In Christopher Breward foreword to Fashion Studies, he suggests aphorisms that explain the idea of fashion. I would like to focus on two of his quotes.
the first is: “Fashion can be about confirmation, of self and others. But it is also about anxiety, ambiguity, and worry. As an aid to understanding psychological complexities, it is unsurpassed.”
The first part of the sentence discusses the way fashion is about our need for affirmation, receiving reassurance about ourselves when one is in fashion, he is approved as part of the world, he portrays a certain confidence. I relate to this say since fashion is the first impression people get from each other, it is a way to read one and other, reflecting the identity of the person wearing it. But fashion is also about anxiety, perhaps Breward tries to refer to human nature’s anxiety from the bizarre; dressing in a way that may seem inappropriate can put people in uncomfortable position, this is part of fashion— pushing boundaries of what is normal. Fashion serves as a way to receive an immediate image of a person’s inner world by analyzing psychology from the outside to the inside.
The second quote I would like to discuss is: “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.”
The quote discusses upon how fashion has an intimate aspect to it. Fashion separates our naked bodies and the outside world and thus, I think it encompasses a little bit of both. Each person has an intimate bond with their clothes since it becomes part of how people project their personality to the outside world, we have our own secrets on when we should wear what and how to present ourselves best to the public. Every person has a very specific idea on how they feel most comfortable, beautiful, confident and it involves the slightest nuances which are only between the garment and the wearer. Just like poetry, it is a personal way to combine language into a reflection of the self.
