A Definition of Fashion
Fashion is an umbrella term for the myriad of styles and trends that exist today, as well as the many different sub-categories that overlap significantly within this larger umbrella. The word “fashion” itself, however, has been used more broadly in recent years to refer to the artistic and fashionable movements of a time and era. The word “fashions” describes categories of designs, themes, fashions, or patterns that are used in a dressing or attire item that is considered to be fashionable. The word “culture” refers to the informal, individualistic, and often democratic political culture of certain areas or nations. It also typically refers to particular materials, techniques, or historical manifestations of those themes.
Fashion is typically defined in terms of style, where clothes are considered to be fashionable when the items are designed in a manner that meets the tastes, preferences, needs, or thoughts of the people who are buying them. Although some elements may overlap significantly between these two concepts, such as functionality and individualism, there are many different areas that are left undefined in this definition. In general, fashion is typically used to describe items that fall into one of several broad categories. Clothing that falls into the category of “American fashion,” for example, would fall under the broader category of “American fashion.” The various subcategories often reflect differences in regional tastes and preferences.
As fashion becomes more specific and diverse over time, it becomes more difficult to measure how much of each particular style or trend is represented by actual retailers. Retailers often make fashion claims about a product based on their own personal definitions of style and often claim that a new style is here when they have not actually been selling that fashion item for many years. As a result, retailers have become skilled at identifying trends from a distance and coming up with general descriptions or catch phrases for describing the items in their stores. This ability has made the job of fashion critics much easier than it once was.