POPULAR CULTURE: FASHION PART II

Fashion between Western and Eastern culture

Fashion is a popular culture. Why fashion is a popular culture? Emily Samuels says “This is the age of fashion. No matter we love it or hate it, fashion is here to stay. The huge influence that fashion has on today's culture and daily life is very obvious wherever we go.”My insight towards fashion is sometimes people do not even know that media is affecting them to follow certain fashion trends. Even if some people don't follow the most popular fashion trends, they are still a part of the fashion world in some way. People all over the world revolves around fashion and it can affect every single part of our lives such as deciding what to wear to work tomorrow, to study in university tomorrow, to attend wedding dinner tonight.Celebrities are the “root” that people start known about fashion. Celebrities are a kind of role models; they have their persuasive power to persuade people follow the fashion. Celebrities’ looks are studied and copied by lots of people. They promote the fashion such as clothing, footwear, hairstyle, accessories, make up, and bra through magazine, news, malls, television shows, movies, and runways. Fashion not only for female, male also has their own fashion. Follow the changing of the generation, fashion change without limit. I would like to share about my insight towards fashion between Western and Eastern culture.

First of all, clothes, clothing, and dress are a fashion. Nowadays, people dress up following the fashion trends. For example, there was a time some female are following neutral line, they like to dress up like a male. Its make their style difference. When we are walking on the street, no matter female or male, adult or child, we can see that people probably is shopping, walking with wearing a T-shirt and jeans. Female like to wear long dress, miniskirt, jeans and legging. This is a normal and basic fashion for now. This fashion is a heritage from the Western. Casual clothes may reelect more relaxed culture while fast-moving, rapidly changing trends may echo the changing cultural trends.

 

Besides that, according to Chinese traditional clothing, Chinese people need to wear traditional clothes such as Cheongsam. Most of today's Chinese people are no longer wearing traditional Chinese clothing including me. For my own culture, I had mix with Chinese eastern culture and also western culture. It is because by following the popular culture, fashion had influenced my family, relatives, friends and me. I was affected by people surrounded and also fashion. I like to wear casually like T-shirt and jeans.  It is because I feel comfort with it. But during Chinese New Year, I still will wear Cheongsam as etiquette.

In addition, western wedding gown is also one type of example of fashion. Nowadays, most of the couple marries with wearing western wedding gown. Bridal gown most is white in colour and it represents and brings out elegant and pretty. Most of the people all over the world are following this fashion trends since many years ago. The style and the design of wedding gown are more and keep changing. The celebrities and models wear it and promote the wedding gown thorough magazine and also runway catwalk shows. These make the wedding gowns be more popular and be a fashion trend.

According to Chinese eastern culture, when couples marry, they need to wear Chinese traditional wedding gown and the wedding gown is red in colour such as Cheongsam and Hanfu. It is because in Chinese eastern culture, red colour represent auspicious. In my own culture, during all my relatives, cousin wedding, the bride and groom wear western wedding gown and also Chinese traditional wedding gown. Not only has the wedding gown, by following the step of fashion, all the wedding music also followed the most popular and romantic’s fashion music.

Next, a part from clothing, footwear is a fashion. High heels, sport shoes, boots, leather shoes and slippers are fashion trends. People decide what they should wear according different occasions including footwear. For example, female probably wear high heels however male wear leather shoes to attend wedding dinner. Fashion not only for showing off, fashion is also type of respect. By wearing a pair of suitable shoes to attend some events means we respect other and ourselves, we can care about our self-image.

For Chinese eastern culture, I still remember that my mother told me that my mother’s grandmother only have 3 inch foot. She tight her foot since she was small because according to my traditional culture, female’s foot cannot be very big. Her feet only have 3 inch and her shoes also. I can’t imagine that how pain my mother’s grandmother is.

   

Furthermore, hair style and make up are big fashion around everyone. Hair style is very important for everyone because it can affect the image of people. Nowadays, there are a lot of popular hair styles and we can see it around us. For example, for female probably are long straight hair with side bangs, nature curly hair and short stylish hair especially teenager and youngster. However, popular hair styles for male probably are Korean stylish hair that they can set it by using wax and hair spray.

   

Lastly, somebody like to makeup, somebody say people who had makeup is look like very fake, is a way to lie on people. But, makeup is a fashion. No matter female or male, whoever celebrities or model in television shows, magazine, advertisement, news, movies and drama, everyone have makeup.  Even those actress have a sleeping scene, they also makeup. With the changing of age, there have a lot of types and styles of makeup such as day makeup, night makeup and smoky eyes. People always make up by following the occasions. Makeup is also types of art. A makeup artist help a model makeup, he or she catwalk on the runway, it is a way to spread out the fashion. Everyone know that people makeup by using cosmetics like eyebrow pencil, eyeliner, mascara,  lips stick and lips grow. Through cosmetics, we can know that makeup is a fashion because there have a lot of brand of cosmetics like MAC, Bobbi Brown, Office and PAC.

For Chinese eastern culture also have makeup, but the styles are look like very simple and nature. One of the differences between modern makeup and Chinese eastern traditional makeup is the lips stick. Modern makeup using most advance lips sticks that after a clinical trial and examination; however “lipstick” during traditional Chinese Eastern culture is only a red paper to “colour” the lips.

In a nutshell, fashion is a popular culture, everyone knows about fashion. Fashion is a term to describe popular styles, especially clothing, footwear, makeup, and hair styles. Fashion had influenced me, influenced everyone. Fashion is always around us. No matter we follow or not follow the most popular trends, we also involve and are one part of fashion.

By: Chia Ching Mei 0108186