7 Fashion Theories
Module Learning Objectives (MLO)
In this chapter, you will
- MLO 7.1 Identify foundational concepts and theories related to fashion, identity, appearance, and dress. [CLO 1]
- MLO 7.2 Identify the basic tenets of fashion theories and how they help explain dress and appearance. [CLO 1]
- MLO 7.3 Explain how marginalized communities in the United States use dress and appearance to express their identities. [CLO 2]
- MLO 7.4 Examine how dress and appearance of marginalized communities in the United States are represented in the fashion system (e.g., advertisements or retailers). [CLO 3]
- MLO 7.5 Examine social justice issues related to dress and appearance of marginalized communities in the United States. [CLO 2]
- MLO 7.6 Deconstruct your own perspectives and approach to understanding the dress of others. [CLO 4]
Fashion
Fashion refers to the idea of what is popular or on trend. One can also think about fashion as what is in flux in a particular time and place. Fashion undergoes a process of dynamic change: within a fashion system, there is a continuous change in what is on trend, or in fashion, over time. It can be extremely difficult to trace the origins of a particular fashion trend such as a motif, design, or silhouette (Reilly, 2012). Because multiple cultures and communities coexist across the world and even within regions, it can be almost impossible to be certain that a style came from a specific time and place or to define a fashion trend’s true origin.
The miniskirt is an example of a fashion trend that is thought to have developed in one place and time, yet various scholars provide conflicting evidence for some of these claimed origins. Mary Quant, a British fashion designer, is often credited for introduing the miniskirt into fashion in London in the 1960s, during the “youthquake” movement (FIT, 2021; V&A, 2021). However, according to Ford (2015), the miniskirt developed out of Tanzania. Haya Rinoth, a South African fashion designer, argued in Drum magazine that this new style developed in Africa, not the United Kingdom, as history had recorded. This example highlights some of the social justice issues or the Eurocentric power imbalance in history, where European history often is prioritized (Pokhrel, 2021).
Fashion Is a Social Process
Fashion is not just a set of trends but a social process, a way of behaving that a discernable proportion of a social group temporarily adopts and which is perceived to be socially appropriate for a time and situation. This point is particularly important, since something that might be considered fashionable for one situation (e.g., a class lecture) might not be fashionable in another (e.g., a business office).
Taking this broader definition of fashion into perspective, there are other products that have fashion components:
- cars and car interiors
- appliances
- computers and other technological devices.
Style versus Fashion
We have mentioned style throughout this chapter and will con