How are fashion and appearance central to the construction of social Essay - 1

How are fashion and appearance central to the construction of social identities Discuss, with reference to specific examples - Essay Example Fashion has always directed humans to create a self-identity and is craved according to the geographical location and cultural or religious discourse. Dress is not just mere apparel; it is symbolic of social, cultural and economic identity. It is a very poignant determining factor for social status and cultural block. Looking at the fashion of a gentleman or lady, one can determine the respective class, society or his geographical belonging. Thus, dress is a medium to hide many lacunas of human life and characteristics with gleaming shine or brightness. Since the inception of fashion in human civilization, it had been quite instrumental in designing and determining socio-cultural identity transcended sometime beyond the mere periphery of ethnic identity. The greatest instance in this regard is the subculture that evolved from the Lolita culture in Japan. A fashion statement which becomes so popular in the Asian province of Japan, actually originated from the Victorian style of clothing. With this the fashion trend from the Rocco period also influenced the Lolita fashion. Lolita fashion attained its unique stature by mingling gothic elements into the pertaining fashion statement to its context. Through the passage of time, Lolita fashion has evolved into myriad of sub styles which gave birth to a devoted subculture in Japan. The Lolita look essentially consists of a skirt or dress up to knee-length along with a few other kinds of dress elements such as headdress, blouse, petticoat, knee high shocks along with shoes that are of rocki ng horse kind or high heel or platform shoes (Yoshinaga & Ishikawa, 2007). The exact origination of Lolita fashion is not clear but it gained its popularity and started reaching many parts of the world during the movement that started during the period of late 1970s when famous brands and labels namely Pink House, Milk and Angelic Pretty began to sell clothes that was about to be considered as