When looking at Fashion and Culture, do we truly understand how they connect? We look for many solutions to how we should “properly” express ourselves, but is there really a correct answer? Culture can be things as simple as how you view the world, or more serious things like living in a certain way due to the people around them (like in country’s that have more unsaid rules between each other). There are many factors that play into culture, and how can you express it all just through clothes? And why do some cultures forbid some clothing items or showing of certain parts of bodies? Cultures can be so strict but very relaxed with other things so how do things like Fashion and Culture intertwine? This can be a bit of a complicated question since the things we see in magazines are usually dresses or gowns and basic clothing trends. However, with how deep culture goes, it’s hard to ignore the influence it has on us, even in clothing. Often you see dresses inspired by Western or European clothing, which isn’t surprising due to the grasp it has on most places, and this doesn’t help the erasure of different cultures. Modern clothing, especially in the USA, is very bland and similar. Not many colors are being expressed and neither are statements being made, especially in things that don’t have much history other than looking good. Or do they? Culture often spices things up a bit when it comes to ideas, art, music, and even fashion, which is why people need to express more to show more. When culture meets fashion freely, how does culture express itself through clothing? How do different cultures express their styles and beliefs? If someone doesn’t have a certain culture they follow, how do they still express what they believe in and how they feel? While culture is very abstract, you can also put abstract ideas into clothing, like symbols to represent different things and ideas, colors to represent emotions, styles and patterns to represent something old or new, and so much more. People forget that people are actually people and not just someone on the street they pass by once, and so much of what people wear outside or inside plays into who they are and how they choose to express their own mind and life.
Follow a journalist, Jai, through interviews with regular people and even a special guest who follows their African heritage deeply to find out how Culture and Fashion truly mix. Two of the three people, Tati (young adult) and Joshua (teenager), are people with less experience in fashion and culture, but still hold their beliefs close to their hearts. Our special guest, Tamara (older adult), is more informed on her roots and has stricter beliefs and expressions when it comes to what she wears. All people are different, but everyone can usually come down to one thing, you should express those differences in a way you feel comfortable doing, and many people do that through fashion.
Meet Journalist Jai Crespo
