WHAT IS FASHION

Fashion is a term commonly used to describe a style of clothing worn by most of people of a country. A fashion usually remains popular for about 1-3 years and then is replaced by yet another fashion. Even though there are a lot of changes in fashion, most people do not easily except the changes.

A clothing style may be introduced as a fashion, but its use becomes a custom after being handed down from generation to generation. A fashion that comes and goes is called a Fad.

During the mid-1800's, a mass production of clothing was made fashionable and available to more people for lower prices. This encouraged more people to wear more stylish clothes which is why we are wearing what we are today.

Clothing is made out of all types of matieral such as cotton, rayon, spandex, and polyester,and they are just a few used. Some clothing may even be made of 2 or more different types, this is known as " Blending."

Clothing can be decorated or designed with all types of images and colors. The designs can either be embroidered onto the fabric, woven on to the fabric, silk screened, or ironed onto the fabric to create a desired look. Some images that have been used to enhance an article of clothing range from a simple design on front of a T shirt to a famous printing that has been woven into fabric creating a colorful piece of art that one can wear.

1. The prevailing style or custom, as in dress or behavior: out of fashion.
2. Something, such as a garment, that is in the current mode: a swimsuit that is the latest fashion.
3. The style characteristic of the social elite: a man of fashion.

To some, fashion is an art form. To others, it is almost a religion.

But for most people it is a method of utilizing clothing, accessories and hair to show or hide something about yourself.

You can use fashion to express yourself, to serve as an extension of your personality: goth, skater, soccer mom, professional.

Or you can use fashion to disguise your true self:a conservative in vamp clothing, a vamp in conservative clothing.

Fashion statements can be made with clothes, accessories, shoes, hair, makeup, even your cellphone.

Who decides what's in?

Designers can greatly influence what direction fashion will go in.

Miuccia Prada of Prada and Miu Miu, Marc Jacobs of Marc by Marc Jacobs, Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton are considered directional designers (Prada for remixing classics, Jacobs for vintage-inspired styles).

Working five or six months ahead of the season, the press attends fashion shows presenting designer collections; the media will then give editorial coverage to trends they think their readership is interested in.

Store buyers work many months in advance of the season to place orders with manufacturers for styles they think their customers will want to buy.

Celebrities and other opinion leaders (socialites and other glitterati) are usually the first to sport new looks, spurring the buying public into accepting emerging trends.

So everyone from big-name designers to celebrities may be behind influencing the direction fashion will go in.

But ultimately, it is you, the consumer, who will decide what is "in" when you choose whether or not to buy into a trend.

Where are the world's fashion centers?

New York, Paris and Milan are considered the major hubs for designers and manufacturers of fashion apparel and accessories.

London, Los Angeles, Toronto, Hong Kong, Sydney and Sao Paolo, in addition to hundreds of other smaller market areas are host to excellent designers and manufacturers.

Most people pay attention to fashion in small doses which is a very healthy way to approach it. They make sure wardrobes are in step with the times and even indulge in a trend or two each season.

A few reasons why fashion is still relevant:

• It shows your thinking is modern and flexible (e.g. willing to accept and process new ideas).
• Fashion has escapist qualities to help you deal with the pressures of the world (For example: your country may be at war, but you've "escaped" by dressing in the season's fluffy ruffles that make you look like you don't have a care in the world).
• Everything you put on sends a message.

Why are most designer clothes so outrageous?

Fashion has almost nothing to do with good taste: it is a force that is beyond such practical considerations.

The clothes that are presented at the fashion shows are often exaggerations of a theme. Some designers such as John Galliano (Christian Dior) go to great lengths to present extravagant looks that no one in their right mind would wear on the street.

These collections are part marketing (to grab media and consumer interest in a designer line) and part artistic expression.

By the time they reach the stores, most looks are edited by buyers to be saleable (hemlines dropped an inch or two, elements of the original look are put onto more understandable pieces, etc.).

It's not that easy to answer the question, "what is fashion?" because it means different things to different people. Fashion is an art. It's a religion. It's a job. It's a peek into a personality. It's playfulness. It's an escape or a disguise. It is a feast for the eyes. But ultimately, fashion is an individual statement of expression for each of us.

French fashion designer Coco Chanel once said, "Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening."

It's true. Fashion isn't defined solely by our clothing choices, but is also conveyed through the way we carry ourselves, our personalities and our views of the world.

At its most fundamental (and straight from the dictionary), fashion is simply the prevailing style or custom, as in dress or behavior.

So what's your FASHION STYLE...
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