The fashion industry has always been contributing to society by allowing us to express ourselves, our creativity, and our beliefs to the world. It is an easy and clear reflection of the ideological shift in our society. When we turn back the pages and check the lifestyle, clothing patterns, eating habits, etc. of our great grandparents we can easily gauge their ideology towards life and aspiration in that era. It clearly defines the mood or spirit of a specific era in history as displayed by the beliefs and ideas of that particular time. It reflects a prominent school of thoughts.
We may not realize this but unconsciously fashion is an impetus that can bring change in the society. It has the invisible and unuttered power to affect the dynamics of the world as a force that makes things move or occur more swiftly. For instance, our decision to not keep up with trends speaks towards our beliefs, just like not voting speaks to our political belief.
The designer labels sprouting every hour these days and the sustainable fashion are the examples of the beliefs of designer which are resolutely impacting society and is initiating the trend of awareness towards issues related to the ecosystem, mental health, women empowerment, LGBT community, COVID, etc. Fashion was and is one of the most obvious and tangible means to track and affect societal change.
Fashion occurs when society at large agrees to as style, aesthetics or cultural sensibility for a period of time. Fashion’s sizeable social scope and the requisite expiration date is what makes it so useful as a marker of time. Fashion occurs in any realm of human pursuits including arts, music, cuisine, technology, even scholarly discourse and of course clothes.
Coming to culture which is a big part of what makes up a society. Culture, Society & Fashion are all synonyms of each other in a sense. Designers and manufacturers produce clothing and accessories in accordance with the culture of a particular region. It becomes the fashion of the region, then. People adopt a trend in clothing only if it is in accordance with the culture of that area. We may hardly find Muslim women clad in mini skirts in Qatar or American women in burqas.
There is no doubt that surroundings influence the fashion of that particular region, immensely!
Western outfits may have taken over the fashion market by storm, but countries and states still make it a point to stay connected with their traditional dress. They constantly introduce new fashion trends in the way their cultural outfit is made or worn. In fact, Bhutanese fashion designers do not even introduce any design that clashes with the age old culture followed in their country. Bhutanese are required to wear their traditional outfits in public places.
Of course, culture in a specific region changes with time. Fashion trends also get influenced with the changing culture in that particular area. Women in India used to compulsorily wear a Sari after marriage. This is because they stayed at home while their husbands earned for the family. As women have started contributing to the family income, they no longer restrict themselves to wearing a Sari.
Thus, culture has a huge role to play in deciding the fashion of a particular region. Fashion trends in a society are just a mirror to its culture. As the culture changes, fashion changes! It can also be said that fashion can impact culture of a region to a certain extent. But majority of the times, it is the other way round!
Fashion, Society & Culture. All three are corelated, codependent and each of the words makes more sense when used with one another. Thus, they are all linked to one forming a complete circle!
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