Standards of Fashion
It seems as if everyone wants something different. The more unique the clothing is, the more fashionable and expensive it will be. The article “Fashion lives outside malls” by Anna Barbara Lorenzo, does a good job at describing how the mass production hurts fashion marketability. She stated:
“Mass production maybe good for certain businesses, but it is a nightmare for fashion-conscious people who want not just to be trendy but to be different as well.”
In the fashion world I agree that consumers want not only to be fashionable, but they want to be set apart from everyone else and feel “exclusive”. If everyone can have your oufit, suddenly you don’t want it anymore because its not special. However, the specialness is something you must pay for. Often, the mass produced department store clothing is much cheaper because it is produced for a very cheap price by underpaid workers.
Lorenzo described a store called the I Love You store where everything is unique and made with a personal touch. It is owned by three women Corinne Ching, Sharon Atillo and Mimi Sanson. I think consumers feel better about an item when it is made under fair labor practices and is unique but I’m not sure whether there is a way to make these couture items a reasonable price.
“There is emphasis on each piece being an artwork. The clothes are their canvas. We give them complete freedom to express themselves,” Ms. Ching said in a recent interview.”
Fashion is art and I think people should be creative with their style but when its mass produced you just dont feel the same. consumers don’t feel that they are going above the normal standards. Fashion consumers want the best and the best is more expensive. The article said that the clothing prices range from 300 dollars to 3000 dollars and shoes from 800 dollars to 1200 dollars. Rocker tee shirts are from 400 to 1200 dollars. Thats right, tee shirts. One of the store owners stated,
“I have to feel that what they (designers) bring is different and not like the stuff one can just get in a mall. The styles here are diverse. We have clothes for yuppies and rockers alike,”.
These clothes in the boutique are not meant for everyone and they are stating that it isn’t meant for the low or middle class, its meant for yuppies because thats who can afford it. Not many can afford to drop 1200 dollars on a tee shirt and still have enough money to live comfortably that month. So what is everyone else doing? shopping at department stores for clothing that is mass produced.
To get a bit of history backround about the standardization of clothes i visited the site http://museum.nist.gov/exhibits/apparel/history.htm. It explained how clothing was not always mass produced before the civil war. For the war they produced uniforms in mass quantities. From then on mass production increased. However womens clothing was still custom made until the 1920s. Then advertising increased and demand increased so clothing started to be mass produced and that led us to where we are today. Please check this interesting website out it is a virtual museum of the history of fashion.
June 27th, 2009 at 8:07 am
Thanks for reading and quoting the article. Please note, though, that the prices in the article are in Philippine peso, not dollars. Still, in a predominantly middle-class economy like ours, P1200 is pretty steep for a shirt. Thanks!