and group identity. Fashion depends on the society/person in which it is interacting, it can be practical, bold, classy, rebellious, or shocking. “dress has an intimate relationship to the body. The materials we hang at the margins of our body- Fabric, jewelry, paint or feathers- enjoy a close proximity to the flesh, outlining, emphasizing, obscuring or extending the body.”, an excerpt from Joanne Entwistle’s “The Dressed Body” , explaining how fashion can be used in different ways and to accomplish different things depending on the individual.
To me, Fashion is the choices that I make everyday that make up how I am presented to the world. When I’m tired, I tend to dress in sweatpants and a t-shirt. When I’m feeling confident or need to come off as professional for presentation or important event, I wear a dress and heels. Fashion not only shows the world what I am feeling by the day, but is then also reflected in my life during that day. When I am dressed in sweatpants, I can feel myself being more lazy during the day, as to me, it is a symbol that I didn’t have anything that I had to dress up for/accomplish that day. When I dress up, I tend to be more productive, doing things that I didn’t even have scheduled for that day, just because I feel good about myself and feel motivated. Fashion is not only reflected outward, but also inward.
This semester has opened my eyes to the many ways the the different aspects of my life interact with each other and work together to effect who I am, and why I choose to wear the clothing that I do. Also, how that clothing is reflecting my past, present, stage of life, and life experiences.
