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Bibliographic Essay Taylor Eubanks Research Techniques and Technology Dr. Puckett

Running Header: Bibliographic Essay Abstract: Fashion is one of the strongest forms of expression in our world today. Fashion can make a

strong statement while making an impact on the people you are around. Fashion Cycles are the process of styles or fads being implemented and rejected based on specific traits that they obtain. When a style is deemed as fashionable or popular it begins in the fashion cycle and gains popularity or followers, shortly after hits its peak then drastically falls off until its found fashionable again. It is very common to ask why fashion cycles occur; it is widely believed that different generations look for ways to differentiate from one another. Thus they turn to drastically different views on what beauty or fashion is. Fashion traits go further than just clothing and outfits, they stretch as far as pop songs, first names, dog breeds, and vocabulary. Fashion cycles in a bell curve, taking a trend through three phases. It begins with the introductory phase; this is where a product or trend is introduced and is not yet popular but begins to get attention. Next comes the acceptance phase, this is the peak of the trend when it is being fully recognized and begins its downward decline. This bell curve ends with the rejection phase this is the drastic decline of the trend often caused by the introduction of a new trend. This is a brief description of how a fashion cycle works and why it is important to us as humans.

Running Header: Bibliographic Essay What is fashion? What is fashion for? Why it is even needed? Three points that stand out to me were that we have fashion because it is meaningful, it makes a strong statement and it has a theatrical element. (Rabkin,2014) Every person in the world, in every country, culture, and religion all has a style and at a larger scale make a fashion statement. We wouldnt dress the way we did if it were not for attention, whether it be craving attention or wanting to avoid it. It can be a form of expression or even current mood, but fashion serves multiple purposes in the world in my opinion. Different areas of the world all have different views of beauty but it all comes together in the end to make up fashion. In Africa body scaring is deemed as high fashion almost the equivalent to a tattoo in the United States. In Iran and

surrounding countries nose jobs are extremely popular. So much so that women and even girls will wear their post nose surgery bandages months longer than suggested. It is also common for some that cant afford the procedure to make fake bandages to wear on their nose just to act like they need it. "I think there is beauty in everything. What normal people would perceive as ugly, I can usually see something of beauty in it?" (McQueen) Fashion cannot be determined by one sentence or term. It is purely based on perception and how one person can take something formless and turn it into art. Fashion has also been said to be used to differentiate between generations. Each decade feels the need to put itself in a group to make their mark and be known for something (Espinosa). Fashion groups change with decades and people find their place as fashion and trends come and go. But what influences push each group to decide whats fashionable? Reasons from weather to physical attraction religion and emotion are all huge factors that come into play when answering that question (Durcanin, 1999).

Running Header: Bibliographic Essay Who decides fashion?

Fashion can be determined by a number of different factors the first being current events. A lot of what is reflected in todays fashion has a strong influenced by things going on in the world at that time. For example, Ralph Lauren during the Olympics has a line of clothing that goes through a fashion cycle just like any other fashion. Right before the Olympics begins the line is introduced it hits its peek as the games begin and then has a sharp decline as the games come to a close. After the Olympics are over you can find many items in the sale area from the past years Olympics that are outdated. If the Olympics wouldnt have taken place at this exact time the fashion would not be necessary. This is a perfect example of fashion coming from current events. Another would be Easter, a large amount of Easter dresses and church clothes are sold in the months of March and April. Another current event that has a big impact on the fashion world would be Christmas. A lot more red and green colored items are sold during this time. Current events are all around us affecting what how and when we wear something (Brassfield, 2008). Darwins theory of evolution is often talked about when people talk about how fashion came about. Just like all forms of life on this planet fashion started out in its most simple form a shaggy piece of cloth. As time went on people figured out that you could take two pieces of cloth and put a seam in both sides to make a new garment. As time progresses on we have become extremely complex as humans and so has our fashion. Now there are thousands of styles and fashion trends to choose from, that we have a choice in what we wake up and put on each morning. We select fashion trends based on conditioning and how we are raised to choose as such. It depicts the progression of fashion from the most basic styles to what we know today. (b lisa, 2009) A huge deciding factor on fashion and probably one that holds the most weight would be outside influences. Musicians and other cultural icons have always influenced what were wearing, but so have

Running Header: Bibliographic Essay political figures and royalty. Newspapers and magazines report on what Hillary Clinton wears. The recent death of Diana, the Princess of Wales, was a severe blow to the high fashion world, where her clothes were daily news (Durcanin, 2014). Even as far back as the1970s men and women alike would flock to magazine stands to see the latest fashions and what was to come for the new season.

Celebrities are always one step ahead when it comes to fashion fads and styles because they are used in the fashion cycle to increase popularity of a particular item. So say the Kardashian line comes out with a new Jumper, one of the Kardashians or maybe a friend will wear it out in public, take pictures in it and then its popular. It doesnt take much for a celebrity to promote a trend, they just have to be seen in it.

What is a fashion cycle?

Fashion Cycles are separated into five sections, introduction of a style, and increase in popularity, peak of popularity, decline in popularity, rejection of style or obsolescence. In the introduction stage designers do their best to reveal a product that is modern and fits the times. They do this by skew the relationship between lines, shapes, patterns, colors and fabrics to come up with something new. Often in the introductory phase high end designers are given a large budget to design a product, in turn giving them nearly a limitless budget. After a product is completed it is often priced much higher than it should be, this method is often used to see how much a person is willing to pay. After a price is set the product begins gaining more popularity and more stores begin to carry the product or garment.

Running Header: Bibliographic Essay After a product or garment is introduced it begins to increase in popularity. This is done by putting the item in magazines and fashion shows marketing professionals determine the best way to promote the fashion trend in order for this part of the fashion cycle to have a bigger impact on the over all. As persons begin to wear the item more it gains the attention of buyers and the press. The style then evolves even through copying and adaptation, some designers will even attempt to re-create the style for a lower amount of money. Some stores and will modify a style that is increasing in popularity to better fit their target market and people that shop in their particular store. After retailers, buyers, and the media have all caught on to a style and it has gotten a lot of attention It

hits it peak of popularity. This is the third step in a fashion cycle, where the majority of the profit for that style is made. At this stage there is a wide range of places the item or style can be bought and it is offered at many places at a wide range of prices. This is also when if the style is designer or brand name knockoffs will begin to appear. So with Coach luxury hang bags when they come out with a new style when it hits the peak of popularity a lot of similar bags with Gs on it will come out. These are knockoffs because all Coach Bags have capital Cs on them. The amount of production is in direct correlation with the likelihood of mass acceptance. This is why manufactures use fashion cycles and sales trends because their customers want the latest item at a reasonable price. After a style has been around for a while and it has gotten to a point where it has become so common that there is an abundance of the style it will begin its decline in popularity. Many consumers still like the style at this stage and will wear it regularly but are no longer willing to pay full price for it. This is around the time when you will begin seeing these items on sale racks and in discount areas trying to make room for the new styles that are increasing in popularity. Finally to end the fashion cycle a style of fad receives rejection. At this time a large amount of people have the item but it would not be their first choice when looking for an outfit. This rejection of the style

Running Header: Bibliographic Essay is called consumer obsolesce and it just means to discard or discontinue the style. (Noor Ahmed Raaz) As early as 1600 Shakespeare wrote that fashion wears out more apparel than man.(Shakespeare) According to fashion cycles Shakespeare sure knew what he was talking about.