Fashion in a Changing Age

What we wear speaks a lot about us. Whether you are wearing mens slacks, premium mens suits, tailored clothing, a tailored suit, trousers for men, trousers for women or anything in between, what you are wearing has an effect on the people around. It could be a small effect, it could be a large effect but it will always be there and it will always be changing the perspectives of people in your immediate vicinity. It can be tough, downright hard, to find the right clothes for you, especially when you aren’t sure what style fits you best. There are just so many styles to choose from and picking one out of all the styles that are modern and contemporary can be exhausting at the best of times. But the right look really can make a difference so you want to do it carefully. Often times, it depends on the exact occasion and circumstance going on around you. If you are going to a pool party, then you are not going to want to wear a tailored suit. Likewise, if you are going to a black tie event, then you are going to want to wear a tailored suit and you might want to forgo a bathing suit. You know, just in case the host looks at you funny. But, seriously, even when the dress code is fairly clear, there can still be a lot of questions regarding exactly what you should be wearing. When going to a tailored suit kind of event, should you wear a watch? What sort of evening gown should you wear? Are cuff links alright? There are so many questions and such little time to answer them. But don’t fret! It’s not the end of the world if you mess up a few fashion rules in the process of finding the style that works for you. The rules are there to be shattered, after all, and, so long as you are confident in yourself, there’s nothing wrong with going against the grain. After all, if you think about it, there really is no such thing as a grain in fashion. Things are always changing and evolving, clothing coming and going out of style as fast as it comes in. If you think that the style accident you made once is going to go down in the annals of fashion disaster history then you clearly haven’t seen pictures of people wearing bell bottom jeans. Let’s take a little look at fashion throughout history to get a real sense of this change.
When Fashion was Young
Fashion has always been used as a means of self expression. Really, fashion has never been anything but a very basic means of self or cultural expression from its very inception. From the tailored suit to the religious robe to, yes, even the bell bottom jeans, fashion has always been used to tie us together. To bind us and communicate who we are to the people around us. In ancient China, different clothing communicated the job of a person, their rank in society and their status as a merchant, a farmer, or whatever they were. Clothing was used a means of communication as well as a means of social order. The same could be said of ancient Greece or Persia, where fashion was tailored to all sorts of political and cultural pursuits such as trade or war. Often times if you were a leader, you would have the brightest and flashiest clothing to let people know of your status. The ancient kings and queens of Europe wore elaborate jewels and robes to communicate their power to their subjects, a practice that matriculated down to the people living in their court. Later on, this highly stylized clothing carried over into the more secular and independent governments of the Enlightenment and, subsequently, the modern day. Today, every culture has its own form of dress that is distinctly theirs but also mixes with others. Western street fashion is popular but there is an increasing trend towards some more eastern style influences as well. Tailored suits or not, fashion has always defined us and will continue to define us for centuries to come. The future awaits us!