In today’s society, there is pressure put on almost every aspect in life. The pressure to succeed, to fit in, to live up to your family’s expectations, and to successfully find your place in society. One of the few things that there isn’t pressure on in today’s society is the ability to express yourself. Fashion plays a vital role in helping individuals be able to express their identity by what they wear. It’s a way people can connect with others while illustrating their personality, creativity, and innovation. Fashion isn’t just characterized as the clothes you wear, but an identity for individuals to make a statement that portrays who they are and who they want to be. Fashion is an art that you are able to express every day, and you have …show more content…
Teenagers and subcultures are a very important cultural phenomenon when looking at fashion and identity. The younger generation explores identity more than any other age, while trying to figure out who they are and what they like. Slowly they got placed into groups and identifications depending on those characteristics and their appearance. However, young people didn’t all share the same styles and characteristics, which is what differed themselves from one another. This is the reason subcultures were created. In Mike Brake’s research about young youth and subcultures, it states that, “Subcultures emerged as an attempt to resolve collectively experienced problems resulting from contradictions in the social structure, and that they generate a form of collective identity […]” (Brake). Subcultures help express a form of collective identity that can be distinguished when outside of that group. Goth, punk, hipster, nerd, jock, greaser, skater are some examples of subcultures. When exploring punk in particular, they express their identity through their anti-fashion style. The mixing of random clothes together, spiked and dyed their hair, incorporated many chains and zippers and wore lots of leather to complete their look. “The cultural response of the punks was not random or by coincidence, but to express social contradictions of the time,” (Barker). The punks rejected fashion and had an anti-fashion approach, but the resistance was a fashion statement itself. Social identification through subcultures helps us to stay who identify ourselves to be throughout changes in political and economic structure, location change and different experiences and outcomes. Every subculture is diverse and exclusive in its own way, creating many different possible identities. Diversity also plays a huge role when exploring fashion and identities throughout the
The teenage years are a time when adolescents try out various personas, often trying out different styles of fashion. Adversaries argue that uniforms suppress an individual’s freedom of expression. However, the clothes that people wear, or can afford to wear, often classify the group by which they are acknowledged. As a result, many teens are outcast due to the fact that they cannot afford the latest trends in clothing. This rejection can lead to a number of problems for the outcast teen: depression, inability to focus on schoolwork, or just a general feeling of inferiority. School uniforms put everyone on the same level. According to Karin Polacheck (1995), “Uniforms help to create balanced diversity by alleviating racial and cultural tensions and encouraging values of tolerance and civility.” School Uniforms permit students to relate with one another without experiencing the socioeconomic barrier that non-uniform schools generate. More importantly, students are not criticized on how much they spent on clothes or how fashionable they look, but rather for their talents and their
Young people need more attention or acceptance from others comparing with people at other stages, as youths are experiencing a process of being adults. The formation of identity can be exemplified through fashion. Young people tend to establish their identities through the way they dress. As Hall,S (1997) stated, visible objects, like clothes may have a simple physical function, that is to cover the body and protect it from weather, however clothes also have a function which can double up as signs, which construct a meaning and carry a message. Fashion can also be a language that makes clothing possible become a self-communicative device at our disposal, plays a...
In society today, the clothing that someone wears is basically a billboard for his or her personal, or family's financial situation. For children in public schools, fitting in with the popular, or most fashionable people is probably the most important thing to them. When children are preoccupied wi...
A Single Youth Culture Youth culture and youth subcultures have been a subject of research since the early 1930s. It is most certainly true today that there is not one singular youth culture but a variety of different youth subcultures. The 90's can not be described as the same as the 60's or 70's or even the 80's. There are many reasons put forward by sociologists for this such as there are more styles available today, media influences us more and there is a higher disposable income per household to spend on fashions. This paper will explore the reasons behind the existence of youth cultures in previous years and why the same format has not occured in the 1990's.
When I was young, I had a large appeal with fashion week. My friend and I would impersonate the runway models in my living room, dressing up in my mother’s clothes and laying stuffed animals out like attendees. This fascination carried into high school, I found it as an opportunity to demonstrate my style to a larger audience. Fashion week was intriguing to me because it provided a way to express myself in a unique way and show a side of my own creativity. I anticipated this project would give me a chance to learn more about the role fashion week plays in society.
It’s no secret that some women believe fashion portrays who they are. Therefore follow every season’s new trend. This leads to spending money that they don’t have. Waller Lea, a journalist, suggest that “for some communities, purchasing knockoffs or generic products are frowned upon, forcing minorities to spend more money. Now businesses and companies are targeting minorities, causing more debt problems.” Addicted to retail or brainwashed? Opponents claim that fashion is simply a creative way to express themselves. There are others ways to express ourselves that are no based on our appearance. Through drawing, painting or through our thoughts and ideas. What happens when someone can’t afford expensive clothing or doesn’t have access to fashionable clothes? They are singled out and excluded from society for being different.
From this I want to argue that the world of consumption has a great influence on the way people create their identities. I shall explore important features of the nature and function of fashion, as it’s relevance offers models and materials for constructing identity. I then want to further my argument on whether consumption is seen as a passive process reflecting producer interests or an active process representing consumer interests, as this can determine how ones identity, or lack of, is perceived.
Fashion plays an important role in the lives of billions all over the world; people, as part of a status craving society, turn to “fashion capitals” of the world for ways in which to dress and carry themselves. New York, Milan, and Paris are leaders among this fierce industry that the world lusts after. Fashion can speak volumes about ones personality, or also about the condition the world is in at the time. In France, fashion changed rapidly and feverously as the times changed.
Fashion in the 21st century is a big business, as its production employs millions of people and generates billions of dollars in revenue. Fashion has for the past century been, and is still today, used as an indicator of social change and progress, as it changes with the social norms of the society and the political changes of the world (Finkelstein 3). Works Cited Finkelstein, Joanne. A.S.A. & Co. Fashion: An Introduction to Fashion. New York: New York University Press, 1998.
Consumers today continue to be fascinated by personal appearance and fashion styles. Fashion, and the way we present ourselves through clothing
Adults make their own choices and have the freedom to express themselves through the clothing and appearance. Restricting teenagers this opportunity to make their own choices leave them unprepared for the adult world. According to Erik Erikson, “Adolescents see clothing choices as a means of identification, and seeking an identity is one of the critical stages of adolescence.”5 Advocates of the school uniform argue that students can still express their individuality with their hairstyle, makeup, and accessories. The outfit someone wears is not the only thing they can use to express themselves to those around
Fashion takes on many different facets and concerns many subsets— a model sashaying down the runway in a gown encrusted in real gems, Lady Gaga’s infamous dress made of cuts of raw beef, a teenage girl obsessing over the season’s latest styles— it is all an expression of our minds and who we are or want to be, made tangible. It is a medium just like any other, for while artists wield brushes and paints, designers use thread and cloth to illustrate their vision. The artistry is none more so apparent than in the exclusive world of haute couture, a world of extravagance that caters to aesthetics, producing one-of-a-kind wearable masterpieces that are made to be admired rather than worn. It is without doubt, high fashion and its design is an art.
In conclusion, fashion will speak out a person’s social signal, people dress on designs that blend with their social class. Just as population, social activities and fashion are changing with time. Fashion has made clothing to be convinient, everything needs to be done with the least effort and spend the least time.
Fashion is a controversial issue in society nowadays. We live in a consumerism advanced era in which whether following fashion trends or not has become a debatable point. Many people believe that it is important to follow fashion trends. For example, Lord Chesterfield once said, “If you are not in fashion, you are nobody.” The question is why fashion should be an essential matter of concern to all of us. As far as I am concerned, each person should be able to decide if one wants to follow a trend or not.
Following fashion styles in order to be trendy and to look different and stylish in front of others by wearing different types of clothes and accessories. Fashion can be viewed in people’s style of outlook personality with clothing and hairstyle, style of living and behaving, along with the area of personal interest. Today’s youths are totally influenced by new fashion trends. Fashion brings an interesting twist in our boring life which makes us with feeling of confidence and up to date according to this changing environment. Youth generation is totally affected by this glamorous world of fashion. Their dressing style, hair style, accessories, language and personality all shows that how much they are influenced by fashion.