Fashion Gender And Social Identity

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Whilst thinking about a lustrous suit, the first thought that comes to mind is that of a man wearing the suit. Similarly, whilst thinking about a fabulous dress, a picture of a woman in that dress emerges. Although these are just ordinary pieces of clothes, these garments cause people to imagine who would or how would these garments be worn. “Clothes mean nothing until someone lives in them” was said by the famous fashion designer Marc Jacobs. Sadly, the people of the 21st century always try to extract some form of meaning from garments, even if they aren’t worn by an individual in particular. The connection between clothing and gender contains a gray area and can be quite tough for the people that do not fall within a specific gender convention…show more content…
In the essay “Fashion, Gender and Social Identity”, Arvanitidou and Gasouka extensively analysed the connection between an individual and clothing. They believed that clothing has a vital role in communication between an individual and the world outside because the individuals’ body is a link between oneself and the community and the dress has a very close proximity to the body (Arvantidou and Gasouka). An individual uses dressing as a method to portray the opinions of themselves. Robin Givhan, the Pulitzer Prize winning fashion journalist, said in an interview, that fashion is used as a tool to express and it “captures whether or not we choose to be on trend,” (Shah). He spoke a lot more about the link between clothing and individual but with regards to the pillars of fashion. Subscription to a trend can provide as much information about an individuals’ identity as not subscribing to a trend. The pillars of fashion categorize people from the ones who are passionate about it to the people who are “belligerence towards fashion and are very stern in the announcing of their lack of interest in the subject,” (Shah). This is one of the most beautiful features of about fashion. It alowes the people to showcase themselves either through a dress or through no dress. In his article, Shah quotes an extract from Joanne Entwistles ‘Addressing the Body’ who says “ ‘all people ‘dress’ the body in some way, be it through clothing, tattooing, cosmetics or other forms of body painting . . . no culture leaves the body unadorned but adds to, embellishes, enhances or decorates the body . . . Dress is the way in which individuals learn to live in their bodies and feel at home in them.’

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