Fashion Industry
What is fashion? Fashion is a mode of autonomy and self-expression in a certain situation and time and in a certain context, of dressing, footwear, attire, cosmetics, hair style, body posture, and even accessories. The word simply implies a fashion-related look defined as what is fashionable at the moment. There are many definitions of fashion, most of them coming from the art and history of design. The best definition of fashion is the one that presents an ongoing process through which individuals discover, create, and expand the meaning of the human being through their interactions with the world around them. The diversity of our culture and interaction with the world around us has generated a spectrum of interpretations, each as relevant to fashion as the next.
Clothing has been an important feature of all cultures since the inception of civilization. In the early days, clothing was associated with status, ritual, and religious activities. However, through time, it has become more than just an important social activity. It has also come to represent the individual’s personal beliefs, desires, and opinions about his appearance and overall personality. The development of modern clothing in the early nineteenth century marked the beginning of the fashion world, which eventually evolved into the present.
Fashionable clothes come in various forms. Clothes can be categorized according to the purpose they serve, their materials, their color, their form (such as dress or skirt, top, or blouse), and their size, fitting, and style (such as tight-fitting top and low-waist clothing). Generally, clothes have been categorized into three basic styles: traditional styles, semi-prevalent styles, and fashion trend styles. The traditional clothes include the kaftan, salwar, and churidar outfits; while the semi-prevalent styles include lehenga, sherwanis, jeggings, etc. The fashion trend styles include baggy pants, tight-fitting tunics, hipsters, cuffed sleeves, tube tops, etc.
The high fashion of the present period is characterized by glamor, elegant design, high level of comfort, and originality. High fashion clothes are generally designed in such a way that they can be worn by both men and women, for different occasions. They can be given as presents, or worn to get ready for a special occasion. Since high fashion clothes take time to make, they represent a higher value than their lower fashion counterparts do. High fashion designers spend more time on developing and improving their clothes.
One major change in women’s clothing styles has been the introduction of couture, which refers to specialized fashion items made by designers for particular seasons, such as spring, summer, and winter. These designer fashion clothes provide additional touch of sophistication for formal and casual wear. The major categories of couture dresses include wedding dresses, evening dresses, casual clothing, bridal and bridesmaids dresses, formal dresses, prom dresses, and evening wear.
Women’s clothing styles have undergone many changes since the seventeenth century, when the first collection of women’s outfits was gathered together by an enterprising tailor in England. During the early stages of the fashion industry, tailors only sold top quality, basic clothing that had been worn by servants. However, as time went by, this idea changed, and became more flexible, providing women with more choices in their clothes and overall appearance. Today’s fashion industry still aims to provide its clients with the best possible fashion experience.