What Is Fashion?
Back to Table of Contents
Chapter 1
What Is Fashion?
What Is Fashion?
Introducing Fashion
Fashion History
2
What Is Fashion?
Chapter Objectives
Explain the different definitions of fashion.
Identify the merchandise categories of fashion.
Explain the difference between style and design.
Identify the needs satisfied by clothing.
Discuss the early history of clothing.
Name some influential people in fashion industry.
Identify specific styles in the 20th century.
3
Fashion Defined
Definitions of Fashion
In the apparel industry, fashion is the existing type of clothing
that is preferred by a large segment of the public.
To many people, fashion is a current trend that is popular for
frivolous reasons.
To some people, fashion is a precise style of dress or behavior
that is acceptable in one year, but not in another.
To retailers, fashion is whatever is currently selling.
To sociologists, fashion represents a way of social interaction
and status seeking.
Section 1.1
4
What Is Fashion?
Merchandise Categories
Fashion retailers group
merchandise into
categories—basic
merchandise and fashion
merchandise.
fashion merchandise
goods that are popular
at a particular time
staple items basic
merchandise that
customers purchase on
a regular basis
Staple items are in the
basic merchandise category.
Section 1.1
5
What Is Fashion?
Fashion Basics
To be successful in the
fashion industry, designers,
producers, marketers, and
retailers must have an
understanding of basic
fashion terms, such as style
and design.
Section 1.1
style a particular
shape or type of apparel
item identified by the
distinct features that
make it unique
design a particular or
unique version of a style
because of a specific
arrangement of the
basic design elements
6
What Is Fashion?
Fashion Basics
A retail customer may
select a garment based
on its color.
Section 1.1
garment any article of
clothing, such as a
dress, suit, coat, or
sweater
7
What Is Fashion?
Fashion Basics
The three dimensions of color are:
Hue—the quality of the color
Value—the lightness or darkness of a color
Intensity—the brightness or dullness of a color
Section 1.1
8
What Is Fashion?
Fashion Basics
Line is an element of design that directs the
path of eye movement.
Shape, or silhouette, is the overall form or
outline of a garment.
Texture is how the surface of a material, or
fabric, feels and looks.
Function refers to the intended use or purpose
of an object.
Section 1.1
9
Fashion Basics
Color
Line
Design
Elements
Texture
Section 1.1
Shape
10
What Is Fashion?
What Are Fashion
Products?
Fashion is anything that has strong appeal at a
given time.
Fashion is is usually determined by taste.
Taste refers to the current opinion of what is
attractive and appropriate for an individual and
occasion.
Section 1.1
11
What Is Fashion?
What Are Fashion
Products?
Fashion products include:
Clothing
Section 1.1
Accessories
Home
Furnishings
12
What Is Fashion?
The Importance of Fashion
Economic and political trends, current events, and
social issues are often reflected in fashion.
Fashion serves as a historical record of culture
and lifestyle.
Section 1.1
13
What Is Fashion?
Importance to People
Personal appearance can identify social position
and reflect a person’s self-image.
Section 1.1
14
What Is Fashion?
Economic Importance
Fashion is one of the world’s largest industries.
It affects the global economy and local economies.
Section 1.1
15
What Is Fashion?
Economic Importance
Fashion can be a reflection of the economic
environment.
When people are unable to satisfy their basic
needs for food and shelter, style becomes less
important.
Section 1.1
16
What Is Fashion?
1.1
1.
What is the difference between style and
design?
2.
What are four basic elements of design?
3.
How do economic conditions affect fashion?
Section 1.1
17
What Is Fashion?
Earliest Clothing
The earliest clothing dates from about 20,000 B.C.
The earliest clothes were developed primarily for
protection from the weather and environment.
The earliest clothes were made of fur, animal skin,
leaves, and grass.
Section 1.2
18
What Is Fashion?
Why People Wear Clothes
People have three basic clothing needs:
Physical needs: protection and safety
Psychological needs: appearance enhancement
Social needs: affiliation and standards
Section 1.2
19
Why People Wear Clothes
Physical Needs
• protection
• safety
Why
Clothing?
Psychological
Needs
• identity
• adornment
• cultural identity
Section 1.2
Social Needs
• affiliation/fitting in
• standards
20
What Is Fashion?
Sources of Clothing
History
The evolution of dress can represent a visual
history of a culture.
Sources of clothing history include:
Actual
garments
Section 1.2
Old
paintings
Fashion
publications
Photographs
Written
publications
21
What Is Fashion?
Fashion Through the Ages
Centuries ago, people dressed according to what
society allowed for the social classes.
The wealthy class dictated fashion.
During the 18th century, political and social shifts
contributed to the growth and influence of the
middle or working class.
Section 1.2
22
What Is Fashion?
Fashion Through the Ages
During the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s,
garments began being mass-produced.
The invention of photography influenced the
spread of styles.
The fashion magazine Vogue was first
published in 1892.
Section 1.2
23
What Is Fashion?
Historical Trendsetters
Elizabeth I
– Clothing indicator of social status
Louis XIV
– Sent life-size fashion dolls to every European court
Marie Antoinette
– Trendsetter for ornate styles
Section 1.2
24
What Is Fashion?
Historical Trendsetters
George Bryan “Beau”
Brummell
– Dandyism
Jacqueline Kennedy
Onassis
dandyism during the
1880s, a style of dress
for men and a lifestyle
that celebrated elegance
and refinement
– Understated elegance
The Beatles
– “Mop-top” hairstyles
Section 1.2
25
What Is Fashion?
Fashion: 20th Century to
the Present
The Early 1900s
In 1909, Vogue features new loose-fitting
clothing for women.
Women stop wearing corsets.
Skirts get slightly shorter.
The invention of rayon leads to more
functional clothing.
Section 1.2
26
What Is Fashion?
Fashion: 20th Century to
the Present
The 1920s
Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel introduces sportswear
garments and trousers for everyday wear.
Chanel promotes the style of the “flappers.”
Chanel introduces the “little black dress.”
The “one-hour dress” is invented by the
Women’s Fashion Institute.
Styles are simpler.
Section 1.2
27
What Is Fashion?
Fashion: 20th Century to
the Present
The 1930s–1950s
Movie stars set trends for hair, makeup, and
clothes.
Nylon is invented by DuPont.
To save fabric during wartime, hemlines
become shorter.
Simple styles represent patriotism during
wartime.
American designers become more prominent.
Section 1.2
28
What Is Fashion?
Fashion: 20th Century to
the Present
The 1930s–1950s
Women’s styles become
more traditionally
feminine in the 1950s.
Christian Dior launches a
new style in 1947 called
the New Look.
Section 1.2
New Look a style of
the 1940s that featured
long hemlines, narrow
shoulders, and tightly
fitted bodices with long,
full, or narrow skirts
29
What Is Fashion?
Fashion: 20th Century to
the Present
The 1960s
Social changes, world
events, and music affect
fashion.
New synthetic fibers are
invented.
Hippie style appears.
Section 1.2
hippie style of the
1960s, a fashion
consisting of clothing
from the Middle and Far
East, bright colors,
peasant embroidery,
cheesecloth, and safari
jackets
30
What Is Fashion?
Fashion: 20th Century to
the Present
The 1970s
Disco style appears.
Section 1.2
disco style of the
1970s, a fashion
consisting of gold lamé,
leopard print, stretch
halter jumpsuits, and
white clothing that
glowed under ultraviolet
lighting
31
What Is Fashion?
Fashion: 20th Century to
the Present
The 1970s
Punk fashion appears.
Section 1.2
punk fashion of the
1970s, a style featuring
intentionally torn clothing
worn by young people
with limited income, such
as students and the
unemployed
32
What Is Fashion?
Fashion: 20th Century to
the Present
The 1970s
Feminist movement
influences women’s
styles.
Section 1.2
feminist movement of
the 1970s, the organized
effort to establish equal
social, economic, and
political rights and
opportunities for women;
influenced women’s
fashions with shorter
hemlines and the pantsuit
for the workplace
33
What Is Fashion?
Fashion: 20th Century to
the Present
The 1980s
Professional women adopt “the power look.”
Business-casual attire appears.
High-quality products become available at
moderate prices.
Stretchy, synthetic athletic wear becomes
popular.
Section 1.2
34
What Is Fashion?
Fashion: 20th Century to
the Present
The 1990s
Americans begin
dressing less formally.
Grunge style appears.
grunge a style started by
the youth culture in the
Pacific Northwest region of
the United States in the
early 1990s; it is messy,
uncombed, and disheveled
Fashion industry begins
to lose the ability to
dictate trends.
Section 1.2
35
What Is Fashion?
Fashion: 20th Century to
the Present
Fashion Today
Consumers make well-informed choices about
what to wear, where to shop, and how much to
spend on products.
Fashion makers and marketers need to be
more informed and aware of customer wants
and needs.
Section 1.2
36
What Is Fashion?
Celebrity Fashion History
Operating
an e-tail
business
on of
anaelectronic
channel—the
Historical
fashions
remind
people
time and place.
When
Web—can
belaunched
costly, due
design,
delivery,
and to
Jennifer
Lopez
hertonew
perfume
Still, returns,
she wanted
operating
expenses.
attract
a more
sophisticated consumer than the 15- to 25-year
olds who spent $40 million in 2002 on her first scent Glow.
Though Many larger dot-com companies crashed in the
1990’s,
small stores
likewas
Harris
Cyclery
West Newton,
The
ad campaign
for Still
designed
toof
highlight
Jennifer
Massachusetts, actually increase sales using a basic Web
Lopez’s
movie-star
It featured
her in a 1950s
site. Today,
a thirdglamour.
of Harris’s
bicycle business
rides Marilyn
in on
Monroe
dress
andhard-to-find
curls. The advertising
campaign
uses all
the Web
to get
parts and personal
service.
media, including the Internet and Lopez’s official Web site, to
reach
the widest
possible market.
Describe
an e-business’s
home page to your class after
viewing one through marketingseries.glencoe.com.
For more information, go to marketingseries.glencoe.com.
Section 1.2
37
What Is Fashion?
1-2
1. What three basic needs are satisfied by the
use of clothing?
2. How did World War II affect the fashion
industry?
3. What fashion trends emerged in the 1980s?
Section 1.2
38
What Is Fashion?
Checking Concepts
1. Define fashion
according to retailers.
2. Explain the meaning of
style.
3. Discuss the four
elements of design.
4. Name three needs
satisfied by clothing.
continued
four
of
1. The
2.
3.
4.
Retailers
Style
physical
is elements
aneeds,
view
particular
design
include:
fashion
shape
psychological
orastypecolor,
of
with dimensions of hue,
whatever
apparel
needs,
and
item,
is social
such
value, and intensity;
currently
as
needs
selling.
or
line,aormini-skirt
distinct,
Capri pants,
elongated
marks that
direct
the path
eye
identified
by of
the
movement;
shape, the
distinct features
overall form or outline
that
make it unique.
of a garment; and
Style
texture,becomes
or how the
fashionofwhen
it
surface
a material
feels
and looks.
becomes
popular.
39
What Is Fashion?
Checking Concepts
5. Identify the materials
used to make clothing
as early as 20,000 B.C.
6. Name a person in
England who influenced
fashion in the 16th century.
7. Identify some factors
that affected fashion in
the 1940s.
continued
5. Queen
6.
7.
1940sclothing
Early
fashion
Elizabeth
was
was
I
made of by
affected
natural
products such
Hollywood
styles,
as
fur, animal
World
War skin,
II,
leaves, and grass.
technological
developments such
as synthetic fibers,
and French
designer Christian
Dior.
40
What Is Fashion?
Checking Concepts
Critical Thinking
8. Discuss how the
feminist movement may
have influenced clothing
styles in the 1970s.
8. The feminist
movement focused
on social,
economic, and
political equality for
women, and
influenced styles
such as shorter
skirts and the
pantsuit for the
workplace.
41
End of
What Is Fashion?
Back to Table of Contents
What Is Fashion?
43