“Clothes mean nothing until someone lives in them.”
It’s about the innovative, the artistic, and often controversial. With so many moving parts in modern society, who has control ?
By Charlie Webb: Columnist
Fashion and style are subjective. They mean different things to everybody. As the saying goes, ‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure’. This phrase is synonymous with the fashion world.
Billions of people at the mercy of an array of brands and designers have the choice of, and access to, pretty much anything they desire.
In an ideal world, this would result in everyone having an individual style, wardrobe and fashion sense with unique outfits and aesthetics on show day by day. However, there is an interesting phenomenon in which clothes, brands and aesthetics seem to gain and lose popularity from the public in different periods of time.
But how do things go in and out of style, who or what dictates it and why do people follow these trends so religiously?
Celebrity Endorsement
Celebrity influence often dictates which items fall in and out of style. For example, after Kanye West collaborated with Adidas to release his famous Yeezys back in 2015, these shoes, along with adidas as a brand were seen with increasing frequency across the world.
According to www.statista.com in 2016 adidas were at an all-time high, which may have been aided by one of their main icons, Kanye West, releasing a well received album, released in 2016, named The Life of Pablo.
Kanye, who was an insanely large name and influential figure in the music industry and in general society, had a very public deal with adidas at the time (which has since been terminated in 2022 with Yeezys also being discontinued) giving one example of the incredible influence celebrities have over the global demographic, as such deals arguably put brands like Adidas and Yeezys in style and firmly in the public eye.
Continued below…
“If you love something, wear it all the time… Find things that suit you. That’s how you look extraordinary.“
– Vivienne Westwood
This can also be seen with other celebrities like Justin Bieber wearing things like the off-white Jordan 1. This fashion choice has been seen consistently throughout his career and has garnered mass global public attention, as well as leading people to be more inclined to purchase these shoes and wear them more frequently.
This idea is accentuated by many other examples, including Anthony Joshua and his deal with Under Armour. The former 2-time heavyweight champion of the world, Anthony Joshua, has a long-term deal with the sport and streetwear brand, Under Armour.
This deal is also very public, with Anthony rarely seen not sporting some form of Under Armour clothing, which has caused the brand to gain mass public attention and has caused the brand to be much more ‘in style’ than before.
According to www.statista.com, Under Armour sales increased and have stayed on the rise since AJ’s signing to the company in 2015, with the only dip in sales being in 2020, which makes sense as the mass public was inside and had no real reason for sportswear. This leads to the next point.
Cultural Context
Cultural and societal context plays a large role as to what clothes are in style. One very simple example of this is during a national football tournament. During this time, it was very common to see hundreds and thousands of people wearing football shirts. These fashionable additions are often seen as "retro" during summer due to their unique, fresh aesthetic.
During the Euros or World Cup, millions of Brits are seen throughout the course of the tournament wearing England shirts of many different years, colours and designs. This idea of cultural context being significant in deciding fashion trends can also be seen in COVID (2020) times. This is due to the fact that everybody was at home with no real reason to dress nicely and buy new clothes.
This means that sports clothes would have mostly been ‘out of style’ as the majority of people would not have been buying them or wearing them as the large majority of the public was very physically inactive during these times. Not only this, most clothes, aesthetics, and fashion choices would have been out of style, as people were often dressing for comfort and convenience instead of for a visual appeal. This era had no real style or aesthetic and is almost a complete societal fashion reset with most people leaving the lockdown either more matured, changed in size, or with different likes and dislikes, and a varied opinion on fashion.
This idea of cultural context being a major factor in dictating what is in style leads all the way back through the ages. Let’s jump in the time machine to 10th century Iran, for example. It is said to be the origin of high heels and links to practicality also being a factor in deciding what is in style.
For example, high heels were often worn by male Persian soldiers whilst riding on horseback, due to the fact that they helped keep their feet secure in the stirrups more effectively than other shoes. It was a common notion among society in these days that the higher the heel, the more affluent the wearer.
This translates over to modern day society as it is often seen that rich, famous and influential people wear very high heels, which connotes power and importance now, much like back then.
The trend of high heels was translated from 10th century Iran to western society through trading, due to Iran and Europe having a strong relationship with high heels themselves appearing in Europe in the 16th century. This footwear never really went out of style in the western world and has been seen consistently for hundreds of years.
The meaning of high heels has never really changed throughout their conception with people of power (or at least people portraying this notion) wearing them. For example, King Louis XIV of France was notorious for wearing high heels.
Of course, certain aspects have changed. In modern times, high heels are an object of femininity. However, the concept is similar.
The idea of practicality linking to what is in style is further illustrated by other clothing items like cowboy boots/ ranch boots, sombreros, and other hats.
It's a collective effort
Originally, cowboy boots served a similar purpose as high heels in the early days: to help a cowboy keep his feet in the stirrups, with the height of the leather up the leg being to protect sensitive areas of the leg from things lie chaffing or any other hazards that may occur while riding.
The leather was made to be thick and durable but also comfortable and breathable, as the boots would be worn for extended periods most of the time. Cowboy boots were not an object of fashion and vanity but something of necessity and usefulness to the people of the time, who had no other legitimate option that would sustain them in the same way as the cowboy boots.
The pointed shape was also ideal for horse riding, making these an obvious necessity to the people of the time, meaning that cowboy boots were almost exclusively in style in this period due to their heavy practicality.
Overall, there will never be a definitive answer as to who decides what is in style. It is a composition of celebrity endorsement and influence; social context; practicality, and social attitudes. These factors have stayed strong for many years and will continue to reign true for the foreseeable future.
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