Fashion Autonomy: The Role Of Economy, Politics And Religion

Quick and Easy Illustrations by Mai Manaloto

www.instagram.com/MaryAnnClothing

Fashion is perceived as frivolous and superficial compared to other forms of self-expression such as painting, dancing or music. The discourse of fashion is often confined to consumerism and fashion magazines, which it can be at times, but it can also be a lot more essence.

Fashion fosters independence and is an extension of one's self as it can be a visual manifestation of where an individual stands, colored by their history, emotions, politics and culture. The definition of freedom varies around the world due to religious beliefs, economic and political background as well as cultural nuances.

For instance, when we speak of women's appearances, Western fashion highly differs from that in the Middle East. The West has a tendency to be revealing to gain admiration from others whereas in the Middle East, admiration of appearance is done in the privacy of one's home and is often for the eyes of a spouse only. It is not for everyone to admire unlike in the West.

The concept of fashion in Western countries is based on freedom, particularly the freedom to express one's self. It tends to have more clothing varieties and options as there is more focus on the idea of individuality. Unlike in other cultures, where deviation from the norm of attire may be punishable by physical harm. In these cases, fashion choice is a form of protection rather than self-expression. 

It should be no surprise then that individuals express themselves more diversely in terms of fashion in the West as compared to countries where freedom of expression is limited and the emphasis on individuality is not encourage.

Economic prosperity and religion also play a big factor in the development of fashion autonomy. For example, in the Middle East, some individuals can be fashionable in the privacy of their homes despite their rather oppressive religious government.

Fashion typically requires moderate wealth to be able to consume such luxury and since oppressive regimes seldom lead to economic prosperity, it may appear that only democratic societies know how to appreciate and make use of fashion to its full extent. 

Fashion Epitome: A Westernized Paradigm

Quick and Easy Illustrations by Mai Manaloto

www.instagram.com/MaryAnnClothing

Fashion is defined as the prevailing style of dress. The Middle English term ‘fashion’ comes from the Old French term facon (in the sense ‘make, shape, appearance,’ also ‘a particular make or style’): from its Latin origin facere (‘do, make’) or factio.

It started when our primitive ancestors started wearing clothes which were typically made from plants, animal skin and bones. The bones were used as needles to sew fibers or hides together. However, given their primitive use of clothing, this style was a far cry from how fashion has come to be defined today. Hence this paradigm can be argued to not have been one where fashion existed.

That is if viewed from how fashion was defined during the renaissance period in Europe. During this period the term fashion became a widely used word, depicting the idea of clothing as a form of fashion. High fashion began to take off when royalties begun setting trends within their kingdom to establish social class to showcase their individuality. Cities such as Paris became the fashion hub of Westerners. During these times new ideas about fashion designs and methods of tailoring were spreading.

Under this definition, the appraisal of fashion and appearance was hierarchical with the tailored and sewn style of clothing from the West at its pinnacle. While on the other hand, the dress of primitive or indigenous people, those that are hand-loomed clothe draped on the body, or garments made from unprocessed fibers and grasses, was considered less valued as it did not fit this definition of fashion.

However, today’s marketing strategies have changed the concept of indigenous fashion. Indigenous fashion products such as woven textiles, Aztec prints, organic dyeing methods, and precious jewelry, are now considered as high-value products as a result of the Sustainable Fashion and Textile movements.

We can derive that the definition of fashion (tailored and sewn) encompasses only the Western, capitalist and socially mobile. This may mean that traditional and non-capitalist societies that still exist today (those that do not meet the definition standards, and therefore do not fit the word fashion) do not take part in its realm. But this does not mean they do not have fashion - in a sense of having a predominant style - within their community. A more appropriate term to use for this case would be ‘clothing’ rather than ‘fashion’. Clothing is a general term that includes fashion in its paradigm and it is not limited to the Westernized idea of a predominant style. Read more about Clothing at Misguided Fashion: The Misconception In Clothing

Source: The Fashion Reader by Linda Welters and Abby Lillethun (eds) (Berg, 2007)