“But as the history of fashion has demonstrated time and again, no vestmental symbol is inviolable. All can, and usually will be subjected to the whims of those who wish to convey more or different things about their person than the “pure” symbol in its initial state of signification communicates.”
I found this quote from Fred Davis’ “Blue Jeans” very interesting; firstly, because this is a subconscious phenomenon that happens in the fashion world commonly and secondly, because Davis tries to explain why this phenomenon is what it is. Essentially what Davis is trying to say is that no fashion statement or item of clothing will be “in fashion” or “relevant” forever. Humans have a tendency to outdo each-other leading to the original state of the clothing item to be transformed or altered. This might sound like quite a superficial and simple sentence to deduct since it is easy to say that trends come and go due to humans need to keep moving and getting better. I found this quote especially interesting because no one really paid attention to this phenomenon. The problem of fast paced fashion stems directly from the relationship between humans and humans and between humans and fashion. This is not only a factual problem but a psychological one.
In turn, because of our human tendencies to out-do each other constantly, we become slaves to fashion. I think the example of the historical evolution of the humble pair of blue jeans provides an excellent example to support this argument. Blue jeans began as an apparel item for lower class workers; however, today we see blue jeans in thousands of different forms and styles, in a few more decades or centuries, blue jeans would’ve transformed into unpredictable forms and fashion. The reason of popularity for these blue jeans is because everyone wanted to be relevant. Everyone wanted to own a pair in order to be socially included; and when everyone did own a pair; ownership was not enough, style began to develop and people started wearing the torn, ripped jeans. When everyone owned the torn ripped jeans; mom jeans arrived and everyone then started wearing that. This yearn to be relevant is what drives the fashion industry, human needs to stay noticed and “cool” feeds money to fashion houses.
What I did find quite unexpected in this quote was the idea of conveying more or different things about one’s person than the “pure” symbol. I never really thought people wanted to use fashion as a tool to break the “purity” of their personality since fashion is so subjective. I think “pure” is used differently than how it would be normally. I believe in this context, breaking through the “purity” of dress means breaking boundaries. Fashion is described by the concept of taking risks therefore, I believe one wanting to be more about their person essentially explains the innate selfishness in most human beings. One of the reasons why the fashion industry is so cut-throat is because there is not a lot of “niceness” involved. Fashion is such a loud form of expression in that it speaks before you do. For example, I could be wearing pajamas to a dinner party and feel absolutely embarrassed about myself. Truthfully, I am just wearing clothes that cover my body, there is nothing wrong with that. Fashion has been shaped by human psychology in a sense that there are subconscious ground rules already. The reason why there are so many new trends happening is purely due to the fact that people want to breakthrough their stage of “pureness”. This is both a good and bad phenomenon in that it is good that it keeps fashion relevant, and bad that its moves fashion in a pace that’s too rapid.
