Fashion is the creation of physical items of clothing designed to trigger the desire of consumption and conformity. Fashion is about looks. Fashion is armor. Fashion is experimentation. Fashion is creative. Fashion is the product of a world-view. Fashion is an industry. Fashion is a phenomenon.
People need fashion for several causes. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs illustrates a five-stage model which can be divided into basic (or deficiency) needs (e.g. physiological, safety, love, and esteem) and growth needs (self-actualization). (Abraham H. Maslow, 1998, Page 98)
Figure 1 Maslow's Hierarchy of needs
One must satisfy the lower level basic needs before progressing on to meet higher level growth needs. Once these needs have been reasonably satisfied, one may be able to reach the highest-level called self-actualization, allowing them to create their own identity using fashion.
After taking these essential components of fashion into consideration we can see that clothing is not just required for the fundamental needs of survival.
Discussion
JUDGEMENT and wanting to impress first impression psychology
As homo sapiens are very social animals we always express ourselves in the social environment. Because we are so affected and influenced by society, the act of fashion acceptance automatically comes to us.
The impression we make is based on a wide range of characteristics: age, race, culture, language, gender, physical appearance, accent and posture.
The first impressions individuals give to others greatly impact how they are treated and viewed in many contexts of everyday life.
“It is known to be difficult it is for us to ignore a person’s appearance when making a social judgment” (Leonard Mlodin...
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Figure 2 Steal her style Figure 3 Rihanna Figure 4 Streetstyle
The desire to decorate our bodies so that we will be attractive to the opposite sex is as old as mankind. Fashion, in evolutionary terms, is used to suggest or exaggerate favourable characteristics of the human body.
It has long been understood that a person’s fashion choices affect how they are perceived, and we live in a culture where we are encouraged to admire and acquire through inspirational imagery of prominent personalities. Instead, Fashion and style should reflect one's own persona and self-worth. We should stand out from a crowd with a distinctive style and not be a person who follows popular trends slavishly.
“Fashions fade, but style is eternal” – Yves Saint Laurent. (Yale Breslin, 2012).
The evolution of clothing has been drastically changed through the course of history, from the style to how they’re made. Women and men’s clothing changed at different rates. The way clothes are made reflect the style. Clothing always has been an important aspect of one’s culture as well as a representation of a time period. Overtime clothing has changed just as the people it clothes.
Alderfer, C. (1969). An Empirical Test of a New Theory of Human Needs. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, vol. 4, pp. 142 - 175.
Many people’s assumptions are driven by appearance but in some cases the appearance can be
Fashion has been developing for as long as the Earth had been around, but the style people track today redirects generally to what was brought up during the roaring twenties, the era of a luxurious life. Women’s sartorial will experience many more future modifications which are predicted to be less modest and conservative. Men, on the other hand, will most likely not endure many changes. As fashion flourishes, society’s image on women, as well as men, will renovate into a more exposed mentality with a greater assortment of acceptance.
To summarize, fashion is just another outlet through which we can view our ever changing world. It is just as important as literature, cinema, and other means of creative expression that document history. However, fashion plays an even bigger role than most other art forms because it can shape the identity of a generation. Similarly, the clothes you wear can tell a story about who you are and your part in shaping a culture. In history class we often view historical events and facts so objectively that we forget that the people we read about had their own colorful culture as we do. Observing fashion and fashion history, ultimately, breathe life into the past and help us to understand how we operate as a society.
Impression management is a social phenomenon that occurs in our daily life both consciously and unconsciously. “It is the act of presenting a favorable public image of oneself so that others will form positive judgments.” (Newman 184) Our first impressions of a person are always based on physical appearance and we compare them to the norms of our society. We can all admit to the initial meeting of a person and first noticing their age, gender, race, or other ascribed characteristics. Our cultural norms are ideas such that fat is “ugly” which are very different across societies and time. Also, impression management is an idea of how individuals interact in different social situations. “Sociologists refer to dramaturgy as the study of social interactions as theater, in which people (“actors”) project images (“play roles”) in front of others (“the audience”).” (Newman 169) This is our human need for acceptance and way of managing the impressions we give others and perform what we think people want to see. Our social life is governed by this concept but it only works with effective front-stage and back-stage separation. Our front-stage is the visible part of ourselves that we allow others to see unlike our hidden back-stage self.
The first impression you have when meeting someone is their appearance, which makes it easy to judge people based on how they
First impressions are created by a composite of signals given off by a new experience (Flora, 2004). The judgment of these impressions depends on the observer and the person being observed (Flora, 2004). When you meet someone for the first time it takes about three seconds to be evaluated by the observer (Mind Tools, 1996-2011,). During this time the person forms an opinion about you based on your appearance, your body language, your demeanor, and how you dress (Mind Tools, 2996-2011,). Impressions are important to us because they are impossible to be reserved and the set the tone for all the relationships that follow (Mind Tools, 1996-2011).
How first impressions are formed has been a subject of interest by many researchers in the area of psychology.
Fashion is something that keeps on changing and because of its change, fashion effects our lives nearly in every aspect like language, furniture, homes, cars, clothes, food and many other things. For our second symposium we focus on relationships between fashion and social responsibilities. It is strange but true that social responsibilities intersect with fashion. As there are many phases to fashion from ideation, design, production, distribution, sale, consumption, and ultimately disposal, and in many situations decisions can reflect socially responsible views and sensibilities. Designs...
Taylor, Pepau, & Sears (2000) explain that first impressions are extremely important because they are the initial idea that an individual forms about another individual and determine whether they decide to pursue any type of relationship. People tend to form impressions of each other relatively quickly and use minimal information such as the gender of the o...
Clothing has been around for thousands of years; almost as long as the modern human has. At first, it served the practical purpose of protection from the elements; but, as life for early humans stopped being a constant struggle to survive, they started noticing how they looked and the concept of fashion began to take shape. These first few garments were typically dyed draped cloth that was pinned at the shoulder and/or waist. This was seen in many ancient civilizations around the world, Greek and Roman the most notable. Over time, clothing began to get more and more complex and formed to the body’s shape, eventually leading up to the tailored style we now have today. However, the sophisticated world of Haute Couture; or high fashion, can distinctly trace its roots to Paris during the mid-19th century. Clothing from there was thought to be superior to those from anywhere else, and women began to come from all over Europe just to buy dresses. This was probably due in part to one notable dressm...
Using real-time data can remove this possible risk. Fashion has become an evolutionary extension and amplification of formerly existing fashion.
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.
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.