My opinions regarding fashion have always been indifferent, though I don’t disregard it. On the contrary I think of it as something expansive and complex. I would say I agree with the general sentiment of reading by Heike Jenss. The aphorism I choose are ones I both agree with and can relate to my own relationship with fashion.
Fashion is not necessarily spectacular, it can also be demotic, ordinary, mundane, routine, and humble. It is the stuff of the ethnographer and the anthropologist.
I view fashion as something we take part in whether we want to or not. And thats what I gather from this aphorism. Fashion isn’t just on the runway and being worn by celebrities, everyone who makes decisions regarding their clothing takes part in fashion. Adding, “It is the stuff of the ethnographer and the anthropologist.” leads me to believe that it is more on the scale of the masses, and it is something that envelops us all. Historically speaking you can see much about a person just by looking at their clothes, and that’s something that will always be true. So when it comes to clothing we see as anything other than ‘spectacular’, it is no less than in fashion because it can make an equally strong statement about the person wearing it. Even deciding not to care about your clothes is still a decision, and it can still says something about you.
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.
Fashion as a confirmation of ones identity and their role in society isn’t something new. This aphorism mentions this with the addition of fashion being a reflection of ones psychological state. It can be a telling sign of the anxieties a person faces in their life. Ambiguity is something that exist to be interpreted but never quite understood. And as telling as fashion is about a person it can also blur our understanding of them, requiring that we further look into it. Fashion is has the potential to be surface level explanation of our deepest emotions. To understand people, fashion can be one starting point.
