Effects of Fashion: How the Fashion Industry Affects People
Style vs. Age
Besides the whole weight issue, what’s up with teenagers thinking they’re stylish? Originality went out the door years ago, that’s why A&F is so popular. We won’t even get into the entire problem of labeling your child with brand names from a young age to give them a false sense of popularity, let’s just focus on this whole age thing.
In my not-so-humble opinion, style is partially natural and partially learned. The learned part comes in where a person grows and matures, becomes a bit more cultured, and jumps the hurdle from outside influence to personal comfort. This kind of learning only comes with age, folks. This is not to say you won’t find kids all over the country/world who have adopted a style that suits and flatters their awkward teenage forms, but the overwhelming majority of youngsters today choose the easy route with a high profile designer tag.
Style vs. Weight
Check out your supermarket magazine racks. You see all those style magazines? Cosmo, Vogue, Allure, Glamour, Vanity Fair, the list goes on. What do all of these magazines have in common?
Aside from regurgitating the same concepts over and over, they're geared toward stick figures. Women with no excess pounds, no hips, nothing-on top, and supposedly they're the prime examples of style and beauty. Get real! I mean it. A real woman is soft, by virtue of being female, and is far more attractive, on the whole, if she has a bit of substance to her body.
So don't tell me a larger lady doesn't have style. What we do have is fewer comfortable options for clothing that looks good.
The truth: The Fashion Industry is Style by Submission
To be beautiful, you must be thin and around five foot eight.
To be stylish, you must spend lots of money and wear only the top name brands.
To be popular, you must be stylish AND beautiful. Personality does not particularly matter, and neither does how much you care about people, places, or things.
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm rather glad I'm not popular, stylish, or beautiful. At least I'm mostly happy and comfortable, and have money saved in the bank. Take that, GAP!
