https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/article-on-the-future-of-fashion Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Sun, 19 Apr 2026 18:27:13 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/article-on-the-future-of-fashion#post-2162169 Thu, 24 Dec 2020 20:35:54 +0000 Anonymous 2162169@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Love everyone's comments! I don't see fashion as ever "going away"- in fact, many people have been experimenting more. Maybe it feels safer to experiment at home. I'm wanting a quieter style, but don't necesarily think that's permanent.<br /> Yes, the economy needs to change- but it still needs room for self expression. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/article-on-the-future-of-fashion#post-2162104 Thu, 24 Dec 2020 09:48:43 +0000 Ledonna N. 2162104@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Wow the article and the responses here gave my brain and thought process a work out.</p> <p>Fashion will not die but it will evolve as everything else is doing to survive and reflect how our world is changing </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/article-on-the-future-of-fashion#post-2162066 Thu, 24 Dec 2020 02:36:36 +0000 Bonnie 2162066@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>This is a really interesting article. Thanks for sharing.&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/article-on-the-future-of-fashion#post-2161850 Wed, 23 Dec 2020 03:56:39 +0000 Suz 2161850@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh, I loved this so much!!&nbsp;</p> <p>And, what <b>Shevia</b> said!!&nbsp;</p> <p>Also, I, for one, <b>CAN'T WAIT </b>to get totally dressed to the nines and go out and PARTY like it is 2021 (or 22). My first fashion purchases post-pandemic are going to be deliberately frivolous and fun and I don't care what anybody says about that.&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/article-on-the-future-of-fashion#post-2161846 Wed, 23 Dec 2020 03:28:41 +0000 Jaime 2161846@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thank you for posting! I read the whole article and could go on and on unpacking it. For the good of us all I will limit myself to a few points/pet peeves.<br />1. Absolutely agree that fashion and style are consistently debased by representatives of "high" culture and agree it is largely because it is seen as female.<br />2. Interesting point of the intersection of body and culture in both fashion and health. What about sports? This "male" arena always makes it above the fold in the paper somehow and is treated as serious although I submit we could more easily live without sports than without fashion.<br />3. I have said since early on in the pandemic that commentators underestimate people's ability to snap back once a crisis ends. Things do evolve, but fundamental human psychology remains pretty consistent as far as I can see. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/article-on-the-future-of-fashion#post-2161768 Tue, 22 Dec 2020 23:38:46 +0000 Vildy 2161768@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>This is not my jam.&nbsp; When I think of fashion and writing about fashion history and semiology, I think equally about men's fashion through the ages up until today.&nbsp; Wasn't that actor's tuxedo dress magnificent? </p> <p>Codpiece, anyone?</p> <p></p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/article-on-the-future-of-fashion#post-2161763 Tue, 22 Dec 2020 23:23:02 +0000 Angie 2161763@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>WOW. Quite the cerebral workout.... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/article-on-the-future-of-fashion#post-2161703 Tue, 22 Dec 2020 19:01:35 +0000 always trying 2161703@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>There will always be a fashion industry for the rich and famous.&nbsp; But mainstream is already changing.&nbsp; Chain stores and other clothing retailers are gone.&nbsp; Even on this forum it is evident that many are changing their buying habits.&nbsp; IMO, there has been a slow steady growing number of women who care less about fashion and this has been even more so with the pandemic.&nbsp; Who needs 50 pairs of shoes?&nbsp; Who needs to add items each season because they are the current trends??/&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/article-on-the-future-of-fashion#post-2161700 Tue, 22 Dec 2020 18:42:10 +0000 rachylou 2161700@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Lol, Cee!</p> <p>A provocative essay! My first thought was, because I’ve been following the YIMBY v NIMBY debate online was... industry as we know it has already gone off the cliff, we just haven’t hit the rocks at the bottom yet... and here I must digress, because locally, the YIMBYs want to take tax money and build high-density housing in a place that’s gonna be underwater in 50 years. So while it makes a certain sense to build apartments and public transport systems in a concentrated area, trying to do this ad hoc in our old familiar places is really quite a massive squandering of resources. There’s a lot of seemingly unrelated, or should I say, out of mind details that bite.</p> <p>... So we *should* forget about the economy we have now. But then I saw that comment was a trigger for other thoughts about the status of women in Western Society, and I thought it was quite right and a fine example of the subtle claws of prejudice. Why target fashion? And just fashion? It’s mistaken thinking on so many levels, in so many ways. Getting rid of the fashion industry is gonna do nothing about our failing economic system, overlooks its intimate ties with agriculture, shipping, trucking, construction, media and entertainment production, etc etc. What it is, is something that looks like an easy target... and it’s not. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/article-on-the-future-of-fashion#post-2161699 Tue, 22 Dec 2020 18:41:46 +0000 Anonymous 2161699@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>What a fascinating article. &nbsp;Thank you for sharing it. &nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/article-on-the-future-of-fashion#post-2161660 Tue, 22 Dec 2020 17:11:16 +0000 slim cat 2161660@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Great read - thank you! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/article-on-the-future-of-fashion#post-2161659 Tue, 22 Dec 2020 17:10:37 +0000 Anonymous 2161659@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Wow, the article certainly covers a lot of the issues surrounding fashion, doesn't it? &nbsp;I have a lot of conflicted feelings about it these days. &nbsp;While recognizing that fashion is a way we communicate who we are as individuals, its excesses and constant demands to stay current can be turn-offs to the whole enterprise, at least for me. &nbsp;I don't think fashion is going anywhere, but I do think that coming out of our current situation, people will be more mindful of their buying, both for economic reasons and for philosophical ones. &nbsp;Just my opinion, though. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/article-on-the-future-of-fashion#post-2161656 Tue, 22 Dec 2020 16:51:48 +0000 Anonymous 2161656@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Hear, hear! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/article-on-the-future-of-fashion#post-2161654 Tue, 22 Dec 2020 16:41:16 +0000 Cee 2161654@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I haven't changed my underwear since March and no, I am not in pain nor fear anymore.</p> <p>A bit itchy, but yeah... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/article-on-the-future-of-fashion#post-2161645 Tue, 22 Dec 2020 15:36:46 +0000 unfrumped 2161645@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Good article!</p> <p>And echoing torontogirl- would be nice to see movement more toward individual creativity with items of more longevity. We were already seeing that with Angie’s noting less rigid year- or decade- defining fashions, plus the rise of capsule wardrobes, minimalism and SYC, ethical and sustainable clothing. </p> <p>So, I think whenever it becomes “ safe” to socialize again, we might surely see more wearing of “ fun” and expressive outfits, but hoping for less market- driven churn, some really good quality and attention to details that make getting dressed a pleasure. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/article-on-the-future-of-fashion#post-2161639 Tue, 22 Dec 2020 15:14:55 +0000 Helena 2161639@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Yep, most definitely ... fashion is as likely to die as religion or music ... i.e. not at all. However, if it becomes de-coupled from the marketing industry which would have us aspire to impossible norms, spend money we don't have, and cycle through trends faster than boxes of tissues, just to make ourselves "acceptable", that will be a welcome and long-overdue change! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/article-on-the-future-of-fashion#post-2161636 Tue, 22 Dec 2020 15:11:14 +0000 Anonymous 2161636@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I also agree that fashion will not die but might change. It has already changed from the days when each village had its folk costume. Even in the US, California dress is not the same as Texas, as New England, etc. It defines us in a way that uniforms once did. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/article-on-the-future-of-fashion#post-2161632 Tue, 22 Dec 2020 14:47:43 +0000 Carla 2161632@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thanks UmmLila. Agree that fashion will not die, since it isn’t&nbsp;<i>truly&nbsp;</i>dictated by stores, but rather created by us - the wearers. &nbsp;Even a lack of fashionable trendiness is a statement, and fashion of a sort. &nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/article-on-the-future-of-fashion#post-2161626 Tue, 22 Dec 2020 14:05:45 +0000 UmmLila (Lisa) 2161626@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>&lt;<a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/22/opinion/covid-fashion-athleisure.html?action=click&amp;module=Opinion&amp;pgtype=Homepage">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/1.....module=Opi</a>&gt;</p> <p>"In an <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-slavoj-zizek-s-brutal-dark-formula-to-save-the-world-1.8898051">April interview</a>&nbsp;about the pandemic, the philosopher Slavoj Zizek said we should “forget about the economy we have now” and “treat simply as irrelevant things like the fashion industry.” He was voicing a prejudice usually unspoken: a contemptuous disregard for fashion. For him, the industry is merely about conspicuous consumption and self-indulgence — and should simply be allowed to die.</p> <p>"But Mr. Zizek is wrong. Not only should we not let the fashion industry die; we couldn’t if we tried....</p> <p>"This is because fashion is integral to our existence, not an irrational indulgence. It springs from deeply rooted impulses to adorn the self, to communicate sensuously, to participate in the social collectivity and lend it shape and legibility. Fashion is a daily practice wherein culture touches the body in the most literal, intimate way. It’s no more likely to die than is art or architecture, music or fine cuisine — all of which are also suffering in this pandemic, though Mr. Zizek targets none of those for extinction.</p> <p><div><div></div></div></p> <p>Why then banish fashion? The answer is simple: Fashion codes as “feminine,” as a woman’s realm (although all genders participate in it). And even brilliant philosophers can succumb to the ingrained misogyny that denigrates women’s culture as irrelevant, wasteful, even destructive....</p> <p>"The answer lies precisely in the allure of this very process — this cycle of fascination followed by rejection. The rhythms of this process mirror the deepest parts of our conflicted, decadent, yet anhedonic Western psyche: an attraction to pleasure, sex, bodies and beauty, followed by the swift denunciation of these same elements. It’s the superego battling the id, the Catholic confessional. Indulge, repent.</p> <div> <p>"In a patriarchy, women bear more of the stigma for these “moral failings” because they occupy (metaphorically) the realm of flesh and sex, of indulgence and aesthetic enjoyment. Fashion occupies these realms too, and so winds up shouldering the burden of cultural and psychological ambivalence.</p> <p>"As the pandemic changes our dress and appearance, it changes our relationship to our bodies, granting us a new consciousness of our physical selves. We think more now about our breathing, heart rate, oxygen levels. In everyday conversations, we discuss death rate and contagion, symptoms and treatments. We are attending to our biological, mortal selves as never before.</p> <p>"At the same time, we also attend to <em>one another’s</em>&nbsp;biological selves as never before. We measure our distance from others in the street or the grocery store. We assess whether someone nearby poses a physical, even deadly risk.</p> <p>"Such vigilance may come more easily to women than to men. Women are accustomed to estimating what constitutes a safe distance from strangers, gauging their potential to harm us. We already think about our bodily vulnerability in a daily way. We already understand that our bodies are permeable.</p> <p>"Women are the bearers of “bodiliness,” the sex whose biological form and function get staged and noticed. Traditionally, women’s clothes more often outline and emphasize individual body parts (hips, legs, breasts), making female sexuality a public spectacle. Men, though, tend to glide unnoticed — their clothes skimming their bodies, their sexuality implicit rather than staged. They are, in linguistic terms, the “unmarked” sex — default “neutral” persons. But a pandemic re-corporealizes us all, re-rooting everyone, including men, in fleshly reality in all its precarity.</p> <p>"To navigate the world during Covid-19, everyday transactions such as travel, attending school and entering businesses may require temperature checks, health questionnaires and perhaps even lab tests. Private bodily information is becoming a new shared currency — tokens exchanged for small freedoms. While such sharing raises serious privacy concerns, it also reminds us of the deep, physical connection among us all...."</p> </div><div><div><br /></div></div> </p>