# General Discussion > Opinions >  "Fashion is a form of ugliness...

## Tsuyoiko

...so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months"

So said Oscar Wilde. But what are your thoughts on fashion? Personally, I find it distasteful for several reasons.

1) I don't like the waste. I can keep an item of clothing for years. But fashion dictates that we change our whole wardrobe every season. I find that environmentally and financially very unsound.

2) I think designer labels are overpriced. The quality isn't necessarily any better than the cheaper brands, but we are expected to pay to advertise someone's label. They should pay us!

3) Many designer labels are made in sweatshops in countries such as China, Indonesia and Thailand - and even in the US, believe it or not (http://www.sweatshopwatch.org/). Nike is one of the most publicised offenders.

4) Fashion models can be considered to present an unrealistic image of female beauty.

5) Clone syndrome. My sister-in-law likes to wear fashionable clothes. I have walked into her house when a few of her friends have been there and not been able to tell straight away which one is her! Remember when those 'gypsy' skirts were 'in' last year? I was seeing the damn things with my eyes shut!  :Laughing: 

Thoughts anyone?

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## Rich303

I'm sort of in two minds about fashion. I just take bits that appeal to me.
I have a certain look that I like, which has slowly changed, but when I see people who slavishly follow fashion it can look a bit rubbish.

I worked in Soho for several years and I saw some genuine 'fashion victims'.

A nearly middle-age year old man on a child's aluminium scooter in twisted Levis with a Hoxton 'fin' haircut is not a good look.
I think that type of desperation to be 'trendy' is a little sad, and you could almost tell these people that anything is fashionable - they would wear it.

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## sl0thmachin3

> 1) I don't like the waste. I can keep an item of clothing for years. But fashion dictates that we change our whole wardrobe every season. I find that environmentally and financially very unsound.


Fashion does not necessarily dictate unless you allow it to. Yes it is a waste of resources and very financially draining but that depends on the person. If one likes to be trendy one should be prepared to spend. Others keep in fashion but don't spend as much. Cheap alternatives abound. 




> 2) I think designer labels are overpriced. The quality isn't necessarily any better than the cheaper brands, but we are expected to pay to advertise someone's label. They should pay us!


Ditto! 




> 3) Many designer labels are made in sweatshops in countries such as China, Indonesia and Thailand - and even in the US, believe it or not (http://www.sweatshopwatch.org/). Nike is one of the most publicised offenders.


Very true.




> 4) Fashion models can be considered to present an unrealistic image of female beauty.


Yep. Just look at all those skinny girls. They really look malnourished. 




> 5) Clone syndrome. My sister-in-law likes to wear fashionable clothes. I have walked into her house when a few of her friends have been there and not been able to tell straight away which one is her! Remember when those 'gypsy' skirts were 'in' last year? I was seeing the damn things with my eyes shut!


Happens all the time especially when a very popular artist/singer/whatever icon wears the same thing. Everyone wants to look cool and fit in I guess.

Anyway my take is do your own thing. Just wear what you like. :Cool:

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## Frank D. White

when you get old enough , you cna dress anyway you want; no one cares. If you wear socks that don't match or button your shirt wrong, no one says anything to you, they just shake their head. They feel sorry for the poor old duffer who's too old to know better.

Grandpa Frank

 :Blush:

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## scieck

Fashion is a money making lever that act on people need of gfeeling part of (belonging to)h, and on people general innate exhibitionisms.
I think fashion victims mainly dress up to show off, they like to be part of the gtrendyh people.

Personally i don't feel against or pro fashion (well maybe a bit more against then pro), but when people start to dress all the same, it doesn't feel right to me.

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## mad pierrot

Even through I have no sense of it.

Fashion is an essential part of culture, for one thing. Aside from that, I might even be able to argue that fashion serves as a way to clearly indicate one's status in society. You might not think of that as a noble purpose, but you can't deny that you base everyday judgements on it.

By the way, there is a difference between _fashion_ and _trends._

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## moffeltoff

Go with the trends or develope your own sense of fashion or dont there isnt really any point in trying to find a right and wrong ,because there is no right or wrong as far as opinions are concerned.

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## Tsuyoiko

> Aside from that, I might even be able to argue that fashion serves as a way to clearly indicate one's status in society.


In what way? The most fashion conscious people I know are the least able to afford the clothes they are brainwashed into buying. Is that what you mean? 


> By the way, there is a difference between _fashion_ and _trends._


Maybe so - could you define the difference?

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## Tsuyoiko

> there isnt really any point in trying to find a right and wrong ,because there is no right or wrong as far as opinions are concerned.


Maybe not - but it must be worth discussing anyway, or we wouldn't be here, right?  :Laughing:

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## mad pierrot

> In what way? The most fashion conscious people I know are the least able to afford the clothes they are brainwashed into buying. Is that what you mean?


By this I mean you automatically make judgments about people based on what they're wearing. For example, if you see a man in old, dirty, smelly clothes, you're going to assume that he is NOT wealthy CEO. Conversly, if you see someone wearing a Rolex, you'll assume they aren't homeless. Hence fashion plays a huge part in displaying status in the most obvious manner.




> Maybe so - could you define the difference?


Fashion is something that can be trendy, but need not be. For example, my grandfather dresses in a fashion that went out of date decades ago. A trend is anything that is popular at a given time; could be clothes, could be the Atkins diet. HOWEVER, fashion does have a number of different contexts, one of which IS synonymous with trend, i.e. "His fashion is out of fashion." It all depends on the context, I guess.

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## Mitsuo

I like Fashion. It can define a society and it's a great way to express yourself.

What bugs me are those Levi's that are torn apart from top to bottom, and they cost around $100 dollars!! 
If you want your pants to look like that, then buy a cheaper pair or just use your everyday ones, and tear them apart. You'll save money. One of my friends bought a pair of levi's that had the ruined look for $197 dollars! Yeah! I know! Then he goes off and complains that he never has money. Makes no sense to me!

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## Ma Cherie

Can fashion at times represent social class? Or at least show that a person has a decent amount of money. Personally, no matter how well known a design or designer is, it probably doesn't really mean that the clothing is the best looking. I mean to be honest, I think the reason why some people wear designer clothes is simply because of the label. 
Like a person could wear a shirt from Armani Exchange, not because he or she may like the shirt, but because the designer happens to Giorgio Armani. :Mad:

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## Mitsuo

I agree Ma Cherie!!

There could be a Jacket that looks exactly the same, but with different name brands. They would choose the more expensive brand.

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## Tsuyoiko

> By this I mean you automatically make judgments about people based on what they're wearing. For example, if you see a man in old, dirty, smelly clothes, you're going to assume that he is NOT wealthy CEO. Conversly, if you see someone wearing a Rolex, you'll assume they aren't homeless. Hence fashion plays a huge part in displaying status in the most obvious manner.


I would say that was more 'style of dress' than 'fashion'. I should have been less ambiguous in what I mean by fashion - I guess I mean 'fashion trends', in the way that Oscar Wilde meant it in the quote - thanks for pointing out the difference! 

I don't think fashion is a very accurate indicator of status. Sometimes people with plenty of money don't like to spend a lot on clothes, and I know people who will go hungry to buy the latest style! But you're right, it can give us a rough idea - particularly in the extreme cases you give as examples.

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## Tokis-Phoenix

> I would say that was more 'style of dress' than 'fashion'. I should have been less ambiguous in what I mean by fashion - I guess I mean 'fashion trends', in the way that Oscar Wilde meant it in the quote - thanks for pointing out the difference! 
> I don't think fashion is a very accurate indicator of status. Sometimes people with plenty of money don't like to spend a lot on clothes, and I know people who will go hungry to buy the latest style! But you're right, it can give us a rough idea - particularly in the extreme cases you give as examples.


I think people can mix fashion and social status up too much- it is not the fashion that is the only indication of status, but the formality and quality of the clothes. For example, we associate buisness suits with somone who has a well paid job, perhaps working in an office and who attends buisness meetings regually over an expensive cup of coffee, because many high status jobs demand you to wear formal smart clothes. 
If you go to work as a secretary in a giant trust company in the main entrance hall, you are not gonna go to work wearing some baggy ripped jeans or tie dye low cut top and worn down rubber trainers/shoes in your outfit, because you are there representing a company that makes a huge amount of money and you get paid a lot, and wearing stuff like that would be disrespectful to a company that pays you a tidy sum. So you invest some money in a nice buisness suit. People who see you in the street then asume you have a well paid or high status/important job because otherwise you wouldn't be wearing somthing like that. 
A rolex watch isn't a fashion statement though, its a wealth and social status statement more than anything else i think- rolex watches have lasted long enough now to be more than a fashion statement.
As for clothes fashions in general though...The only thing i don't like is how it can drastically effect peoples opinions of you in a negative way, simply because of what you wear. For example, i've never been a big follower of fashion at all, partly because i wear what i feel most comfortable in often regardless of the latest fashions, and partly because i couldn't afford to spend hundreds of pounds every month or season or whatever on new clothes...Most of my clothes i wear regually are many years old...Overall my day-to-day wear is pretty neutral looking most of the time. But on the other hand i collect kimono, and somtimes wear them too, but if i wore a kimono down the street in somerset/england people's opinions would probably drastically change and they'd think i was weird or somthing. So i would be lying if i said didn't care at all of what other people think of me, as a small part of me does(but i am trying to pluck up the courage to wear kimono outdoors anyways, as its somthing i love  :Bluush:  ). 
I've heard kimono is quite unfashional as a day-to-day wear with japans youth now days, most people don't even know how to put it on(given that it is quite a bit more complicated to put on and wear than say a t-shirt or jeans). Kimono is strongly tied in with formality, there are many types of kimono each suited for wearing in different situations(like townwear, going to a party, attending a wedding, visiting somone important etc), and kimono can tell a lot about you(for example in womens kimono, traditionally the length of the sleeves dictates the wearers age roughly, and wether they are married or not). Of course there's fashion in kimono like any other item/type of clothing, but the difference with kimono is that they are often passed down the familys generations, instead of being thrown away. Kimono that become too tattered to wear might be turned into somthing like a haori(overcoat), and once thats too worn to wear, it might be turned into somthing like straps for geta sandals or fabric for making tabi or purses out of etc. So tradionally, nothing is really wasted in traditional kimono fashion, like it often is with ours.

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## Kinsao

I love 'style', but I am extremely ignorant about 'fashion'.
I like to wear nice clothes, but I couldn't say what are the latest fashions, because I never bother to get magazines or find out about them in any way.
Of course, I see what is in the shops, and I guess you get the idea from seeing this and what other people are wearing.
I suppose you could say I choose the styles I like, but I don't care whether they are in fashion or not.
And I suppose too that the way you dress is an indicator about yourself (wasn't there a thread about that, somewhere?  :Clueless:  ). And sometimes you can see someone who is so obviously fashion-conscious it is painful, because they are wearing ultra-highly-fashionable clothes that look dreadful on them. There, I deduce that they feel somehow insecure, enjoy following fashion for a good feeling, but have no artistic visual sense at all!  :Blush: 
I might be wrong in my deduction, but that is the impression I get from such people.

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## Mycernius

A resurrected thread. Sheesh, the last person to come on this thread was four years ago. The OP has never come on to Eupedia and this thread pre-dates when Eupedia split. 
Check dates in future before replying to old threads.

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## Starlight

I love fashion and modeling.It's amazing and beautiful.Models are not unrealistic image of female beauty,as there are skinny women too.

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