Fashion Flashbacks
"Fashion is an underestimated social force. It functions effectively not only as an economic colossus but also to engineer social practices" (Finklestein). Fashion is more than its definition as a style of dress that is popular during a certain time or era. We can learn a lot about our culture by looking at current fashion trends because they show the relationships of consumer tastes, social habits, and eras in history. If we can define the reasons behind certain fashion trends, we can analyze a part of pop culture.
To study the meanings of today's mainstream fashion, it is most beneficial to look at the feminine side of fashion because it gives the clearest indications of the fashion eras that are being repeated. Women in America have been repeating fashion eras for almost as long as there have been clothes. Today, everywhere you look there are echoes of fashion's history. Fashions from the sixties, seventies and eighties make up a majority of what is currently in style at the present. The denim miniskirts, thick belts, quarter-sleeved shirts, and off-the-shoulder tops that can now be found in every teen-targeted store in America are from the eighties; the majority of jeans being sold today are the boot-cut or flare styles of the sixties and seventies; and the explosion of boots and cable-knit sweaters stems from their original popularity in the sixties. It is easy to see that we are repeating eras of fashion. The question is, of course, why? Why, in 2005, are Americans wearing clothes that were first popular in the sixties, seventies and eighties? Why not wear something totally new? We know that a seemingly endless and inevitable cycle of fashion is partially to blame. However, there are a few factors that can explain what has brought the fashion cycle to where it is today: the strategies of designers, the influence of the media, consumer needs, and current national moods.
Most fashion experts and designers, sociologists, and historians agree that...
Please login to view the full essay...