Fashion is a way of expressing one’s identity through clothing and style choices. It is a form of popular culture that varies and changes over time, often more quickly than any other aspect of culture. The fashion industry is complex, with many different levels of production. These include the production of raw materials, principally textiles but also leather and fur; the production of finished garments by designers, manufacturers, contractors, and others; retail sales; and various forms of advertising and promotion.
Although trends in clothing are generally influenced by the seasons, culture, and the individual’s own preferences, they can also be inspired by social influences, such as music and celebrity culture. In the modern world, the fashion industry is huge and globalized, with designers creating styles that are often manufactured in multiple countries and sold internationally.
Throughout history, fashion has been used as a mark of prestige, indicating a person’s social status or wealth, and has been an indicator of one’s own personality. During the seventeenth century, for example, people would look at magazines and newspapers to see what royalty and dignitaries were wearing.
The first signs of continually changing clothing styles in the Western world can be dated to the middle of the fourteenth century, with the most dramatic change being the sudden drastic shortening and tightening of the male over-garment from calf-length to barely covering the buttocks, sometimes accompanied by stuffing in the chest, that created the distinctive modern western silhouette.