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The Meaning of Clothing
and Fashion
Objectives
• Explain the basic reasons people wear
clothing.
• State why people make various clothing
choices.
• Describe fashion in terms of art and
science, and private and public awareness.
• Summarize economic and political
influences on fashion.
• Define basic fashion terms.
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Reasons for Wearing Clothing
• In ancient times, clothing of simple design
was made from animal skins, plants, and
other items found in nature
– Today, clothing is made of various materials
• Clothing satisfies these basic human needs
– physical
– psychological
– social
Physical Needs
• Clothing provides protection, or physical
safeguards
• As protection from weather, clothing provides
comfort
• As protection from environmental dangers,
clothing provides many benefits
– Shoes protect the feet
– Helmets protect the head in accidents
– Sterile gloves protect against germs
continued
Physical Needs
• As protection from occupation hazards,
special garments protect workers
– Special “occupational clothing” includes items
such as hard hats and safety goggles
– Athletes often wear protective helmets, gloves,
and pads
– Soldiers and police officers wear protective
clothing and shields
Psychological Needs
• Psychological reasons for wearing clothing
are adornment and identification
– Adornment, or attractive decoration, existed in
all civilizations throughout history
• Being adorned with clothing
– gives people a positive psychological feeling
– provides artistic expression
– shows creativity
continued
Psychological Needs
• Culture often determines the type of
adornment people use
– Culture is a society’s set of social norms or values
• How one culture views beauty can differ from
how others view it
• People’s ideas about beauty and adornment
change over time as fashions change
continued
Psychological Needs
• Identification is the process of describing
– who someone is
– what he or she does
• Clothing helps the identification process
– Example: Uniforms are specific to everyone
within a certain group
• Emblems, colors, badges, and jewelry also
aid identification
continued
Psychological Needs
• The regular clothing of many people can be
considered a type of “psychological uniform”
• Some businesses and schools have dress
codes, which are written or unwritten rules
of appropriate attire
• Clothes adhering to a dress code
– promote group identity
– help group members maintain a certain discipline
of behavior
Social Needs
• The social reasons for wearing clothing are
modesty and status
• Modesty is the covering of the body
according to a culture’s or a society’s code of
decency
– U.S. standards of modesty have changed through
the years
– Each society or culture has its own accepted
standards of modesty
continued
Social Needs
• Clothing is sometimes used to gain a higher
rank in society or to show social or military
rank
– A person’s status is his or her position or rank
compared to others
– “Good” or “high” status is usually associated with
recognition, prestige, and social acceptance
Combined Needs
• Today, people wear clothes because of a
combination of needs, which include
– receiving physical and psychological pleasure
– expressing creativity
– fulfilling basic physical and social needs
• Clothing carries a highly visible message
about who a person is, is not, or would like
to be
Why People Select Certain Clothes
• Clothing choices are influenced by a person’s
– personality traits
– tendencies toward conformity or individuality
– values and attitudes
• Values are the ideas, beliefs, and material
items that are important to an individual
• Attitudes are personal feelings or reactions
to people, things, or ideas
Values and Attitudes
• Clothing values and attitudes are passed
through the generations. Influences include
– ethnic and cultural traditions
– economic and social conditions
– different needs and values linked to populations of
certain ages
– personal desire for status, easy care, comfort, etc.
– advertising
Conformity Versus Individuality
• Pressure from other people has a great
influence on how people dress
– Conformity means obeying or agreeing with a
given standard or authority
• Children learn what they are expected to
wear from parents and teachers
• Peer group pressure also contributes to
conformity
continued
Conformity Versus Individuality
• Too much conformity can mean a loss of
personal individuality
– Individuality is self-expression or the quality
that distinguishes one person from another
• Most people balance the influences of
conformity and individuality in their clothing
– They want to express themselves as individuals
but also as part of a group
Personality Traits
• Personality can be defined as the total
characteristics that distinguish an individual
• Personality traits are often reflected in how
people dress
• People who prefer
– a lot of decoration tend to be very sociable
– comfortable clothes tend to be confident,
outgoing, and secure
Needs Versus Wants
• Needs and wants are other factors that
influence clothing choices
– Example of a need: a heavy coat that provides
warmth in a cold climate
– Example of a want: a new coat that is simply
more stylish
• A need is something a person must have for
existence or survival
continued
Needs Versus Wants
• A want is a person’s desire for something
that gives him or her satisfaction
– The wanted item would be nice to have, but the
person can get along without it
• Both needs and wants affect buyers’ choices
• Success in the fashion business depends on
understanding how consumers make apparel
decisions
Ongoing Fashion Perspectives
• Fashion is
– both an art and a science
– highly personal yet very public
– influenced by economic, political, and other
events
Fashion Insights
• As an art, fashion
– incorporates creativity in its products
– thrives on innovative, forward-thinking
ideas
– uses color, texture, line, and other aspects
of design to produce stylish items to wear
– complements current trends
Fashion Insights
• As a science, fashion uses science and
technology to
– produce textile fibers with specific qualities
– develop effective dyes for specific materials
– revolutionize the way apparel items are
designed, mass-produced, distributed, and
sold
Fashion Insights
• Fashion is a private matter.
– It satisfies physical, psychological, and
social needs
– Apparel choices reflect an individual’s
personal image outwardly to the public
– The textile/apparel industry keeps new
fashions secret as they are being designed
continued
Fashion Insights
• Fashion becomes a public matter as
soon as new fashions are introduced
– Fashion is constantly in the public spotlight
through the press and other media
– Consumers excitedly anticipate seeing,
hearing about, and wearing the new
fashions
– Fashion is affected by shifts in the economy
and the makeup of the population
Economic, Political, and Other
Influences on Fashion
• Fashion reflects economic conditions, political
issues, current events, and popular
entertainment
• Fashions mirror the times
– Centuries ago, people dressed according to what
was allowed for their “social class”
– Rare and expensive items such as silk, pearls,
and the purple coloring became status symbols
continued
Economic, Political, and Other
Influences on Fashion
• People’s moods are reflected in the way they
dress
• In hard times
– clothing usually has a serious, conservative look
– people loose interest in their appearance
• In better times
– styles are brighter and more adventurous
– people are more willing to try different fashions
Industry Facts
• Popular entertainment causes fashions to
imitate a character of a movie, an actor, or
a rock star
• As movies, concerts, and other modes of
entertainment are publicized, consumers
want to identify with them
• Fashion professionals stay aware of all the
ways that apparel relates to society
Fashion Terminology
• A garment is an article of wearing apparel,
such as a dress, suit, coat, or sweater
– Examples of garment parts: sleeves, cuffs, collar,
and waistband
• Accessories are the articles added to
complete or enhance apparel outfits
– Examples of accessories: belts, hats, jewelry,
shoes, gloves, and scarves
continued
Fashion Terminology
• A style is identified by distinct features that
create an overall appearance
• Styles exist in architecture, painting, music,
and most other forms of expression
• In apparel, each style is a particular design,
shape, or type of garment with unique
characteristics
– Examples: A-line skirts, Bermuda shorts, safari
jackets, and crewneck sweaters
continued
Fashion Terminology
• The term style also describes an attractive
condition
– Certain trendsetters and fashion leaders are said
to have style or to be stylish
• Fashion is the display of the currently
popular style of objects or activities
– In apparel, a fashion is the leading type of
clothing bought and worn by a large segment of
the public
continued
Fashion Terminology
• Fashions consist of the styles, colors, and
functionalities favored at a particular time
– Styles come and go in fashion acceptance,
causing fashions to constantly change
• High fashion items, which are the latest or
newest fashions, usually are
– innovative, expensive, and of fine quality
– accepted by the first adopters of fashion changes
– considered too extreme or unusual for the public
continued
Fashion Terminology
• Mass fashion, or volume fashion, accounts
for the majority of sales in the fashion
business
• These styles are called “homogenized”
because they are
– produced in large quantities
– accepted by the mass public
Industry Facts
• A design is a particular or unique style
version
– Example: A jumpsuit (pants attached to a top)
can have different collars, pockets, or trims.
Each version is a different design of the jumpsuit
style
• The terms style and design
– have distinct definitions
– are often used interchangeably in the fashion
industry
Fashion Terminology
• Avant-garde clothes are the most daring
and wild designs
– They are too unconventional and startling to be
considered fashions of the times
• Most features of these garments
– disappear after a few years
– are used to draw attention to the wearer, often
on stage
continued
Fashion Terminology
• A fad is a temporary, passing fashion
– It is an unusual garment, accessory, or look that
has great appeal to many people for a short
period of time
• Fads provide a
– feeling of adventure for the wearers
– sense of belonging to a group
• Eventually, most fads fade away
continued
Fashion Terminology
• A classic style or design is one that
continues to be popular over an extended
period of time
• A garment of classic style or design
– has simple, stylish lines that prevent it from
being easily dated
– is almost always acceptable
– can have an updated look with only minor
changes
continued
Fashion Terminology
• A fashion look refers to a total accessorized
outfit
– Specific fashion looks are often identified with a
celebrity or certain groups of people
• In fashion, taste refers to the prevailing
opinion of what is attractive and appropriate
– Good taste means sensitivity to what is
artistically pleasing and appropriate for a given
person and occasion
In Summary
• People wear clothing to satisfy physical,
psychological, and social needs
• A person’s values and attitudes play an
important part in clothing selection
• Fashion is both an art and a science,
involving creative thinking as well as
technology
• Success in the fashion business requires
the understanding of clothing and
fashion terms

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The Meaning of Clothing

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