Fashion 11657 226172474 2008-07-17T04:00:20Z 68.189.244.10 /* Changes */ {{otheruses}} [[Image:1796-short-bodied-gillray-fashion-caricature.jpg|thumb|In ''Following the Fashion'' (1794), [[James Gillray]] caricatured a figure flattered by the short-[[bodice]]d gowns then in fashion, contrasting it with an imitator whose figure is not flattered.]] '''Fashion''' refers to styles of dress (but can also include cuisine, literature, art, architecture, and general comportment) that are popular in a culture at any given time. Such styles may change quickly, and "fashion" in the more colloquial sense refers to the latest version of these styles. Inherent in the term is the idea that the mode will change more quickly than the [[culture]] as a whole. The terms "fashionable" and "unfashionable" are employed to describe whether someone or something fits in with the current or even not so current, popular mode of expression. The term "fashion" is frequently used in a positive sense, as a synonym for glamour, [[beauty]] and style. In this sense, fashions are a sort of communal [[art]], through which a culture examines its notions of beauty and [[Good and evil|goodness]]. The term "fashion" is also sometimes used in a negative sense, as a synonym for [[fads and trends]], and [[materialism]]. A number of cities are recognized as global fashion centers and are recognized for their fashion weeks, where designers exhibit their new clothing collections to audiences. These cities are [[New York City]], [[Milan]], [[Paris]], and [[London]]. Other cities, mainly [[Los Angeles]], [[Berlin]], [[Tokyo]], [[Rome]], [[Miami]], [[Hong Kong]], [[São Paulo]], [[Sydney]], [[Barcelona]], [[Madrid]], [[Vienna]], [[New Delhi]] and [[Dubai]] also hold fashion weeks and are better recognized every year. ==Areas of fashion== Fashions are [[social]] phenomena common to many fields of human activity and thinking. The rise and fall of fashions has been especially documented and examined in the following fields: *[[Architecture]], [[interior design]], and [[landscape design]] *[[Arts and crafts]] *[[Body type]], [[clothing]] or [[costume]], [[cosmetics]], [[personal grooming]], [[hairstyle]], and [[Jewellery|personal adornment]] *[[Dance]] and [[music]] *[[Style (manner of address)|Forms of address]], [[slang]], and other forms of speech *[[Economics]] and spending choices, as studied in [[Behavioral economics|behavioral finance]] *[[Entertainment]], [[game]]s, [[Hobby|hobbies]], [[sport]]s, and other pastimes *[[Etiquette]] *[[Management]], [[management styles]] and ways of organizing *[[Politics]] and [[mass media|media]], especially the topics of [[conversation]] encouraged by the media *[[Philosophy]] and [[religion]]: although the doctrines of religions and philosophies change very slowly if at all, there can be rapid changes in what areas of a religion or a philosophy are seen as most important and most worth following or studying. *[[Social network]]s and the diffusion of representations and practices *[[Sociology]] and the meaning of clothing for identity-building *[[Technology]], such as the choice of [[computer programming]] techniques *[[Hospitality industry]] such as designer [[uniforms]] custom made for a hotel, restaurant, casino, resort or club, in order to reflect a property and brand. Of these fields, costume especially has become so linked in the public eye with the term "fashion" that the more general term "costume" has mostly been relegated to only mean [[Costume party|fancy dress]] or [[Masquerade ball|masquerade]] wear, while the term "fashion" means clothing generally, and the study of it. This linguistic switch is due to the so-called fashion plates which were produced during the [[Industrial Revolution]], showing novel ways to use new textiles. 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.<ref>For a discussion of the use of the terms "fashion", "dress", "clothing" and "costume" by professionals in various disciplines, see Valerie Cumming, ''Understanding Fashion History'', "Introduction", Costume & Fashion Press, 2004, ISBN 0-8967-6253-X</ref> ==Clothing== {{main|History of Western fashion}} The habit of people continually changing the style of clothing worn, which is now worldwide, at least among urban populations, is generally held by historians to be a distinctively Western one. At other periods in [[Ancient Rome]] and other cultures changes in costume occurred, often at times of economic or social change, but then a long period without large changes followed. In 8th century [[Córdoba, Spain|Cordoba]], [[Spain]], [[Ziryab]], a famous musician - a star in modern terms - is said to have introduced sophisticated clothing styles based on seasonal and daily timings from his native [[Baghdad]] and his own inspiration. [[Image:Tippies-of-1796-caricature.jpg|thumb|right|English [[caricature]] of ''Tippies of 1796'']] The beginnings of the habit in Europe of continual and increasingly rapid change in styles can be fairly clearly dated to the middle of the [[1300-1400 in fashion|14th century]], to which historians including James Laver and [[Fernand Braudel]] date the start of Western fashion in clothing.<ref>Laver, James: ''The Concise History of Costume and Fashion'', Abrams, 1979, p. 62</ref><ref>Fernand Braudel, ''Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Centuries, Vol 1: The Structures of Everyday Life," p317, William Collins & Sons, London 1981</ref> The most dramatic manifestation was a sudden drastic shortening and tightening of the male over-garment, from [[Calf muscle|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 which is still with us today. 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 history|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, which remained very different until a counter-movement in the 17th to 18th centuries imposed similar styles once again, finally those from [[Ancien Régime]] in [[France]].<ref>Fernand Braudel, ''Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Centuries, Vol 1: The Structures of Everyday Life," p317-24, William Collins & Sons, London 1981</ref> Though fashion was always led by the rich, the increasing affluence of [[early modern Europe]] led to the [[bourgeoisie]] and even [[peasant]]s following trends at a distance sometimes uncomfortably close for the elites - a factor Braudel regards as one of the main motors of changing fashion.<ref>Fernand Braudel, ''Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Centuries, Vol 1: The Structures of Everyday Life," p313-15, William Collins & Sons, London 1981</ref> The fashions of the West are generally unparalleled either in antiquity or in the other great civilizations of the world. Early Western travellers, whether to [[Persian Empire|Persia]], [[Turkey]], [[Japan]] 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.<ref>Fernand Braudel, ''Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Centuries, Vol 1: The Structures of Everyday Life," p.312-3, p.323, William Collins & Sons, London 1981</ref> However in [[Ming Dynasty|Ming China]], for example, there is considerable evidence for rapidly changing fashions in [[Han Chinese clothing|Chinese clothing]],<ref>Timothy Brook:"The Confusions of Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China" (University of California Press 1999); this has a whole section on fashion.</ref> [[Image:ADurerNuremburgVenetianWomen.jpg|thumb|[[Albrecht Dürer]]'s drawing contrasts a well turned out ''bourgeoise'' from [[Nuremberg]] (left) with her counterpart from [[Venice]], in. The Venetian lady's high [[chopine]]s make her taller.]] <!-- This image is referenced in the article. Please don't remove.--> Ten 16th century portraits of [[Germany|German]] or [[Italy|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 [[Venice|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.<ref>Fernand Braudel, ''Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Centuries, Vol 1: The Structures of Everyday Life," p.317-21, William Collins & Sons, London 1981</ref> Though colors and patterns of textiles changed from year to year,<ref>Thornton, Peter. ''Baroque and Rococo Silks.''</ref> 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 Europe]]ans were dressing alike (or thought they were): local variation became first a sign of provincial culture, and then a badge of the conservative peasant.<ref> James Laver and Fernand Braudel, ops cit</ref> 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 to date from 1858, when the English-born [[Charles Frederick Worth]] opened the first true [[haute couture]] house in Paris. Since then the professional designer has become a progressively more dominant figure, despite the origins of many fashions in street fashion. Modern [[Western culture|West]]erners have a wide choice available in the selection of their clothes. What a person chooses to wear can reflect that person's [[Wiktionary:personality|personality]] or likes. When people who have cultural [[Social status|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. Fashions may vary considerably within a [[society]] according to [[Aging (life cycle)|age]], [[social class]], [[generation]], [[Profession|occupation]] [[sexual orientation]], 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" or "[[fashion victim]]" refer to someone who slavishly follows the 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]].) == Changes == [[Image:Calhan Colorado High School Senior Boys by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|left|In [[youth subculture]] fashion is sometimes used to flout previously-held societal norms, such as by wearing pants low to expose [[underwear]], originally confined to urban youth but recently spreading to fags like these. (2008)]] Fashion, by description, changes constantly. The changes may proceed more rapidly than in most other fields of human activity (language, [[thought]], etc). For some, modern fast-paced changes in fashion embody many of the negative aspects of [[capitalism]]: it results in waste and encourages people ''qua'' [[consumer]]s to buy things unnecessarily. Other people enjoy the diversity that changing fashion can apparently provide, seeing the constant change as a way to satisfy their desire to experience "new" and "interesting" things. Note too that fashion can change to enforce uniformity, as in the case where so-called [[Mao suit]]s became the national uniform of [[mainland China]]. At the same time there remains an equal or larger range designated 'out of fashion'.(These or similar fashions may cyclically come back 'into fashion' in due course, and remain 'in fashion' again for a while.) Practically every aspect of appearance that can be changed has been changed at some time, for example skirt lengths ranging from ankle to mini to so short that it barely covers anything, etc. In the past, new discoveries and lesser-known parts of the world could provide an impetus to change fashions based on the [[exoticism|exotic]]: Europe in the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries, for example, might favor things Turkish at one time, things Chinese at another, and things Japanese at a third. A modern version of exotic clothing includes [[club wear]]. [[Globalization]] has reduced the options of exotic novelty in more recent times, and has seen the introduction of non-Western wear into the Western world. Fashion houses and their associated [[fashion design]]ers, as well as high-status consumers (including [[celebrity|celebrities]]), appear to have some role in determining the rates and directions of fashion change. == Media == [[Image:GiseleBundchen.jpg|thumb|The Brazilian model [[Gisele Bündchen]] is one of the most famous faces seen on fashion magazine covers.]] An important part of fashion is [[fashion journalism]]. Editorial critique and commentary can be found in magazines, newspapers, on television, fashion websites, social networks and in [[fashion blog]]s. At the beginning of the 20th century, fashion magazines began to include photographs and became even more influential than in the past. In cities throughout the world these magazines were greatly sought-after and had a profound effect on public taste. Talented [[illustrator]]s 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 (magazine)|Vogue]], founded in the [[United States|US]] in 1902, 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 like [[FashionTelevision]] 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 industry. ==Intellectual property== Within the fashion industry, [[intellectual property]] is not enforced as it is within the [[film industry]] and [[music industry]].<ref name = "tersgm">[http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=878401 Chris Sprigman and Kal Raustiala, "The Piracy Paradox: Innovation and Intellectual Property in Fashion Design"] (August 2006). University of Virginia Law Review. </ref> While brand names and logos are protected, designs are not.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/05/business/05scene.html?ei=5090&en=bfb7593c76d8b819&ex=1333425600&adxnnl=1&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1176233952-ppNRW/Hffq45X/RtLnarUw The New York Times]: Why That Hoodie Your Son Wears Isn't Trademarked by Hal R. Varian, April 5, 2007</ref> Smaller, boutique, designers have lost revenue after their designs have been taken and marketed by bigger businesses with more resources.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/19/business/yourmoney/19bags.html?ei=5090&en=1b7a827438c238f8&amp;ex=1276833600&partner=techdirt&emc=rss&pagewanted=all The New York Times]: That Looks Familiar. Didn't I Design It? by Amy Kover, June 19, 2005</ref> Some observers have noted, however, that the relative freedom that fashion designers have to "take inspiration" from others' designs contributes to the fashion industry's ability to establish clothing trends. 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.<ref name = "tersgm"/> 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.<ref>[http://www.ipfrontline.com/depts/article.asp?id=7678&deptid=8 IPFrontline.com]: Intellectual Property in Fashion Industry, WIPO press release, December 2, 2005</ref><ref>[http://www.insme.org/page.asp?IDArea=1&page=sanleucio INSME anouncement]: WIPO-Italy International Symposium, 30 November - 2 December 2005</ref> ==See also== {{Commonscat|Fashion}} *[[Fashion accessory]] *[[Fashion week]] *[[List of fashion designers]] *[[List of fashion topics]] ==References== <!--See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref(erences/)> tags--> {{reflist}} ==Further reading== *Cumming, Valerie: ''Understanding Fashion History'', Costume & Fashion Press, 2004, ISBN 0-8967-6253-X ==External links== <!--===========================({{NoMoreLinks}})===============================--> <!--| DO NOT ADD MORE LINKS TO THIS ARTICLE. 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