Evolution and Introduction

According to the Fashion Theory : The Journal

of Dress , Body and Culture , fashion is defined

as " the cultural construction of the embodied

identity ". As such , it encompasses all forms

of self fashioning , including street styles , as

well as so-called high fashion created by desi-

gners and couturiers . Fashion also alludes to

the way in which things are made : to fashion

something is to make it in a particular form .

Most commonly, fashion is defined as the prevailing style of dress or behavior at any

given time , with the strong implication that

fashion is characterized by change. All greater

attention is paid to the sartorial fashion ,

probably because clothing has such an intimate

relationship with the physical body and by

extension , the personal identity of the individual . Fashion is most often thought of

as a phenomenon of the Western world from

the late Middle Ages onward : but fashion oriented behavior existed in at least some

other societies and historical periods. A regular

pattern of stylistic change with respect to dress

and interior decoration existed in Europe by

the fourteenth century , Paris was the capital

of European fashion , and the source of most

new styles in women's dress. By the eighteenth

century , however, fashion in men's clothing

tended to originate in London. La mode is the

French word for Fashion, and many scholars

believe there is a link between La mode (fashion)

and La modernite (modernity, or the stylistic qualities of what is modern). Certainly , the number of people following fashion increased

greatly in the modern era , especially beginning

in the nineteenth century , due to the spread of

democracy and the rise of industrialization. The

later nineteenth century witnessed both the

mass - production of ready to wear clothing and

also the development in Paris of the haute couture .