In Defense of Fashion

The week before our final exam, we spent some time in my 20th century fashion history class digesting what we had learned. Part of our discussion centered on the idea of being “seduced” by fashion, and how something can look chic and “in” one year and ugly and outdated the next. Conventional wisdom assumes that things that are fleeting are bad, and it is wrong to be interested in something that will eventually fade. But my professor made some fascinating statements that I can’t stop thinking about. Here is my paraphrasing of what she said:

Have you ever looked at an old picture of yourself and cringed at how you were dressed? Been embarrassed by some crazy dated look that you once sported? Even if you don’t “follow” fashion you probably had a hairstyle or a certain cut of pants, or shirt design that reflected a pervasive look that was “in” at the time (sort of the way Star Wars was intended to be timeless but was clearly made in the 70s). You think, “How was it possible I thought that looked good? I was such an idiot back then!” But really, you shouldn't feel bad. You were seduced by fashion, and are simply under the spell of a different style now. Fashion, by its very nature, is ephemeral. One of its functions is marking the passage of time. To surrender to fashion is to acknowledge change, both in yourself and the world around you. When you wear something influenced by fashion, you are identifying yourself as belonging to your time.