Fashion And Subcultures

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a subculture as "a cultural group within a larger culture, often having beliefs or interests at variance with those of the larger culture. In sociology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles.  The study of subcultures often consists of the study of symbolism attached to clothing, music, fashion and other visible affectations by members of subcultures.

Earlier fashion was governed by haute-couture designers and presented to the masses to aspire toward. However, this traditional prospective has been vigorously challenged by many throughout the fashion world and fashion trends have, on numerous occasions, inadvertently emerged from the more obscure spheres of society onto the glamorous catwalks of high-fashion designers. These styles can originate from a range of unorthodox sources, from leather-jacketed punks and dramatic Goths, the teddy boys of the 1950s, to ethnic minority cultures from all edges of the globe. Styles that emerge from the bottom of the social hierarchy are increasingly bubbling up to become the status of high fashion.

How Different Movements impacted Fashion

In the 20^th century, fashion changed drastically over a period of 100 years.  Women began to dress in clothes that expressed their desire for more freedom. As the years passed by the image of women continued to change in terms of their public appearance. More vivid colors and prints were used.  Due to the World War in the 1940s, a uniform look became popular amongst women. Women gradually moved towards shorter, more practical and comfortable styles of clothing as they began assisting men in the war and as an expression of freedom. Freedom movements, protests and Revolutions also led to drastic changes in the Fashion world throughout the globe. The French Revolution, for instance, witnessed men and women wearing culottes that late became a part of the French aristocracy. Another example of how movements affected fashion could be that of how in Colonial India hand spun cloth material like Khadi was the key feature of the freedom struggle and how Gandhi emphasized everyone to be self-sufficient starting from those times. Both men and women in general came wearing handspun cloth in the public arena to protest. Also, Colonialism changed the Indian perspective of fashion. Indians who favored the British tried to replicate their sense of style.

In addition there are various kinds of Subcultures and each of it has and still continues to affect fashion in different ways to a great extent.

High Culture

High culture could be referred to as the activities of the elite; art and painting, music and so on. As an example of how art influences fashion can be found in the Louis Vuitton collaboration with several contemporary artists, like Stephen Sprouse or Takeshi Murakami, who in the past had embellished their famous Louis Vuitton Monogram bags.

Pop Culture

Popular culture, or pop culture, is a cultural section, which is followed, understood and appreciated by a larger audience. Pop culture is highly influenced by celebrities and includes the daily interactions and cultural 'moments' that constitute the everyday lives of the mainstream.

Celebrity Culture

In the 1950s women tried to mimic the styles worn by movie stars. Since then celebrity culture has and always will have an influence on society as they are constantly in the media. Celebrities are a kind of role models; their looks are studied and copied by a lot of people, which makes them very interesting to fashion companies who try to place their products on them.

Hippie/Boho Culture

Even after about 50 years of occurrence, music festivals like Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace that contributed an entire lifetime of hippie inspired boho/free spirited vibe in clothing continue to inspire even celebrities today to dress in similar fashions in music festivals like Coachella.

      

    

Gothic Culture

Gothic fashion is a clothing style marked by conspicuously dark, mysterious, antiquated and homogenous features. Members of the Goth subculture wear it. A dark, sometimes morbid fashion and style of dress, typical gothic fashion includes a pale complexion with colored black hair, black lips and black clothes. It is one of the most important features shown in horror movies in terms of costumes and makeup.