Fashion and culture
Fashion is what defines many of us in our daily lives. Although we use fashion everyday we don’t always stop and think about how our fashion is influenced by culture. I strongly believe that fashion is influenced by the geography of different cultures because of the climate of different regions and the economy of the different countries.
First of all, fashion around the world is influenced by the climate of certain regions. It is obvious that fashion in Congo will be different than in Canada or Russia and that is because of the different climates of the regions. In Congo, the material will be light and bright because they don’t want to have heavy clothing that weighs them down when they sweat during the day and it will be bright to be able to reflect the light so that they don’t sweat as much. In the colder countries like Canada and Russia, during the winter months the population will wear heavy layers and a lot of them and darker clothing because the heavier layers will keep them warm during the frigid days and they wear dark clothing to be able to absorb as much heat as possible. Another example is the countries that are close to water versus the very dry countries. Countries that are near water are more likely to use waterproof materials like leather in the making of their clothing so that they stay as dry as possible during the rainy days. Dry countries are more likely to use materials that are less resistant to water because they don’t have to worry about staying dry. This is one of the reasons why fashion is influenced by the geography of where different cultures are located.
Second of all, economy is what runs everything including fashion. In North America we buy clothing that is made in bulk like Adidas or Under Armour that is made in third world countries. The reason we do this is to save money because it is cheaper to pay someone in Vietnam to make your shirt instead of paying an American. As an example Nike was caught for using sweatshops in third world to make the shoes that you might be wearing right now. This was done because if you pay someone a penny for an hour of work instead of 11$ you save a lot of money. In Europe they enjoy wearing fancy high end clothing like Gucci or Louis Vuitton. I experienced this firsthand when I visited Paris, France last year. While walking down Les Champs Élisées I saw many high end fashion brands like Louis Vuitton. I also saw many people wearing those types of clothing so I know for a fact that European people like buying fancy clothing. In poorer countries like Niger, the population is forced to either buy knock offs of the big brands or make their own clothing. All this to say that fashion is different in different regions that cultures are from.
In conclusion, I strongly believe that fashion depends on the region of the different cultures because of the climate and economy of the different regions. Why don’t you go out and visit the world? What’s stopping you?