Fashion Practice Log

Fashion is described as a process of navigating through a disorganized clothing ideas but still being hopeful for the perfect result. Often times, styles and designs are a simple representation of who we are. What one wears is solely dependent on the individual as a trend is ever changing. In the article, Susan says that "Styling, dressing, adorning or fashioning are the basics of subject formation: an ongoing sense of self and identity in a changing world" (Kaiser and Susan 2012, p.24). In turn, the dress practice of people assit them in expressing their real identity or even their present mood or emotion. In this essay, there will be a look at six dress practices basing on the existing ideas in the Susan Kaiser’s reading.
Looking at day one dress practice, it consists of pajamas. Pajamas mostly are considered sleeping clothes. Mostly they are worn while in the house with no official activity to perform. “Not surprisingly, given the multiple and often contradictory power dynamics involved in style fashion-dress, a mixture of emotions and meanings emerge through this system” (Barry, Ben and Barbara 2016, p.17). The wearing of this attire cannot be linked to gender as this dress practice is common across all genders. This dress practice is more linked to culture than race or gender. Since it is a thing done by most people over an extended period, one can say it a cultural thing.
Day two dress practice consists of a dress which automatically pulls one to the female gender. “The concept of habitus reminds us that it is not just what one wears that matters but also how one style, fashions or dresses the body that tells us about everyday processes of subject formations interplay between subjectivity and the subject positions people inhibit” (Edwards and Tim 2016, p.34). The wearing of a white dress assists in showing a want to be in touch with the feminine self. Socially and culturally a woman is expected to wear a dress and look feminine. Mostly the dress can bring out the physical features of a woman. Mainly the female gender is associated with the habit of minding their appearance (Hattrick and Jane 2016, p.54). The comfortable level of the dress practice is determined by what one is accustomed to wearing on a daily basis.
The third dress practice is somehow unisex. The dressing is related to physical feeling rather than social. In my case, I consider the dress practice comfy. “Style fashion dress enables articulations of subjectivity, reminding us that clothes mark the boundary between the biological world and the social world” (Hattrick and Jane 2016, p.56). Culturally, the dress practice is not expected of a woman. Susan in the article says “we have to mind our appearances to sort through this ambiguity and to navigate through the knot of sex, sexuality, and gender” (Hollander and Anne 2016, p.14). The dress style is more based on a feeling of physical comfort rather than social support.
Day four dress practice is more influenced by the need to maintain appearance rather gender or race factors. The dress style has weather limitation as it cannot be worn on sunny days. “New styles introduced on the runway or the street are often ambiguous, but they become even more so when subjects fashion them into their looks –mixing and matching in ways that they may not have ever been anticipated by designers” (Jenss, Heike and Joanne 2016, p.27). This is a comfortable look for chilly days, during the evening or at night.
Day five dress practice is somehow similar to the day three dress code. It is more reliant on the need to be physically comfortable and also the need to self-identify oneself (Tse, Florence and Catherine 2016, p.76). This look is mostly linked to the heterosexual persons. Therefore, it would be correct to say that the watch is influenced by the social surroundings.
Finally, the sixth dress style decision is influenced by cultural factors. The dress choice activates gender, sexuality, race, and ethnicity. The style of dressing is prevalent mostly among the Asian women. Another thing to note is that it expresses that one feminine thus touching the gender subject position. Again, the comfort level of the dress style is more reliant on a person’s habits.
In conclusion, the six subject positions which are race, gender, place, nation, class, and sexuality play a role in a person’s dress practice. The habits of a person contribute to the comfort level when in a particular dress style.
 
Bibliography

Barry, Ben, and Barbara Phillips. "Destabilizing the gaze towards male fashion models: expanding men’s gender and sexuality identities." Critical Studies in Men's Fashion 3, no. 1 (2016): 17-35.
Edwards, Tim. Men in the Mirror: Men's Fashion, Masculinity, and Consumer Society. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016.
Hollander, Anne. Sex and suits: the evolution of modern dress. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016.
Hattrick, Jane. "Using ‘dress appearance […] to define who I am to others’: Everyday fashion and subjectivity among white lesbians in Brighton 2005–2015." Fashion, Style & Popular Culture 3, no. 2 (2016): 173-191.
Jenss, Heike, and Joanne B. Eicher, eds. Fashion Studies: Research Methods, Sites and Practices. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016.
Kaiser, Susan B. Fashion, and cultural studies. A&C Black, 2012.
Tse, Florence, TF, Florence, TF Tse, Catherine YP Chan, and Catherine YP Chan. "New approach for fashion design: Case study of employing user-oriented method to design mother-to-be party dress." Research Journal of Textile and Apparel 20, no. 1 (2016): 53-60.