> Brian writes:
>
> "Have you ever really _looked_ in a clothing store? There is a
> tremendous degree of variety available, especially for women."
>
> Not really. What there is for women and men is an-ever morphing "look,"
> which, with a few minor variations, is pretty uniform. That's why you
> can "date" a look/fashion for any five year period. For example, for
> the last six years or so, the "look" in bathing suits is either racer
> one piece suits or bikinis with high cut bottoms (makes the legs look
> long and comes way up on the hips). I am intimately aquainted with this
> look because it doesn't suit my body; therefore, I have not been able to
> buy a bikini in a long time and have taken to making my own. That's not
> what I would call a free market. Look at shoes: the current look right
> now is either that medieval looking stuff with long pointy toes, or a
> square cut duck-bill look. I hate both, so I'm not buying shoes.
>
> While it's true that you can sew your own, frequent used clothing shops,
> etc, that has always been the case. But, in fact, most people would
> rather "look like everyone else" and purchase ready made "fashionable"
> clothing.
>
> Of course, there is always a "collective unconscious" that influences
> fashion, which explains the jeans and army garb of the sixties, the bag
> lady look of the late seventies and early eighties, and the hip-hop look
> of the nineties. This is more like "fashion" from below, which is
> quickly captured and reproduced by the fashion industry.
> Joanna
I agree completely. Just try to buy something in a color that is not in
fashion. If you don't like black and white you are out of luck. My job
this year was to find a lavender colored mother of the bride dress. You
can't imagine how many stores I had to visit before I could find one
suitable. If you want to buy what you like, instead of what's in
fashion, you are pretty much out of luck.
-joan
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