Fashion is a term that expresses the current styles of clothing and body adornment. It is an expression of cultural values and the current mode of dress, grooming and body language, all influenced by a range of factors including socioeconomic status, time of year, social events and media attention. A clothing item is considered to be a fashion once it has entered the marketplace and become well accepted by society at large, and once it is no longer in style it becomes a fad.
The fashion industry consists of designers, manufacturers and retailers of clothing. A small number of fashion companies produce innovative high-fashion garments. Others produce moderate-priced or budget lines. A few manufacture all or some of their own apparel while most rely on separately owned manufacturing companies or contractors to create clothing to the fashion company’s design and specifications. Manufacturers often produce several fashion line collections a year and deliver them to retail stores at predetermined times during the year.
For some, modern fast-paced changes in fashion exemplify many of the negative aspects of capitalism; they feel that it results in waste and encourages people to buy unnecessarily. However, other people enjoy the diversity that the constantly changing fashions offer and look forward to new trends and excitement.
For the most part, it is a good idea to avoid fads and focus on classic, flattering shapes that work with your figure. A good place to start is with classic clothing pieces like a fitted blazer, tailored pencil skirt or straight, slightly wide trousers and a solid color, tucked in blouse or sweater. When choosing colors, remember that dark colors, especially blacks, look great on most everyone and are always in style.
