The Purpose of Fashion Writing - Essay Example

? THE PURPOSE OF FASHION WRITING By and of The Purpose of Fashion Writing Fashion is something, in which everyone participates. Most people participate in fashion with the aim of portraying an image. According to fashion, what people choose to wear reflects the daily choices they make. People create an image of themselves for everyone else to interpret by what they choose to wear (Hallman, J. P. 2012, 12). If not used correctly, fashion can be used as a tool against an individual participating in it. In fashion, people focus mainly on the latest designers and the newest trends to present themselves. If used wisely and appropriately, fashion can give the best-desired outlook to those who participate in it. The most important aspect of fashion is how people look like in what they wear. Fashion is a tool meant to self-promote someone if used appropriately. Presently, global industrial revolution and modern enhancements create trends, which are referred to as fashion. The most representative trend is wearing the latest clothes and acquiring things considered fashionable. In the modern society, fashion is created on branding, which makes customers to think in terms of brands. This makes it easy for entrepreneurs to occupy niche and communicate to their target market by offering people of definite lifestyle what they want and need. Young people always try out new fashion ideas and if the ideas become popular, many other people also try them, and the new styles become fashion trends. Fashion trends are often sparked by characters on popular television shows and movies, as well as adopted from magazine pages. Top designers always lead the way in creating trend setting in fashion. Although trends are popular, they last only for a short time. Musicians are also very influential when it comes to dictating fashion. Fashion helps individuals to show who they are and depict their personality when it comes to visual information. Fashion writing is presented to the public in two forms, which include; fashion magazines and blogs. Large companies and stories in them written by experts in the field of fashion produce fashion magazines. The magazines attempt to display the merchandise of the designer in an artistic way, consisting of creative editorials and written pieces that describe the trends. The targeted audience for the magazines consists of people having interest in fashion. The main aim of fashion magazines is to sell clothes and display clothing in an artistic way for public interest. Individuals having deep love and high interest for fashion write fashion blogs. The aim of the writers is to share a unique fashion sense with the rest of the population. Blogs appear on the internet and their number is rapidly increasing. Posts on fashion blogs include pictures and daily updates of the latest fashion finds (Miller, M. 2012, 315). The intended audience of blogs includes people who love and enjoy exploring new trends. The writings on the blogs give ordinary individuals a chance to express their opinions and place their mark on the world of fashion. Although the discipline of fashion writing does not have set rules, there are many traits and commonalities found in it. In writing fashion articles, a specific format has to be followed. For instance, the articles are written in first person narration since it is an opinion piece. Writers in fashion industry are supposed to use sophisticated and an informed voice of authority, while considering the expectations of the audience. They should also use short and clear sentences that are easy to read. The writers have a necessity of producing an appealing mental image by use of descriptive language. For instance, instead of describing something as simply “yellow”, the writer should use a word like “lemon” or “sunny” for creating a vivid image. Fashion writing makes use of distinguished lexicon from other writing forms, for instance, the unconventional use of the syntax is typified as modern and fresh. Definite and indefinite articles are omitted and, sometimes, the sentences lack verbs. The syntax is used with the aim of emphasizing the novelty and the desirability of styles. Fashion magazines are dominated by two styles of writing. The styles include the populist, which gives a review of popular trends and the contextual style that explores ways in which trends represent moments in time. Writers in the fashion industry have a reputation of using hyperboles and clinches in their articles. However, there has been a shift to irony incorporation and wit with the aim of making fashion to appear less trivial, and become more applicable to consumers. As fashion writers insert opinions in a fashion article, they often make common errors. They provide an insufficient amount of their own opinion, instead of giving a description of fashion trends. On the other end of the spectrum, the writers become over critical in analyzing fashion trends. Nevertheless, fashion writers strive to find the correct balance that gives the readers an opportunity to absorb the written information and, in the end, form their own opinion. Common mistakes in blogs include lack of a conversational tone and too much extension of the post. Writers in the fashion industry have to avoid sounding too lofty because readers are more likely to listen to what they understand. Bloggers should post messages in a way that is concise and relatable to the reader. The essential component of fashion writing is that it makes comparison between current and past trends that have occurred in the industry. Since fashion trends are ever changing, it is essential for writers to analyze the evolution of the trends in their articles. Articles written by fashion writers capture the evolution of fashion since it is always changing. Documentation of rapid change in style is one of the most exciting elements in fashion. As they write about the creation of designers, fashion writers usually follow the format of starting an article with a brief description of the training work history of the designer. The writers consider it important to, also, describe the current work and fashion trends of fashion created by the designer. The writers, in their articles, make comparisons of trends of fashion through various seasons and they try to find the trends that are persistent and those that evolve. Fashion writings regularly make cultural references with the aim of appealing the high culture in preference to the popular culture. Readers of fashion writing articles are expected to be aware of certain elements of culture, including the artistic and literacy history. For instance, in British Vogue article, tears in their eyes, a history connection is revealed. Furthermore, fashion writings often refer to models and designers based on their first name. The writings create a bridge that connects the world of high fashion to ordinary individuals who read the articles. The layouts of the magazines, in conjunction with the writings, are essential elements that help the readers of the articles to understand the ever-changing trends of fashion. Editors of fashion writings create appealing spreads, usually timelines and collages, which surround the piece of writing concerning the fashion trends. Primarily, this forms the marketing technique to appeal the targeted audiences. Fashion writings on online fashion blogs create an appealing interface of a clean and simple website, which gains popularity by attracting followers. Bloggers usually strive to make fashion posts the centre of attention. Artistic layouts that are cohesive with blog posts or articles in fashion writings become very successful and increase the influence they have in the fashion industry. The past three decades have witnessed changes in fashion in terms of its credibility as an area under academic investigation and the influence it has caused to the western culture. This has led to reconsideration of fashion within the popular culture. Today, fashion writings are found when flipping through art and fashion magazines. However, the art press locates fashion writings within the wider social and cultural dialogues, reflecting upon the cultural, social, economical and psychological implications of dress. The theory of fields, developed by Bourdieu’s, offers an insightful starting point that helps in the understanding of media field paradigm. The theory argues that the society is divided into semiautonomous fields that are structured around the opposition between the economic and political capital and cultural capital. Fields are distinguished both in regards to their degree of autonomy from dominant political forces and specific capital that is valued therein. However, it is complex to locate journalism within the field theory. Fashion writings have a unique power of investigating other fields, including music and politics. The power impacts on the profession’s autonomy through the criticality of the writings it produces. Other theories have examined that the fields of journalism, especially those that relate to consumer affairs like motoring, share a closer interest with companies than it does with political or news reporting journalism. This logic rationalizes the assumptions made about the depth and objectivity of the journalists’ practices, which vary in accordance to the field that they enter. Fashion writings in the essay, Is fashion art by Sung Bok Kim, show major differences between art and fashion media. The example runs against the assumption that the criticality of journalist practices rely on the explored fields. According to her essay, both fashion journalists and art report on fashion. The criticality of the journalism produced is determined by the genre of media, in this case art versus the fashion press. There have been widespread fashion writings on the similarities that exist between the fashion industry and art. In his essay, Art and Fashion, Critic Michael Boordro states that fashion and art are different. He asserts that fashion is an industry and differs from art because art is above commerce. This implies that the distinction between fashion and art by Boodro is based, primarily, on the commercial nature of fashion. As part of postmodernism, the acknowledgment of fashion writings as a cultural artifact gained impetus during the 1980s within visual arts. The art press started to publish articles on fashion and continued conceptualizing fashion as art. However, this does not imply that the two industries are the same. It shows that the overlap between them is on an increase. Richard Martin, in his fashion writings, also acknowledges the differences in the relationship between fashion and culture. In his writings, he asserted that the good thing about fashion is that it is commerce blatant, but the art world is very discreet about commerce. Fashion writings that explore the relationship of commerce with art press and fashion assist the targeted audience to understand the divergent practices of each media. Corporate interests have entered into an increasingly direct relationship with the practices of journalists. The conglomerates dissolve the boundaries of journalistic practices in a commanding way. Fashion writings on fashion journalism reveal that the limits, which have professional practices derived from corporate interests, are being stretched. Fashion writings by theorist Angela McRobbie, an ex-fashion editor of the guardian, are instrumental in understanding the pressure experiences by fashion journalists. Fashion writings have covered little on the investigation done on commercial and cultural pressures faced by journalists working within art magazines. However, the writings have covered a lot on how the public perceives a cultural industry since this provides an insight into the restrictions that media potentially faces. According to the writings, to ensure healthy profit margins, media also faces market demands, logic interests of the audience and demographics. Since the late 1960s, the primary motivation of art and art criticism has been to destroy the monolithic myths of modernism and to disband its oppressive codes of practice. According to fashion writings, modernism in fashion within a historical and traditional context promotes the innate superiority of the Western art institution, which was found on Eurocentric ideals. Since then, new art forms created opposition against the leading cultural products of modernism. This led to vehement deviation of the new art from its aesthetic categories in favor of diversity, hybridism and cultural specificity. Thus, according to Fashion writings, postmodernist art ethos is to unveil all forms of social inequality. As fashion magazines are inward looking and loyal to their traditions, art magazines are continually striving to critique history. The critique challenges the viewers of the art magazines to think differently, thus making them aware of the dangers of safety idealized narratives that have turned people, places and experiences into subjects to be mined. Fashion magazines explain how structures, both cultural and economical, within fashion journalism have restricted the possibilities of meanings produced. However, in art press the interplay between the economic and the symbolic dimensions of public communications is seamless. Unlike the fashion press, the meaning of construction is not molded at the entry level by the programmed asymmetries of social relations. Another purpose of fashion writings is to give information about the opportunities available in the fashion industry (McKay, J 2013, 34). The articles provide information on how, at high school level, students can enroll in fashion marketing courses, and learn the inner workings of the industry. The articles in fashion writing give explanation of how students can study fashion trends and how they can have a keen eye for fashion. The writings also provide teachings on how students can develop skills for writing fashion articles and how they can create fashion blogs. Additionally, through fashion writings students may secure the opportunity to attend fashion shows in their local areas and apply their writing skills to write reviews and critiques. From fashion writings, students acquire ideas on how they can enroll in multiple English journalism courses to refine their skills in writing, and become introduced to the media and journalism industry. Fashion writings provide information to their audience on how fashion careers extends into college and further job opportunities. The writings provide a list of the elite colleges dedicated to teaching about fashion design and merchandising, among them, including the Fashion Institute of technology and the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. Many people interested in pursuing a career in writing find an internship at a reputable magazine in order to enter the world of fashion. The nature of career paths in fashion writing consists of staff writing, editorial assistant and fashion editor. Although it is extremely difficult to set foot into the fashion industry, it has many rewards and unique opportunities. Some of the perks in the fashion writing industry include the ability to attend the fashion shows of famous designers, travel the world and have access to an exciting and fast-paced world. Fashion writing is a wonderful form of expression and can lead to many prospective careers. This type of writing allows individuals in the industry to convey their uniqueness in an artistic manner. Although the purpose of fashion writing is promoting and selling designer clothing and trends, writers have an advantage of working in an advantageous and valuable career. Fashion writers have an opportunity of achieving an excellent lifestyle and becoming a major influence in the industry while pursuing the career. Fashion is undergoing a deep technological and social change. The changes include from fashion magazines to fashion blogs and fashion plates to fashion films. References Hallman, P. J., & Hallman, P. J., 2012. Creating positive personal images for Professional success: Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education. MILLER, M., 2012. B2B digital marketing: [using the web to market directly to businesses]: Indianapolis: Ind, Que. MCKAY, J., 2000. The magazines handbook, London: Routledge. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=63915. Read More