Marjorie Garber asked the question, “what buttons, envelopes, and borderlines are left to push?” There is an always present desire in fashion to push against the dominant, and journey to the extreme. More and more society is making a statement through what they wear, literally wearing their hearts on their sleeves. As long as there is a need for self expression through fashion, there will be an endless number of buttons to push, and people will always try to be noticed. There is always a desire to go against anything “ordinary” or mainstream, so I think fashion will jump back and forth, diving in and out of new and old trends, never having a final outcome.
The first thing anyone notices is the way you look, whether you like it or not. There are people who prefer to blend with what is accepted, and there are those who show a little more skin, or wear mismatched clothing with pre-made holes. They have that want for attention, and a need to stand out and make a statement. However more and more these days what was considered “unique” is now “cliché”, and you are considered a conformist if you try to rebel against mainstream fashion.
Women in society are becoming more independent, and the focus is starting to be our minds instead of our bodies. It’s as if we are going back in time, to a culture where a girl with a mind and something to hold on to is better marriage material than the skinny girl without anything to offer. Yet the focus today on bodies is dominant in our schools and on the streets, and sadly it is still often assumed that the skinny woman in a dress is more successful than the heavyset woman in pants and a baggy shirt. Why is that? What caused the dramatic change in what was socially respected and frowned upon?
What is expected of women today is different from what was expected of them fifty years ago, and I believe that has a huge impact on the constantly changing image of females. In today’s culture a women is expected to be to some degree independent, and in control of her own life. It is no longer assumed that she will stay at home in the kitchen and cook and clean all day. She needs to have good health and a strong mind to get by in today’s world, which is a big change from the 1950’s housewife.
So is there such a thing as original style anymore?
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