What is fashion?
Fash·ion n. 1. The prevailing style or custom. 2. The style characteristic of the social elite. 3. An element of torture subjecting the faithful followers to horrors such as shoulder pads and empty bank accounts. 4. A form of art.
Why is fashion even important? After all, it is not vital for survival, but the media and the general public themselves spend time and money to get close to it, ephemeral as it may be. Why? Because most people want to belong, and following a particular fashion allows them to be part of the desired group. The paradox is that while designers and magazines ‘round the world proclaim that the latest trends will make the follower an individual, they effectually create a certain mold.
Yet fashion is also the easiest way for anyone to show their creativity. While tabloid magazines and self-styled fashion commentators claim they are the authority on fashion do’s and don’ts, like any art, fashion it is made to be controversial. The “rules,” a.k.a. the season’s trends, are for everyone but they can be easily made individual. Like everything, it can be sickening in excess but enjoyed in moderation. Fashion can be like a friend giving advice—warm and comforting, it makes you look and feel fantastic.
One of the prevailing forms of mass culture, the elements of fashion can be found not only in clothes but in television, interior design, travel destinations, food and even lifestyle. Anyone can be a trendsetter, and fashion is all about choices. One of my friends recently sent me an article about a new drink, which is taking the fashion community where she lives by storm—weasel coffee. It is in fact coffee made out of weasel puke. Granted, some trends may border on the ridiculous, but life would be monotonous without wonders like these. Fashion adds color to life. It’s theater; it’s an adventure. Sure, it can lead to mistakes and to worries, but without that, would it not lose its drama and stop being a form of entertainment and art?
