FASHION AND ITS ROLE IN CULTURE, AND IDENTITY

What do our clothes or code of dressing say about who we are or who we think we are? How does the way we dress pass messages across about our identity? Is the longing to be in fashion universal or unique to western culture?

Clothing is an identification tool that functions in assuming the figurative boundaries between people. Fashion and clothing is an arena where clothes are used to establish and convey a cultural and social identity. The individuality splendor of the person is exemplified in the body by clothing and fashion.
Fashion has a long-time standing connection with both social and personal identity and is one of the most noticeable manifestations of it. The way we dress can convey to others how we characterize ourselves in various social circumstances, emphasized by social motives and norms, to how we express our sense of true self.
Cultural identity refers to identifying with, or sense of belonging to a special group established on different cultural classifications, including nationality, ethnicity, class, gender, and belief. As people commonly associate with more than a cultural group, cultural identity is very complex and multifaceted.
Identity is the awareness of who we are, what we identify with, and how our stand affects us. Fashion has a longstanding bond with both social and personal identity and is one of the most visible representations of us. The way we dress can convey to others how we represent ourselves in different social circumstances, emphasized by social outlooks and norms, to how we express our true selves.
As people we are accountable for a steady identification process, trying to communicate to the world around us and vice versa. This process is important knowing who we are, and equally importantly, who we are not.
Culture, religion, race, gender, sexual orientation, and nationality are all part of the central structure of our framework, followed by our family and the people we grew up with, the society we live in, our social inheritance status, and the people we currently surround ourselves with, forming the outer structure of our existence.
Having an informed connection to one’s style, only buying items that complement the essence of one’s aesthetic beliefs, we can over time build a wardrobe of outfits that reflects who we are. Being an intended consumer is a big part of the fashion movement, and looking at not only our level of consumption but also the nature of it can shed more light on who we are as individuals as well.
Fashion and identity are indivisible. Fashion with all its symbolism and characteristics and with its extraordinary base and identity is a vital process of each person’s personality as it is a part of self-realization. Fashion can help each person to express who they are and how they prefer to be seen.
Clothing in terms of culture is the way to demonstrate either the historical origin of a person or the origin of the group he or she belongs to exemplifying a belonging to a certain cultural society. It is very easy to differentiate a Nigerian Yoruba man or woman from a Hausa one based on their mode of dressing or even Efik from Igbo by their distinctive dress sense. Fashion has taken the most fraction of the traditional customs of every culture, giving the chance to people to showcase where they are from respectfully, and being proud of where they originate from.
The feeling of people around can be very predictable in terms of their reaction to a person wearing a certain kind of clothing.

Fashion is one of the most significant means of message, which occasionally play a vital role in the life of an individual. Therefore it does not only carry a message. This can simply be verified by analyzing the reaction of the people to wearing a certain kind of clothing. The priority is always given to people who are dressed in an accepted way. I am not saying that being sighted in the way society wants is the right way, I am just of the opinion that we are in a society that always expects that things should be done in a certain way. It is even a thing of joy now that we have grown past how society wants us to be in terms of deviating from our norms and culture and not embracing whatever standard it expects of us.

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