HOW DOES FASHION FLOW THROUGH SOCIETY?

When observing how the flow of fashion changes in society, it involves an analysis of consumers who adopt fashion and their consumption behavior.[1]Consumers are a part of a “system of multilayered hierarchy among people.”[2]Fashion throughout the multilayered hierarchy is a process of imitation where the lower end of the social spectrum imitates the fashion behavior of the higher class in attempt to reach a higher social status.[3]

Veblen was one of the first theorists who related fashion and dress with consumption and analyzed that clothing and fashion was a way in which a group competed among themselves to gain prestige and social status.[4]He argued that the function of fashion and dress is to display the wearer’s wealth by their consumption.[5]He calls this conspicuous consumption and defines it as the quantity of clothing one owns that exceeds the need of daily wear. The less functional a piece or garment is, the more it symbolizes high class with the exception that it has to be appropriate for the present time.He applies his theory to the dominant group in the social class called the leisure class.[6]

Within the social class influence, one aspect for the flow of fashion is the psychological tendency of imitation. Imitation can be characterized as a “transition of group life into individual life.”[7]It gives the individual the assurance of not standing alone. According to Spencer, imitation can be grouped into two sections. Reverential imitation which is respect for the one imitated and competitive imitation which is the desire to emphasize equality with a person.[8]  Therefore, the lower class seeks to gain attention by emulating the upper class. This is called the “trickle-down” theory which was first introduced by Simmel.[9]He argued that upper-class members introduce changes, the middle class expresses their changing relationship to the upper class and the social class by imitating the styles set by the upper class. However, as soon as this “trickle-down” theory has completed its cycle, the elite changes its style to reinforce social hierarchy.[10]So, fashion is considered a vehicle of conspicuous consumption and upward mobility. However, throughout time with the rise of ready-to-wear and youth culture which began in 1960,[11]social change proponents claim that fashion moves horizontally between social levels also known as the “trickle-across” theory.[12]This development tends to move across socioeconomic groups with a little interval of time.[13]“Trickle-up” or “bubble-up” pattern is the newest fashion theory movement. Here the innovation is initiated from the street and subcultures and adopted by the lower income class and eventually flows to upper income groups. Examples of this distribution is Chanel, who believed fashion ideas originated from the streets and then were adopted by couture designers.[14]

As the standards of society immensely changed from the time of Simmel’s original “trickle-down” theory in 1904, a steady flow of criticism amongst the scholarly community has evolved. Grant McCracken (1985) rehabilitated Simmel’s theory by relating it to gender and debated that it did not account for the multilayered, socioeconomic system that actually existed.[15]Huun and Kaiser (2000) demonstrated how the basic elements of imitation and differentiation can occur in terms of age and gender. Furthermore, Cook and Kaiser (2004) reinterpreted the “trickle-down” theory to explain the downsizing of teen and adult fashion.[16]

In conclusion, Simmel and Veblen early recognized, in their time, the flow of fashion and were able to distinguish the attributes of consumption. Given the changed standards in society through new influences, the theories may be critiqued but substantially still exist. Thus, the flow of fashion may originate in the upper levels of society or the street, but the origin of fashion always requires a new look. 

[1]Yuniya Kawamura, "Adoption and Consumption of Fashion", in Fashion-ology: An Introduction to Fashion Studies, (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2005), accessed October 04, 2017, DOI: 10.2752/9781847888730/FASHOLOGY0008.

[2]Katalin Medvedev, "Social Class and Clothing", in The Berg Companion to Fashion, edited by Valerie Steele. (Oxford: Bloomsbury Academic, 2010), accessed October 03, 2017. https://0-www.bloomsburyfashioncentral.com.library.scad.edu/products/berg-fashion-library/encyclopedia/the-berg-companion-to-fashion/social-class-and-clothing.

[3]YuniyaKawamura, "FashionandSociology",in BibliographicalGuides(London:BloomsburyAcademic, 2015), accessedOctober03, 2017, DOI: 10.5040/9781474280655-BIBART11002.

[4]Thorstein Veblen, Warren J. Samuels, Marc R. Tool, and Dopfer Kurt, The theory of leisure class: an economic study in the evolution of institutions, (Düsseldorf: Verlag Wirtschaft          und Finanzen, 2000).

[5]Michael Carter, "Veblen, Thorstein" in The Berg Companion to Fashion, edited by Valerie Steele (Oxford: Bloomsbury Academic, 2010), accessed October 03, 2017. https://0-www.bloomsburyfashioncentral.com.library.scad.edu/products/berg-fashion-library/encyclopedia/the-berg-companion-to-fashion/veblen-thorstein.

[6]Yuniya Kawamura, Fashion-ology: An Introduction to Fashion Studies(New York, Bloomsbury USA Academic, 2018), 20.

[7]Georg Simmel, "ThePhilosophyofFashion", ClassicandModernWritingsonFashion(Oxford:Berg, 2009), BloomsburyFashionCentral, accessedOctober 3, 2017. https://0-www.bloomsburyfashioncentral.com.library.scad.edu/products/berg-fashion-library/book/classic-and-modern-writings-on-fashion/the-philosophy-of-fashion.

[8]Kawamura, Fashion-ology: An Introduction to Fashion Studies,20.

[9]Maria Mackinney-Valentin, "Trends", Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion: Global Perspectives, (Oxford: Berg, 2010), accessed October 03, 2017, DOI: 10.2752/BEWDF/EDch10022.

[10]Medvedev.

[11]Mackinney-Valentin.

[12]Marilyn Revell DeLong, "Fashion, Theories of", in The Berg Companion to Fashion, edited by Valerie Steele. (Oxford: Bloomsbury Academic, 2010), accessed September 21, 2017, https://0-www.bloomsburyfashioncentral.com.library.scad.edu/products/berg-fashion-library/encyclopedia/the-berg-companion-to-fashion/fashion-theories-of.

[13]Mackinney-Valentin.

[14]DeLong.

[15]Anette Lynch and Mitchell D. Strauss. "Fashion as Collective Behavior", In Changing Fashion: A Critical Introduction to Trend Analysis and Meaning, (Oxford: Berg, 2007), accessed October 03, 2017, doi.org.library.scad.edu/10.2752/9781847883766/CHANGFASH00010006.

[16]SusanB.Kaiser, "Trickle-Down", in TheBergCompaniontoFashion, editedbyValerieSteele. (Oxford:BloomsburyAcademic, 2010), accessedOctober03, 2017. https://0-www.bloomsburyfashioncentral.com.library.sc­­­­ad.edu/products/berg-fashion-library/encyclopedia/the-berg-companion-to-fashion/trickle-down.