Fashion and Identity
Fashion and Identity
It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible. * Oscar Wilde
I wear my own kind of dress, something that I love, but in doing so, I am displaying my style to all those around me, and in this I will respond to your exhibit, even as you will respond to mine. That the clothes we wear make a statement is itself a statement that in this age of heightened reserve, fashion has become a cliché. But what is the nature of the statement we make with our hats, cosmetics, perfumes and coiffures, not to mention other material object d'art we surround ourselves with? Isn’t clothing in effect a visual language with its own distinctive grammar, syntax and lexis? The vicinity of fashion is one in which we uphold a language of signs and meanings collectively.
The resulting general makeup then is not that of common action but rather that of mutual display. It matters to each of us that we act as if others are present, as witnesses of what we are doing, and thus as co-determiners of the meaning of our action. Appearance is something that carries heavy weight age in terms of who a person is and wants to be, and that’s why people go to such great extents to look certain ways or to represent a certain style.
The most widespread way of self expression is body modification. Body Modification can be catalogued as anything from clipping your finger nails to plastic surgery, and everything in between. One of the more popular ways of expressing who you are through modifying your body is by getting tattooed. In the past, tattoos were commonly thought of as trash or bad. One would often relate them to bikers, rock and heavy metal stars, pirates or gangsters. That perception has considerably changed over the years.
Nowadays, tattoos are significant because they represent and signify different things to different people. Tattoos give people the chance to show society, without dialogue, a
It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible. * Oscar Wilde
I wear my own kind of dress, something that I love, but in doing so, I am displaying my style to all those around me, and in this I will respond to your exhibit, even as you will respond to mine. That the clothes we wear make a statement is itself a statement that in this age of heightened reserve, fashion has become a cliché. But what is the nature of the statement we make with our hats, cosmetics, perfumes and coiffures, not to mention other material object d'art we surround ourselves with? Isn’t clothing in effect a visual language with its own distinctive grammar, syntax and lexis? The vicinity of fashion is one in which we uphold a language of signs and meanings collectively.
The resulting general makeup then is not that of common action but rather that of mutual display. It matters to each of us that we act as if others are present, as witnesses of what we are doing, and thus as co-determiners of the meaning of our action. Appearance is something that carries heavy weight age in terms of who a person is and wants to be, and that’s why people go to such great extents to look certain ways or to represent a certain style.
The most widespread way of self expression is body modification. Body Modification can be catalogued as anything from clipping your finger nails to plastic surgery, and everything in between. One of the more popular ways of expressing who you are through modifying your body is by getting tattooed. In the past, tattoos were commonly thought of as trash or bad. One would often relate them to bikers, rock and heavy metal stars, pirates or gangsters. That perception has considerably changed over the years.
Nowadays, tattoos are significant because they represent and signify different things to different people. Tattoos give people the chance to show society, without dialogue, a