Fashion as a form of self-expression

We express ourselves through a set of symbols. The clothes we put on our backs everyday, in a never-ending morning ritual, represent the people we choose to emulate. Through certain colours, patterns, and accessories we can display our backgrounds, preferences and personalities. Our dress codes are codified. Clothing is a basic need when presenting yourself into society. But it is also a reflection of ourselves, and our social identities.Behaviour theorists refer to clothing as an ‘artefact of extended self’. Each possession in your wardrobe signifies a sense of cultural belonging as well as a personal style. Our possessions are a mode to organise ourselves within our subcultures, while still displaying uniqueness. Traditional garments signify cultural affiliations, age or ethnicity. Contrastingly, modern garments are customised for individual self-expression in the context of heterogeneous spaces. Fashion allows us to visualise and interpret pop-culture symbols and iconography. In this sense, we define fashion and it defines us. Not only is it cultural, it’s political too. Fashion is often used as a political symbol, a representation of resistance. Feminist movements reclaimed trousers and burned their bras. Black panther activists work black leather and berets. Gay pride movements used the art of drag to reform our conceptions of gender through clothing. In their ideal forms, trends amalgamate the symbolic with the pragmatic, denoting social progressions of thoughts, attitudes and norms, through wearable fabric.

 Consumerism & Fast Fashion

 Clothing is a product of the referential trends that consolidate our hybrid cultures. As people migrate between continents, fashion adapts according to new environments’ demands and supplies. These pieces are like devices that allow us to explore eras or landscapes. So we keep experimenting with more styles. Yet, the appeal of these possessions lose their essence when they are produced with short-term durability and profit motives in mind. Our culture is based on consumerism. We are generally quite focused on our possessions and the act of ‘purchasing’. The market has developed enough to produce these objects at such a speed that we do not even participate in its creation, or pay too much for it either. Thus, we are quite disconnected from the value of the materials that we yield and discard so apathetically. And unfortunately, the wonderful cultural phenomenon of clothing now tends to signal materialism, hyper-consumption and unsustainable production. 

Fashion trends: causes and effects

 Fashion trends usually refer to the fashion consuming behaviour of mankind. Before discussing the fashion trends let’s have a look into the terms “fashion” and “style”. It is the individual’s attitudes, choice, views, features or way of leading life and way of thinking. For example, one may prefer to wear a hat with red glass. It is his/her personal choice and it is the style. When any particular style has been accepted by the mass people for a certain period of time, it is termed as fashion or fashion trend or trends. Without popularity or acceptance, the individual's choice is merely a personal style.For example, if the majority of the people began to wear a hat with red glass for a certain time period, a hat with red glass would be the fashion trend. Fashion trends are constantly changing and in this 21st century, consumers are used to fast-fashion having a very short life cycle.