WHAT IS "FASHION"?

   Before I continue my blog, I started to wonder ‘what is fashion?’ I found myself use the word too often without knowing the exact meaning. As I started a fashion blog and as one of fashion interested, I look up what is fashion and how fashion industry has become so prevalent.

   According to the Wikipedia, Fashion is a general term for a popular style or practice, especially in clothing, footwear, accessories, makeup, body piercing, or even furniture. Fashion refers to a distinctive and often habitual trend in the style with which a person dresses, as well as to prevailing styles. Fashion also refers to the newest creations of textile designers. The more technical term, costume, has become so linked to the term "fashion" that the use of the former has been relegated to special senses like fancy dress, while "fashion" means clothing more generally and the study of it.

    The fashion industry is a legacy of the modern age. Prior to the mid-19th century, most clothing was handmade for individuals. 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 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 fibers 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.

There are many sources are available to get information of fashion such as fashion magazines, fashion blogs, fashion website and so on. The media plays a very significant role when it comes to fashion. In the recent years, fashion blogging and YouTube videos has 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. For example, we can watch a runway on you tube even though we could not fly to Paris to attend the show.  

This kind of phenomenon is caused by rapid advance of technology. Unlike the past, people use smartphone or laptop searching information.  Vogue, one of the most famous magazines, has followed this rapid change as well. They have started to online magazines like iFashion Network, in order to offer customer with digital copies.

After all, Fashion has many definition, but I think it would be a good time for you make your own definition and statement of fashion. Personal style is a great way to express who you are and what you stand for. You can have fun with your own fashion statement. :)