How does fashion shape social identities - Essay Example

Clothing is considered to have a significant influence on the social construction of identity of human beings. With choices of clothing being available, the different cultures are interpreted by individuals in order to choose their clothing. This includes the norms of appearance of an individual at a particular time based on different cultures and other alternatives available for rich fashion (Crane 2012). Clothing or fashion is said to imply the way individuals perceive themselves and their positions in the society.

In the earlier times, clothing was the means that was associated with an individual’s representation of himself to the world. Over the years, other factors have been associated with clothing such as education, religion, occupation and class in the society. Clothes generally reflect the different types of societies and the different roles and positions of individuals existing within the societies (Crane 2012). According to social constructionists, the social world is represented as a set of connections that is brought about by the human beings through time, place, and form.

As far as fashion marketing is concerned, it has been observed that marketers tend to focus on the sense of the consumers and their identities and segmenting them accordingly (Hines and Bruce 2012). Social identity is essential in interpreting the type of clothes worn by an individual. The use of clothes and fashion has been considered as a code to determine the identity of the person. If a certain individual is wearing clothes of a certain brand, it gives an impression of the individual and hence a social identity is created.

However, for young individuals, it is difficult to create social constructions based on their fashion as their choices would vary with the options available to them. Differences in perceptions for branded and unbranded products also largely influence they manner in which people clothes and hence their