Fashion and Culture

To start with, what the author discusses in the essay are the definition of fashion,the meaning of fashion and the interaction of this meaning with cultural values and finally he discusses the communication of fashion. Then author emphasizes the ways fashion uses to communicate and discussion of communication models that fashion uses by examining whether fashion is the meaning of an interaction between cultural values and visual culture or fashion is a reflection of an identity, a way to convey messages. Author mainly asks the question that fashion by itself can be a method of communication or not. Also supports that fashion is not a method of communication by itself, fashion needs shared meanings and cultural values to send a message. According to the author the definition o fashion is what western people wear and the important terms to use in defining fashion the western and modern, wearing clothes is not just up to a minute. She adds that we can see the link between the fashion and the social structure of a culture. For example if the culture is not civilized and immobile we can not expect this culture have a sense of fashion. The author claims that fashion may be about bodies and by using Joanne Entwisle as a reference in transforming the fashioned bodies to cultured bodies in order to show the effect of culture on fashion. An other aspect the author uses to explain the nature of fashion is meaning.While explaining the term author avoids an account of meaning where meaning is a function of either individual intention or of clothing itself. She adds that in this essay she will use Barthes connotation because it refers work of culture . The meaning of connotation in the essay can be called ‘all the way down’ and not build and based on anything that is not connotation.According to the author, Barthes connotational meaning is explicitly the product of culture.Since meaning is a product of cultural beliefs and values then different believes and values