George Simmel and Fashion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

George Simmel and Fashion - Essay ExampleThe paper Georg Simmel and Fashion concerns the Georg Simmel and Fashion. date there are many writings on fashion, hel was the first one to make an in-depth analytical view on the subject. While his contemporaries viewed fashion as highly irrational in nature, Simmel suggested that the upper berth kinsfolkes use fashion to set themselves apart from rest of the society. His theory revolved round concepts of individualism and collectivism, where it was conceptualised that fashion spreads from upper classes to the masses through remodelling. When a certain object or activity reaches the middle classes, the upper class must invent a new fashion to maintain distinction, which according to Simmel, illustrates the notion of recurring changes at bottom fashion. 1904 canvass Fashion examines sociological aspects of fashion and its role in conciliating the tension/conflict evident at heart modern social dynamics, related to gender and class. Acco rding to Simmel, fashion, which is a non-summative transformation in cultural attributes, evolves from a tension that is distinctive to an individuals social conditions. While each individual tends to imitate or emulate others, at the same time there is also a tendency to tarry appropriate from others. Undoubtedly, while some adopt imitation (conformism), others prefer to remain distinct (dissidence), and for fashion to be effective, it is necessity to allow functioning of both the opposing tendencies. Reviewing Simmels article is significant from current sociological perspectives., as it stands out as the only real attempt towards deriving basic theories on fashion. This essay reviews theories suggested by Simmel, and examines how the underlying tension (desire for conformation and distinction, at the same time) operates at group and individual levels, and how it reflects and influences wider social conditions. This essay also derives from Simmels writing that fashion is a kind of social relationship, which makes it an important tool in understanding modern urban society. Introduction Since the beginning of 20th century, there has been a great wangle of discussion on fashion. However, a closer look reveals that is a dearth of analytical and generic theories on this topic. Amongst the various available literatures, the best analysis on fashion is the essay writtenby Georg Simmel in 1904.This remains to this day, probably the only real attempt towards framing a basic theory on fashion consequently, while the paper is now more than a hundred years old, theories and concepts suggested in it remain relevant, even in post-modern twenty-first century social structure (Coser,