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In Following the Fashion (1794), James Gillray caricatured a figure flattered by the short-bodiced gowns then in fashion, contrasting it with an imitator whose figure is not flattered.

Fashion is a general term for a popular style or practice, especially in clothing, footwear, accessories, makeup, or furniture. "Fashion" refers to a distinctive; however, often-habitual trend in a look and dress up of a person, as well as to prevailing styles in behavior. "Fashion" usually is the newest creations made by designers and are bought by only a few number of people; however, often those "fashions" are translated into more established trends. ^[1] The more technical term, "costume," has become so linked in the public eye with the term "fashion" that the more general term "costume" has in popular use mostly been relegated to special senses like fancy dress or masquerade wear, while the term "fashion" means clothing generally, and the study of it. For a broad cross-cultural look at clothing and its place in society, refer to the entries for clothing, costume, and fabrics. The remainder of this article deals with clothing fashions in the Western world.^[2]

Clothing fashions[link]

2008 Ed Hardy runway show

Early Western travelers, whether to Persia, Turkey or China frequently remark on the absence of changes in fashion there, and observers from these other cultures comment on the unseemly pace of Western fashion, which many felt suggested an instability and lack of order in Western culture. The Japanese Shogun's secretary boasted (not completely accurately) to a Spanish visitor in 1609 that Japanese clothing had not changed in over a thousand years.^[3] However in Ming China, for example, there is considerable evidence for rapidly changing fashions in Chinese clothing.^[4] Changes in costume often took place at times of economic or social change (such as in ancient Rome and the medieval Caliphate), but then a long period without major changes followed. Another thing that happened change costume was technology. With technology, the sewing machine was created and made mass production possible. As a result, it made the production of clothes easier, and cheaper, it also helped to boost the economy. This occurred in Moorish Spain during the 8th century, when the famous musician Ziryab introduced sophisticated clothing-styles based on seasonal and daily timings from his native Baghdad and his own inspiration to Córdoba in Al-Andalus.^[5][6] . Ziryab inspired the dress of Men and women, and some people even say the way they decorated their house. Men who used to wear their hair long and parted, now wore it up and a crown around it. The dress of men changed as well, in the spring they wore bright colors, loose garments for the summer, and fur hats for winter. However, the men were not the only ones inspired by this fashion, the women wore scarves which had lyrics embroidered on them. One can see how Ziryab truly made an impact and touched the hearts in Spain, and how the people aspire to dress and be like him. Similar changes in fashion occurred in the Middle East from the 11th century, following the arrival of the Turks, who introduced clothing styles from Central Asia and the Far East.^[7]

The beginnings of the habit in Europe of continual and increasingly rapid change in clothing styles can be fairly reliably dated to the middle of the 14th century, to which historians including James Laver and Fernand Braudel date the start of Western fashion in clothing.^[8][9] The 14th century was a period in which the distinction between the sexes was starting to come into effect. Some of the clothing has changed from garments held by string, to the upgrade of buttons. At this period one can see how the traditional style is slowing turning more modern. Many people during this time wore the big garments, and pointed shoes, but realized that they wanted more self-refined flattering tighter clothing. The most dramatic manifestation was a sudden drastic shortening and tightening of the male over-garment, from calf-length to barely covering the buttocks, sometimes accompanied with stuffing on the chest to look bigger. This created the distinctive Western male outline of a tailored top worn over leggings or trousers.

Marie Antoinette was a fashion icon

The pace of change accelerated considerably in the following century, and women and men's fashion, especially in the dressing and adorning of the hair, became equally complex and changing. Art historians are therefore able to use fashion in dating images with increasing confidence and precision, often within five years in the case of 15th century images. Initially changes in fashion led to a fragmentation of what had previously been very similar styles of dressing across the upper classes of Europe, and the development of distinctive national styles. These remained very different until a counter-movement in the 17th to 18th centuries imposed similar styles once again, mostly originating from Ancien Régime France.^[10] Though the rich usually led fashion, the increasing affluence of early modern Europe led to the bourgeoisie and even peasants following trends at a distance sometimes uncomfortably close for the elites—a factor Braudel regards as one of the main motors of changing fashion.^[11]

Albrecht Dürer's drawing contrasts a well turned out bourgeoise from Nuremberg (left) with her counterpart from Venice. The Venetian lady's high chopines make her taller

Ten 16th century portraits of German or Italian gentlemen may show ten entirely different hats, and at this period national differences were at their most pronounced, as Albrecht Dürer recorded in his actual or composite contrast of Nuremberg and Venetian fashions at the close of the 15th century (illustration, right). The "Spanish style" of the end of the century began the move back to synchronicity among upper-class Europeans, and after a struggle in the mid 17th century, French styles decisively took over leadership, a process completed in the 18th century.^[12]

Though colors and patterns of textiles changed from year to year,^[13] the cut of a gentleman's coat and the length of his waistcoat, or the pattern to which a lady's dress was cut changed more slowly. Men's fashions largely derived from military models, and changes in a European male silhouette are galvanized in theatres of European war, where gentleman officers had opportunities to make notes of foreign styles: an example is the "Steinkirk" cravat or necktie.

The pace of change picked up in the 1780s with the increased publication of French engravings that showed the latest Paris styles; though there had been distribution of dressed dolls from France as patterns since the 16th century, and Abraham Bosse had produced engravings of fashion from the 1620s. By 1800, all Western Europeans were dressing alike (or thought they were): local variation became first a sign of provincial culture, and then a badge of the conservative peasant.^[14]

Although tailors and dressmakers were no doubt responsible for many innovations before, and the textile industry certainly led many trends, the history of fashion design is normally taken^{[by whom?]} to date from 1858, when the English-born Charles Frederick Worth opened the first true^{[weasel words]} haute couture house in Paris. The Haute house was the name established by government for the fashion houses that met the standards of industry. They had certain standards such as: hiring a certain number of employees, show clothing at fashion shows, and present a certain amount of patterns to costumers. This particular house was a great deal to accomplish and most tailors and sewers aspired to open one. Since then the professional designer has become a progressively more dominant figure, despite the origins of many fashions in street fashion. For women the flapper styles of the 1920s marked the most major alteration in styles for several centuries, with a drastic shortening of skirt lengths, and much looser-fitting clothes; with occasional revivals of long skirts forms of the shorter length have remained dominant ever since. Flappers also wore cloches, which were sung fitting and covered the forehead. Her shoes had a heel and some sort of buckle. The most important part was the jewelry, such as: earrings and necklaces that had diamonds or gems. The flapper gave a particular image as being seductive due to her short length dress, which was form fitting, and the large amounts of rich jewelry around her neck.

The four major current fashion capitals are acknowledged to be Milan, New York City, Paris, and London. Fashion weeks are held in these cities, where designers exhibit their new clothing collections to audiences, and which are all headquarters to the greatest fashion companies and are renowned for their major influence on global fashion.

Modern Westerners have a wide choice available in the selection of their clothes. What a person chooses to wear can reflect that person's personality or likes. When people who have cultural status start to wear new or different clothes a fashion trend may start. People who like or respect them may start to wear clothes of a similar style. This style is created by many fashion designers around the world.

Fashions may vary considerably within a society according to age, social class, generation, occupation, and geography as well as over time. If, for example, an older person dresses according to the fashion of young people, he or she may look ridiculous in the eyes of both young and older people. The terms fashionista and fashion victim refer to someone who slavishly follows current fashions.

One can regard the system of sporting various fashions as a fashion language incorporating various fashion statements using a grammar of fashion. (Compare some of the work of Roland Barthes.)

It is also very important to acknowledge Eastern fashion. In recent years, a strong influence of Eastern fashion has entered the fashion world and pop culture. Countries such as China, India, and Pakistan have an enormous textiles industry; as well as; evolving fashion that is closely related to their culture. This fashion has always been an inspiration for fashion designers all over the world ^[15] . Each year, collections are released with Orient and Indian influences. Celebrities have been seen supporting "bindis" and "saris" at red carpet events. ^[16]

Fashion industry[link]

The fashion industry is a product of the modern age. Prior to the mid-19th century, most clothing was custom made. It was handmade for individuals, either as home production or on order from dressmakers and tailors. By the beginning of the 20th century—with the rise of new technologies such as the sewing machine, the rise of global capitalism and the development of the factory system of production, and the proliferation of retail outlets such as department stores—clothing had increasingly come to be mass-produced in standard sizes and sold at fixed prices. Although the fashion industry developed first in Europe and America, today it is an international and highly globalized industry, with clothing often designed in one country, manufactured in another, and sold world-wide. For example, an American fashion company might source fabric in China and have the clothes manufactured in Vietnam, finished in Italy, and shipped to a warehouse in the United States for distribution to retail outlets internationally. The fashion industry has long been one of the largest employers in the United States, and it remains so in the 21st century. However, employment declined considerably as production increasingly moved overseas, especially to China. Because data on the fashion industry typically are reported for national economies and expressed in terms of the industry’s many separate sectors, aggregate figures for world production of textiles and clothing are difficult to obtain. However, by any measure, the industry accounts for a significant share of world economic output.

The fashion industry consists of four levels: the production of raw materials, principally fibres and textiles but also leather and fur; the production of fashion goods by designers, manufacturers, contractors, and others; retail sales; and various forms of advertising and promotion. These levels consist of many separate but interdependent sectors, all of which are devoted to the goal of satisfying consumer demand for apparel under conditions that enable participants in the industry to operate at a profit.

Media[link]

An important part of fashion is fashion journalism. Editorial critique, guidelines and commentary can be found in magazines, newspapers, on television, fashion websites, social networks and in fashion blogs. In the recent years, fashion blogging and YouTube videos have become a major outlet for spreading trends and fashion tips. Through these media outlets, readers and viewers all over the world can learn about fashion, making it very accessible. ^[17]

At the beginning of the 20th century, fashion magazines began to include photographs of various fashion designs and became even more influential on people than in the past. In cities throughout the world these magazines were greatly sought-after and had a profound effect on public clothing taste. Talented illustrators drew exquisite fashion plates for the publications which covered the most recent developments in fashion and beauty. Perhaps the most famous of these magazines was La Gazette du Bon Ton which was founded in 1912 by Lucien Vogel and regularly published until 1925 (with the exception of the war years).

Vogue, founded in the US in 1892, has been the longest-lasting and most successful of the hundreds of fashion magazines that have come and gone. Increasing affluence after World War II and, most importantly, the advent of cheap colour printing in the 1960s led to a huge boost in its sales, and heavy coverage of fashion in mainstream women's magazines—followed by men's magazines from the 1990s. Haute couture designers followed the trend by starting the ready-to-wear and perfume lines, heavily advertised in the magazines, that now dwarf their original couture businesses. Television coverage began in the 1950s with small fashion features. In the 1960s and 1970s, fashion segments on various entertainment shows became more frequent, and by the 1980s, dedicated fashion shows such as Fashion-television started to appear. Despite television and increasing internet coverage, including fashion blogs, press coverage remains the most important form of publicity in the eyes of the fashion industry.

However, over the past several years, fashion websites have developed that merge traditional editorial writing with user-generated content. Online magazines like iFashion Network, and Runway Magazine, led by Nole Marin from America's Next Top Model, have begun to dominate the market with digital copies for computers, iPhones and iPads. Example platforms include Apple and Android for such applications.

A few days after the 2010 Fall Fashion Week in New York City came to a close, The New Islander's Fashion Editor, Genevieve Tax, criticized the fashion industry for running on a seasonal schedule of its own, largely at the expense of real-world consumers. "Because designers release their fall collections in the spring and their spring collections in the fall, fashion magazines such as Vogue always and only look forward to the upcoming season, promoting parkas come September while issuing reviews on shorts in January," she writes. "Savvy shoppers, consequently, have been conditioned to be extremely, perhaps impractically, farsighted with their buying."^[18]

Ethnic Fashion is defined as the Fashion of Multicultural groups such as African-American, Hispanics, Asians, etc. Examples of Ethnic Designer are FUBU, BabyPhat, FatFarm, Sean John, Etc. It is estimated that Ethnic Fashion has contributed over 25 Billion dollars in revenues.

Intellectual property[link]

Within the fashion industry, intellectual property is not enforced as it is within the film industry and music industry. To "take inspiration" from others' designs contributes to the fashion industry's ability to establish clothing trends. For the past few years, WGSN has been a dominant source of fashion news and forecasts in steering fashion brands worldwide to be "inspired" by one another. Enticing consumers to buy clothing by establishing new trends is, some have argued, a key component of the industry's success. Intellectual property rules that interfere with the process of trend-making would, on this view, be counter-productive. In contrast, it is often argued that the blatant theft of new ideas, unique designs, and design details by larger companies is what often contributes to the failure of many smaller or independent design companies.

Since fakes are distinguishable by their inherent poorer quality, there is still a demand for luxury goods. And as only a trademark or logo can be copyrighted for clothing and accessories, many fashion brands make this one of the most visible aspects of the garment or accessory.

In 2005, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) held a conference calling for stricter intellectual property enforcement within the fashion industry to better protect small and medium businesses and promote competitiveness within the textile and clothing industries.^[19][20]

The Evolution of Urban Style[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Urban wear refers to a broad set of clothing and accessories that has evolved over time in metropolitan areas. Urban wear originated among the Latino and African-American young people who lived in the two major cities of New York and Los Angeles. New York being located on the east coast of the United States and Los Angeles being situated on the west coast. Both of these locations added elements to the style as it is seen all over the world today. Because of its association with cities, urban wear can be said to represent cultures that are predominant in metropolitan areas.

Metropolitan culture often develops due to factors like music and it can occur in any country. Although this stylish apparel has long been associated with a particular social group, this is no longer the case. This hip hop style is worn by all people all around the world. Furthermore, metropolitan areas have always been preferred over rural areas for the launch of any new products because metropolitan areas are more densely populated. In addition, the response of metropolitan areas to new products is far more significant than that of rural areas.

Urban wear is a very broad term and it includes various types of clothing. These various types of clothing include trendy shirts, jeans, fashionable shoes, sporty shorts and classic pants. It is also characterized by eye catching jewelry, different types of accessories and cosmetics. If you want to join the trend, try wearing t-shirts with graphic designs in white, black and gray. If you prefer something a bit more radical, you could also use urban style clothes that are wildly contradicting, such as wearing a tattered pair of jeans with a sleek and neat shirt.

Urban wear has gained importance in the sense that people have become more conscious about their clothing and have started spending more time selecting their outfits. They go to markets and malls weekly to keep in touch with changing fashions. This is because people are more aware of their surroundings and of what the people around them are wearing. In a way, urban wear has increased people's sense of fashion.

One notable and significant aspect is that it is usually introduced under different brand names. This is a consequence of the promotion of brand culture in recent years. As explained earlier, the general public has realized the importance of style so they want to use clothes that are more fashionable and eye-catching. Because of this, formal shirts and dresses have been replaced with stylish hoods and jeans; trendy sneakers have taken the place of conventional shoes; and traditional hats have been replaced by sporty caps of varying designs. Society has shown enthusiasm for this shift in style and has become increasingly popular.

See also[link]

Fashion portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Fashion

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Braudel, Fernand Civilization and Capitalism, 15th–18th Centuries, Vol 1: The Structures of Everyday Life," William Collins & Sons, London 1981 ISBN 0-520-08114-5

Further reading[link]

• Breward, Christopher, The culture of fashion: a new history of fashionable dress, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003, ISBN 978-0-7190-4125-9
• Cumming, Valerie: Understanding Fashion History, Costume & Fashion Press, 2004, ISBN 0-89676-253-X
• Hollander, Anne, Seeing through clothes, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993, ISBN 978-0-520-08231-1
• Hollander, Anne, Sex and suits: the evolution of modern dress, New York: Knopf, 1994, ISBN 978-0-679-43096-4
• Hollander, Anne, Feeding the eye: essays, New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1999, ISBN 978-0-374-28201-1
• Hollander, Anne, Fabric of vision: dress and drapery in painting, London: National Gallery, 2002, ISBN 978-0-300-09419-0
• Kawamura, Yuniya, Fashion-ology: an introduction to Fashion Studies, Oxford and New York: Berg, 2005, ISBN 1-85973-814-1
• Lipovetsky, Gilles (translated by Catherine Porter), The empire of fashion: dressing modern democracy, Woodstock: Princeton University Press, 2002, ISBN 978-0-691-10262-7
• McDermott, Kathleen, Style for all: why fashion, invented by kings, now belongs to all of us (An illustrated history), 2010, ISBN 978-0-557-51917-0 — Many hand-drawn color illustrations, extensive annotated bibliography and reading guide
• Perrot, Philippe (translated by Richard Bienvenu), Fashioning the bourgeoisie: a history of clothing in the nineteenth century, Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994, ISBN 978-0-691-00081-7
• Steele, Valerie, Paris fashion: a cultural history, (2. ed., rev. and updated), Oxford: Berg, 1998, ISBN 978-1-85973-973-0
• Steele, Valerie, Fifty years of fashion: new look to now, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000, ISBN 978-0-300-08738-3
• Steele, Valerie, Encyclopedia of clothing and fashion, Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2005

External links[link]

Look up fashion in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Fashion at the Open Directory Project

v t e History of Western fashion Ancient Ancient World Egyptian Greek Roman Medieval Byzantine Early Medieval Anglo-Saxon 12th century 13th century 14th century Renaissance and Reformation 15th century 1500–1550 1550–1600 1600–1650 1650–1700 Enlightenment era / Georgian era 1700–1750 1750–1775 1775–1795 1795–1820 1820s Victorian 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s Machine Age 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930–1945 Cold War 1945–1959 1960s 1970s 1980s Information Age 1990s 2000s 2010s