Fashion is the way we dress and accessorize. This can include shoes, clothing, jewellery and even the way you decorate your house and office. It can be as simple as a new pair of earrings or as complex as a completely new style of dress.
Fashion changes fast and is a mixture of all areas of culture – from art to music, sport to clothing. It is so difficult to define because it reflects not only what we wear but also how we act, conduct and interact with one another. Fashion is an art form but it is also a tool for communication and expression. It is a way of chasing the future and expressing what you want to be.
Today we have a huge choice of clothes available to us. It is unlikely that you will wear the same clothes as your neighbours, but even if we don’t copy each other exactly we may look very similar. This is because modern Westerners tend to wear whatever suits them rather than trying to copy someone else, and we are also influenced by celebrities and other people in the public eye.
Fashion magazines, designers and journalists play a big part in changing the styles that we all follow. They produce collections of clothes at certain times of the year and these are then sold to shops to sell to you. A small number of designers are known for producing innovative high-fashion clothing, but most fashion companies rely on separately owned manufacturing firms to produce the clothing that they design.