Fashion & Style.

Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.

Oscar Wilde

What’s the fashion? It refers to the styles of dress, cuisine, art, haircut and so on, that are popular during some period. People’s preferences change quickly, and so does the style, things used to be modern some time ago can be just ‘unfashionable’ now.

Creating a fashion.

Which factors make a fashion? Who is responsible for what’s trendy?

Firstly, the fashion magazines – such as ‘Vogue’ or ‘InStyle’: they show what’s going on in the sophisticated fashion loop. Usually they describe all aspects of life: from the most obvious, like clothes, haircut or make-up, to those more surprising: what colors are most modern to paint a garage or what to exactly say if somebody coughs. Fashion magazines capture readers thanks to beautiful photos and assurances, that usage of all the pieces of advice can make life happier and more successful.

The fashion magazines environment is quite specific. Most of the people ‘on the top’ are fashion and style-freaks, for whom being trendy is an only important issue. Sometimes this obsession of being trendy becomes almost pathological. Here is a trailer of a movie ‘The Devil Wears Prada’:

Except the fashion magazines and designers, the fashion is modificated and promoted by celebrities. A lot of styles of clothing became popular after one of the stars appeared in this kind of dressing.

As an example I will mention the Beatles' famous haircut. When the beatlemania shook the world, all stuff connected with the 'fab-four' started to be trendy. This sloppy and ruffled hairstyle had became so popular, that even in Poland the great amount of boys started to stylize their hair 'a'la Beatle'.

I want to be original!

Nowadays more and more people search for their own style. They want to show themselves through their clothing, appearance and disposition. And that’s how the most of the youth subcultures were created.

Punks – it is a subculture based on punk rock music, which is a loud, fast and aggressive variation of rock music. It emerged in the United States, UK and Australia in the ‘70s. Punks prefer dark clothes, t-shirts with slogans, often with political references. They like heavy and metal additives like bracelets made of safety pins or studded collars. Their skin is often covered with tattoos, and they have a lot of earrings, not only in ears :). What’s more, they have always bizarre haircut, usually formed in a colorful Mohawk hairstyle.

Grunge - a style very similar to the previous one, based on the subgenre of punk and alternative rock – grunge, sometimes referred as the ‘Seattle sound’. This style became commercially successful in the ‘90s. The most important trait of this style are long hair, stained jeans and flannel shirt.

Hippie - the hippie-movement started in the early ’60s in the USA and quickly spread all over the world. Both man and woman wore loose jeans, t-shirts painted in bright colors and a lot of jewellery made of wood or yarn. Girls often wore long full skirts or dresses and big bizarre hats. Much of hippie clothing were hand-made. Hippie symbols were often inspired by Asian culture.

And, what’s the most important in the hippie culture, both man and woman wore very long hair. They worshiped their hair as much as they worshiped nature, happiness, peace, love and freedom. Just watch this part of famous musical ‘Hair’.

Goth - the goth subculture began in the early 80s, in the UK, shortly after the gothic rock appeared in the music-world. Goth style revolves around Gothic literature, architecture and fashion. There are also many influences from The Bible.
Goth fashion can be recognized by its stark black clothing (or hair or makeup). Both male and female goths sometimes wear black eyeliner and fingernails in the same colour. They often wear a lot of jewellery: mostly they appreciate ankhs, crucifixes and other religious symbols.

Chav - a subculture which firstly appeared in English dictionaries in 2004. A ‘chav’ is an aggressive Caucasian teenager or young adult, who engages anti-social behavior, such as drinking alcohol on a street or getting into a fight on a matches. Chavs usually wear tracksuits and hoodies made by sporting marks like Adidas or Nike. Girls like short skirts and tight tops, they almost always have platinum-blonde hair and artificial fingernails. Chavs especially love going to the matches and listening to the hip-hop or R&B music.

Emo - today’s emo is commonly tied to two genres of music: emo and screamo. Those styles of rock music firstly appeared in the mid ‘80s. It’s characterized by melodic musicianship and expressive, often confessional lyrics.
The typical emo wear skinny jeans, tight shirts with depressive quotations or with bands’ names, studded belts and Converse sneakers. They like distinctive make-up and long fringes. Emo is associated with a stereotype that includes being emotional, sensitive and shy. It is also associated with depression, self-injury, and suicide.

To sum up

• Trends and styles change quickly.
• For some people being trendy is the matter of life and death.
• A lot of people want to be like their idols: they start to manifold celebrities’ style. Sometimes it becomes an obsession.
• Being fashionable reduces the possibility of being rejected by the society. Having individual style gives an opportunity to become known.
• Style makes our life more interesting.
  

What do you think? Is fashion an important part of our society?
With which subculture group do you identify mostly? Which group is in your opinion boring or maybe dangerous and culture-destroing?