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Introduction
Fashion refers to the dynamic trends in the preference of the use of a certain good or service. The term fashion is however heavily used in the clothing industry and it is sometimes taken to be synonymous with its trends. Normally, different fashionable trends exist in a given culture at any given time and thus fashion has contributed substantially to cultural trends. Therefore, fashion can be viewed as a constituent of culture. Due to fashion, items like clothing are dumped simply because they are outmoded. This essay analyzes contemporary evidence on Karl Marxs ideas about fashion desire. He argued that the whim for fashion is murderous and meaningless , Marx (Barthes, 2004, p. 1).
Fashion in the clothing industry
Fashion dominates the clothing industry that it has almost become synonymous with changes in clothing preferences. This industry is characterized by product seasonality due to its hyperinnovation. Different fashions in the clothing industry have different designs. Thus the industry faces considerable product-design instability. There is also a characteristic lack of standardization for a given design, which is also influenced by fashion trends. A given design is also made in different sizes to accommodate the variations in the body sizes of the customers (Templeton, 2003, p. 1). An example of how the lack of product standardization sometimes stems from fashion is the contemporary desire of women to have slim bodies. This makes to design clothes that are smaller than the person who wears them for the person to look thinner. This is because the designers have to comply with the fashion demands of the customers who buy and wear their designs. The fact that the clothes industry is characterized by the non-standardization of products from a specific design and their instability has led to problems in the industry associated with difficulties of mechanized production. Thus, the high level of innovation required in this industry necessitates flexibility in the methods used in production. This allows future changes in design specifications to be easily implemented without the need to obtain tools to accommodate the change. Thus, by using flexible means of production the clothing industry has been able to keep up with trends in fashion, releasing a myriad of designs at any given time. These designs are also released in a variety of tests like color, size etcetera (Arnold, 2001, p. 81).
The availability of different designs at any given time that conforms to fashion requirements provides fuel for the growth of the desire to meet fashion demands by society. This desire can become very disastrous because fashion is mostly an appreciation of change that is not guaranteed to be better. Fashion enthusiasm in the clothing industry, which is in the lead in comparison with all other industries, has diverse effects on the socio-political, cultural, and economic welfare of society. To start with, fashion is about being placed into a given social class. It may build the image of a person positively negatively. This is because fashion, especially clothing is not always appropriate for everybody. A certain design is made to suit a particular group of buyers. If a person, who does not belong to that, buys that design, it will probably make him/her look worse than he/she would look wearing clothes that are not in fashion but fits him/her better. Secondly, fashion whims can affect our social lives substantially (Briggs, 2008, p. 1). A person who is obsessed with the acquisition of newly designed clothes and clothes that are in fashion may use too much money on clothing that he/she may make them neglect other important needs like food, education, and health etcetera. This will seriously impact the life of this person. Consider a case where he/she prioritizes fashion over career development. In this case, the financial welfare of this person will be greatly affected since he/she is spending lots of money on fashion and their careers are possibly stagnant. Most of the fashion needs, especially in clothes, are fulfilled without the need for the item being acquired. New clothing is bought not because the existing clothes are outworn but because they are outmoded. This leads to the accumulation of a lot of clothes that are not necessarily needed. The outmoded clothes may be thrown away following fashionable acquisitions. This, arguably, amounts to wastefulness. It can, therefore, be argued that the gratification of fashion needs is disastrous. Karl Marx claimed that the desire developed by people to meet fashion expectations is murderous. With this, he meant that fashion desire can lead to a lot of problems that may slowly make one lose the meaning of life.
An essay on fashion would be incomplete without highlighting the effect of fashion on culture. Fashion designs have been progressively developed to erode certain cultural values (Loiterton, 2003, p. 1). These values such as appropriate dressing codes in different environments have been affected due to the competition in the fashion industry that has seen the creation of, arguably, inappropriate designs. Contemporary clothes designs are very different from the designs of the early twentieth century. This is evidenced in their difference in skin exposure, the material used, and sexual provocation. The dressing code for various occasions and places has also changed over the years. For example, the dressing code for the contemporary church is not as it was three decades ago. People are now attending church services in unbelievably provocative attire. This way, fashion has been crucial in changing cultural values (Hanssen, 2006, p. 35).
Fashion enthusiasm in the clothes industry is also, arguably, murderous. Provocative designs, especially those meant for sexual provocation, do not escape the appreciation of women. Most of these women develop a taste in these kinds of designs due to their ability to affect men and they wear them when they are sure they are to get an audience of men. They, therefore, wear these designs purposely to attract the attention of the men. This is especially evident in womens preferences for the most seductive designs that are designed showing way too much skin. To this effect, some of the enthusiasts of these kinds of designs may suffer humiliation or even assaults. Consider the following example. Inappropriate dressing in some functions or environments may make the victim be forced to leave the function or environment (Hochswender, 2008, p. 1).
Karl Marx predicted that the sewing machine would organize the clothing industry and form systematic production of clothing that would phase out the murderous and meaningless desires of conformance to fashion (Briggs, 2008, p. 1). Due to their cheap availability and unlimited entry into the industry, a lot of independent contractors who have been very helpful to brand owners and retailers emerged with the invention of the sewing machine. The brand owners and retailers give manufacturing contracts to the contractors and thus they outsource manufacturing to attain flexibility and cut down costs. This has led to mass production of a myriad of ready-made designs which in turn has been very critical in reducing fashion enthusiasm (Breward, 2003, p. 67).
Other trends of fashion and their effects
Fashion is not only confined to the clothing industry. It touches every aspect of life. The media, celebrity cults, catwalk presentations etcetera mount massive pressure on people who are obsessed with fashion. The targets of these pressures are obliged to live in conformity with preset ideas about fashion and beauty. This has led to a lot of undesirable issues in society. Some of these issues include eating disorders related to the quest for beauty, cosmetic surgery meant to maintain or improve body shapes and make people look more beautiful. The fad in the copying of the lifestyles we see in the media, like celebrity lifestyles, gives an account of the meaninglessness of both fashion and zeal to its conformance. Consider for example the fashion of body tattooing. Many people have tattoos only because they think that a certain celebritys tattoo looks good. Others may even do it because their friends have done it and they do not want to be the ones left out. Others may tattoo their bodies because they think that living without a tattoo is, kind of, outmoded. There are even several people who follow certain trends in tattooing their bodies. A person may start by tattooing the name of his/her mother and later yield to tattoo fashions of girlfriend/boyfriend names, technology logos, celebrity names or images, etc. We find ourselves doing things that are unnecessary just to conform to the trends in society and look up-to-date. You may find that after yielding into several tattoo pressures, ones body is filled with tattoos such that the body loses its attractiveness. Revisiting the issue of surgery, many people go for surgery because they know of somebody who has done the same. There are shocking statistics of people who have done breast enlargements and the like. These are things that can only be explained by fashion and psychological reasons. This is because the pressure that is characteristic of fashion reaches many people and only some yield into some of these things (Helland, 2008, p. 32).
Moreover, the influence of music and movies on the youth is also a representation of the power of fashion. Young people have always been affected by the character fashions of music celebrities and movie actors. Music videos have for a very long time acted as the dressing benchmark of the highly impressionable youth. Music video celebrities and movie actors are, to the youth, the epitome of social fitness. The conformance to fashions seen with music and movie celebrities has had a tremendous effect on youth behavior. It has contributed substantially to the issues of misbehavior evident in the youth today. The youth copy negative characters from music and movie celebrities thinking that they are cool. However, music and movies have also changed the youth for the better. The language of the young people who constructively copy movie language can be said to be improved. The same is true for those who copy the good characters of movie celebrities (Hoare, 2007, p. 1).
Conclusion
The desire to conform to fashion in the clothes industry can be reduced, but it can not be stopped. The industry itself is very dynamic in terms of the variety of designs with time and the multiplicity of manufactures of a single design. Thus these varieties are destined to develop fashions that instigate conformance enthusiasm in people whom they target. Although fashion enthusiasm might be detrimental, fashion forms a very important part of the culture. It is through fashion that new products are made, which leads to invention. Innovative products compete with other existing products to create new products that will impress potential customers. Buyers should, therefore, control their enthusiasm towards conformance to unnecessary and undoing fashion and use fashion productively by making wise spending and dressing decisions. Concerning the other fashions, it is very necessary that before we make a major fashion decision, we think carefully. Many people have regretted conforming to fashions that make them change their bodies permanently like having cosmetic surgery or having permanent tattoos. This is usually very bad especially because once a permanent tattoo is made or cosmetic surgery is done, it is not easy for things to get back the way they were. Fashion should therefore be used to benefit people and it should not be an obsession making people lose themselves to things they regret in the future. It should thus help people to get the best out of themselves and it should not bring the problems mentioned above. In summary, the negative side of fashion normally exhibits itself if we do not control ourselves and thus we should always control our passion for fashion.
Reference
Arnold, R. (2001). Fashion Desire and Anxiety. Web.
Barthes, R. (2004). The fashion system. Web.
Breward, C. (2003). Fashion. Web.
Briggs, A. (2008). The Murderous, meaningless caprices of fashion . Karl Marx, 1867, Capital (1). Web.
Hanssen, B. (2006). Walter Benjamin and the Arcades Project. Web.
Helland, J. (2008). Caprices of fashion. Web.
Hoare, S. (2007). Review- Fashion, Desire and Anxiety. Web.
Hochswender, W. (2008). Foresighted designers look to lingerie. Web.
Loiterton, A. (2003). Technology tattoos fashion or whim? Web.
Templeton, S. (2003). Caprice Bourret. Web.
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