Every generation laughs at old fashion trends but religiously follows the latest ones. That explains the quick changes, sometimes queer and grotesque, that come about in the vast domain of fashion,
remarks I.M.Soni

FASHION inspires one with the desire to seem rather than to be.

Another of its characteristics is that every generation laughs at the old trends but religiously follows the latest one. That explains the quick changes, sometimes queer and grotesque, that come about in the vast domain of fashion. Watch the "f" channel on TV and you are convinced, in the words of E.H. Chapin that "it is almost a moral swindle."

It is a tyrant. Like a foul mood, it is a whimsical master. It interferes with nature and diminishes her grace and beauty. "The wise are never the first to follow, nor the last to keep it."

A particular fashion is popular for a few months before it is replaced by another. That is why Oscar Wilde said: "It is so ugly that we have to change it every six months!"

Yet, sadly, it has become a great governor of our world. If poets were the unacknowledged legislators of the world, fashion models have become the acknowledged leaders!

Fashion’s writ runs not only in matter of dress and entertainment but also in law, politics and education. It has infiltrated things of grave importance. Universities, no longer devoted to pursuit of scholarship, hold fashion shows. Imitating western decadence is a matter of pride.

The modern follow fashion for compelling reasons. They want to identify with a select group of people. New fashions may be adopted immediately by well-known people, including sportspersons, film stars, or political figures. Then, other people may follow these fashions so that they can identify with this privileged group. Some think that fashionable clothes raise their status in life.

Fashion is a way to gain acceptance from others of that class. This adoption of fashion applies more to clothes. Many youngsters identify with one another by wearing blue jeans. The more faded, the more fashionable!

A strong desire on the part of women to equal themselves with men has driven them to imitate the male of the human species. A look at the campus unveils the staggering number of boys and girls looking alike.

If one were to count "heads" going by their sartorial outfits, one may say that "boys" edge out girls. The reason is simple: girls dress like boys.

Is this an unconscious attempt at gender equality? While one may say yes or no to it, one thing is certain that this sartorial revolution is the work of designers who are laughing their way to the bank.

Shrewd psychologists, these designers shift the emphasis periodically. In this age of women libbers, they have designed garments that satisfy a woman’s desire to equate and beat the man.

Girls are intelligent. They have realised that it is better to beat boys at their own home ground. If you cannot beat your enemy, join him. Thus, they have taken to jeans, pants, shirts and T-shirts like ducks to water.

Most fashions symbolise belonging to a group. This is seen on the university campus. After being there for some time, many Plain Janes shed their behnji image and acquire a jet-age appearance.

Ideas of beauty vary from culture to culture. For example, women use a number of cosmetics to enhance their beauty. These days a staggering variety of lipstick shades are available which was unthinkable some years ago. They apply tinted creams and decorate themselves with tattoos.

Men and women have always enjoyed changing their appearance. Following new fashions in clothes, hair styles, and make-up, allows people to alter their look.

Imitation plays a big role in making a fashion popular. In the 1600s, King Louis XIII of France began the trend of wearing wigs.

In the mid-1800s, English women are said to have copied Queen Victoria’s stout figure by wearing puffy dresses with padding underneath.

Film stars are avidly followed by eager fans and this creates a fashion trend. Shah Rukh Khan’s hair style is a craze among boys. Many boys wear unbuttoned shirts imitating Salman Khan.

Is fashion a mere display of riches or the art of beautifying one’s self? Lavater says, "A fop of fashion is the mercer’s friend, the tailor’s fool, and his own foe."