{"id":1933,"date":"2018-03-30T08:00:57","date_gmt":"2018-03-30T13:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=1933"},"modified":"2018-03-30T08:22:47","modified_gmt":"2018-03-30T13:22:47","slug":"fashioning-fashion-creating-couture-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2018\/03\/30\/fashioning-fashion-creating-couture-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Fashioning Fashion, Creating Couture Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Jason Hargrove, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fashion month has come to a close. Actors graced the Academy Awards red carpet with glamorous gowns and haute couture. Clicking through fashion websites, blogs, and Instagram or flipping through the glossy pages of <\/span>Vogue<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Harper\u2019s Bazaar<\/span><\/i>, and other more traditional print materials has long been a pastime for consumers of fashion and clothing. While some argue that the study of clothing and couture merits little scholarly attention, others view fashion as a valuable case for understanding everyday aspects of social life like personal identity, consumption, and social distinction and exclusion. <\/span><\/p>\n

Peers, such as friends, family, and others in similar social locations, as well as fashion designers and brands act as reference points for choosing fashion items. When consumers purchase and use a blouse, handbag, or pair of shoes, those items take on social meaning and mark social distinctions. While people make choices in their fashion consumption, these decisions occur in relation to what others think and do. One might think that the top fashion houses are the ones who create what\u2019s \u201cin\u201d or \u201cout,\u201d but consuming fashion does not occur in such a simple top-down way.<\/h5>\n