Fashion is a style or practice of dress that can vary from one person to another, depending on the current culture and social status. It can also be seen as an artistic expression, a way of conveying one’s personality through clothing choices. The term may also be used to describe a trend in fashion design, with new styles being developed and worn at a faster rate than before. This fast pace has been fueled by the increased accessibility of technology that makes it easier to create, edit and disseminate trends.
The word fashion comes from the French phrase “la mode,” meaning the current state of mode or taste. The fashion industry is an important part of the global economy and has influenced other sectors such as art, music and lifestyle.
It has been shown that fashion can affect a person’s self-esteem and confidence. For example, women who spend a lot of time trying to find the perfect outfit tend to feel better about themselves than those who don’t care as much about what they wear. Fashion has been shown to boost dopamine levels in the brain, which is a mood booster, so it’s no wonder that many people enjoy pursuing fashion trends.
People have always wanted to look good. The latest fashions have been influenced by music and pop culture, but even royalty has had its say in what to wear. In the 1700s, folks pored over newspapers and magazines to see what the royalties were wearing to their fashionable dances. The couturiers of Paris had their share of clients, including King Louis XIV.
Fashion can be influenced by political, religious and cultural events as well as new discoveries in the world. For example, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, fashions were often galvanized by European travels. The introduction of new fabrics made in Turkey, China and Japan also contributed to the changes. The fashion industry has evolved into a huge business in recent times, with ready-to-wear and perfume lines being heavily promoted by various fashion magazines.
While the concept of a “fashionable” person has been defined by an insular aesthetic elite, it is increasingly a broader, more inclusive phenomenon. The democratization of the fashion process has been assisted by the availability of cheap color printing and by TV coverage of fashion shows, beginning in the 1950s. In more recent times, bloggers and other Internet users have become an influential force in shaping the perceptions of what is fashionable. Some of these trends are so powerful that they make their way into the mainstream. This has been seen with the rise of skinny jeans.