After reading
Gladwell, respond to the following prompt: Describe,
with sensory detail where possible, a fashion trend that you have noticed and
participated in during the past three or four years. Where did it begin (if you
know), or where did you first begin to notice it? Who were the people to first
wear this style? Does this particular fashion help identify a particular group?
If so, who or what? Do you identify with them or it? Is there a music genre
attached to this group; a set of beliefs; ideals; behaviors or rituals? Devote
two paragraphs to this e-journal response, citing at least one quotation from
Gladwell’s text to support your conclusions. (Due 10/4)
A trend that I have noticed and participated in during the past few years is wearing skinny jeans. I know they were popular way back in the 80’s or even before that. I remember I was in middle school when I first saw a girl with them on. After that day I started noticing more and more teen females wearing skinny jeans. Even guys caught up with the trend and started wearing them too. The guys that would usually wear skinny jeans were skater boys and or were into rock. Eventually all female and male teens started wearing them. Everyone was now becoming infected with the skinny jean “virus” as Gladwell says about both the Hush Puppies trend and anti crime. “When a virus spreads through a population, it doubles and doubles again until it has grown from a single sheet of paper all the way to the sun in fifty steps” (Gladwell, pg 7). This is exactly what was happening at the time with skinny jeans. At first I did not like skinny jeans but after a while I found myself wearing them too. It was rare to see someone not wearing skinny jeans because they were so popular then and still are today. Skinny jeans are now worn by people of all ages and interests.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteWhen I was still in high school a few months ago, I’ve always noticed so many fashion trends that took place. Let’s just say my high school was a very outspoken bunch. Some of the fashions that our school had were: rock, hip hop, Goth, Retro, casual, fancy flowy dresses and some that just didn’t have a name to its own yet ( I would put it as lady gaga inspired).Until one day I was looking at my friends outfit and I saw these brown vintage shoes with lace shoelace. I think the inspiration behind that look was from the 1920’s. I don’t know why but I love that time period. The fashion, the music, even the aura of it just looks like a great time to live in. I HAD to get me a pair of those. It was like love at first sight. I’ve spent all summer trying to find the right pair. Either they didn’t have the right color or the right shoe size. I wanted brown and didn’t settle for anything else. Then one day I saw them through the window. It was as if they were calling my name. I ran in there and tried them on. It was a perfect fit! I was so happy that day. In The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, he mentions” It made no sense to them that shoes that were so obviously out of fashion could make a comeback.” This related to my situation and brought up a good point. Is the fashion industry running out of ideas, or simply using these outdated fashion trends as inspiration?
As a teen starting out in high school, I was very much confused about what the latest trends were in shoes, clothing and other accessories. I didn’t want to fit in or dress just like other kids straight out of middle school, who were into jordans and overrated sneakers. I didn’t hang out with a specific group of friends that only dressed a certain way. One day in my math class, a transfer student walked in wearing a short black dress with dark purple sneakers that caught my attention that very instant. I didn’t even like the idea of pairing a dress with sneakers, or even the color purple for that matter but that was just the reason why it stood out.
ReplyDeleteI realized that these shoes were the ones making a comeback from when I was a toddler, back in the 90’s. I couldn’t remember what they were called or the last I’ve seen someone wearing them. I went and bought a pair of these All star converse that were apparently first worn by Chuck Taylor? Then I began to see more and more people wearing them in and out of my high school, on the streets, on the mannequins at the mall. It was like Gladwell said in The Tipping Point “the shoes passed a certain point in popularity an they tipped.” The were practically being worn by all age groups of all cliques. Boys in the basketball team at my school were mostly seen wearing them. It didn’t even occur to me that these sneakers have gotten so popular and that I began to wear the same sneakers as everyone else. That didn’t even bother me because I loved the way they looked when I first tried them on at the store, when I began wearing them and even today. Today there are multiple colors in these shoes, bleached, tie dye etc. But the ones I like most is the black and white pair of converse I first bought.
A fashion trend that I have noticed and participated in, is wearing converse sneakers. Converses have definitely been around for a long time, going back to 1920’s, but they have been going in and out of fashion for the past century. Like the Hush puppies in the article The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, the shoes made a comeback when everyone thought they were gone out of fashion they made a comeback, “It made no sense to them that shoes that were obviously out of fashion could make a comeback.” (pg1). I do remember seeing them when I was a little girl but I didn’t really wear them from middle school till now, when people actually started wearing them more often. I’m not sure who were the actual first to wear them; I just remember seeing people wear them more than usual.
ReplyDeleteBefore they started becoming as popular as they are now, I guess you could say a particular group that people would identify people wearing them is people who listen to rock or even skaters. But now, it seems almost anyone would wear them so not much people would categorize anyone for wearing them. I wouldn’t identify myself into any of those groups; I don’t really identify myself in any group to begin with. I think the music that could be behind this trend is definitely any type of rock, like I mentioned before, people would identify people who wear converses would listen to rock so I do believe that’s where people get it from. It has definitely gotten to the point where almost anyone wears converses, no matter who you are, it has become a fashion in this decade.
Ever since I came to this country, I have noticed that pink were for girls and blue were for boys. It was more like this is what society is and you have to deal with it. I noticed people especially girls matching blue and yellow, yellow and green and green and blue. It was normal for the girls to use these primary colors and it was not weird or anything. But for the last couple of months, I’ve been watching television and there are lots of trends going on. I see people matching colors such as BLUE and PINK! I thought blue was for guys and pink was for girls! Well to be honest, I actually like that combination so much better. They are bright colors that just catch your eye no matter who you are. I tried it and it was amazing. Who knew this combination would have been a better idea? I am not really sure who started this trend but since I saw it on TV, I would say the celebrities started it.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think that this trend helps identify certain people because I have noticed some guys who had this combination on. Well then again it was in a movie so who knows! As Gladwell said, it takes a few people to make a trend or a change. Once the trend is started, everyone then follows it. In other words, it is kind of contagious just like a yawn. Once you see a person yawning, you will no doubt yawn too. I remember that at my graduation, our valedictorian was supposed to give a speech but she started singing too. At first the room was so quiet but then this one guy started clapping and within the next second, everyone was clapping. So it does take one person or a couple of people to make a change or start something then the world starts doing it too. To cut everything short matching pink and blue together is one of the BEST trends ever and I am so glad that I started matching up those colors too. There is nothing too feminine or too masculine about it.
Professor D’Amato
ReplyDeleteOctober 2,2012
By Arline Tejada
E Journal #2
Things change through out the years and fashion trends are no exception to that. We might like and maybe even be obsessed with something now in the moment and but as time goes on we start to loss interest in those trends and go on to something else. A particular fashion trend that I have noticed and has arisen in the past few years is the going from baggy jeans to skinny jeans and leggings. Before the up bringing of skinny jeans everyone use to use baggy jeans for everyday life. There were also high wasted jeans that was also very popular. The first people to actually start to use these new trends were the young teenagers and famous artists. I began to notice this new fashion trend in advertisement, commercials, and magazines. When I saw this fashion trend at first I though it was kind of weird but then i started to like it. It looked much better and fitted on every type of bodies better.
This particular trend became very popular as soon as it hit the markets. “Somehow a large number of people [get] infected with…. virus in a short time” (Gladwell 4). This implies that trends are like viruses that just spreads rapidly through out the body. This happens all the time with any kind of trends. When this particular fashion trend came out it was more directed to the younger generation and leaner people. This has changed through out the years, now anyone from youngest to older generation and from the leanest person to the thickest person wear skinny jeans and leggings. They have become really popular and a have just become a regular trend.
In this world we live in fashion trends make a huge part of our everyday life. Whether it is trends in clothing, shoes, style, or even owning certain electronic device, there’s always going to be something that people will make their own becoming part of it. In the past three or four years I’ve noticed and participated in the trend of the wide waist belts. I’m pretty sure this trend began a long time ago; I remember my mother telling me how she used to wear them when she was younger. But in about 2008 the wide waist belts popped up all over; you would see women rocking those belts everywhere and the one accessory that every women’s clothing store must have. It became an “epidemic” that spread like a “virus” as Malcolm Gladwell refers to trends in “The Tipping Point.” These belts besides having the ability to make a woman’s body look better shaped in a dress; they attract women for their variety of colors and styles; they come in black, blue, pink, red, and every color possible some with little chains, buckles, braided, and also in shiny leather material.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, this particular trend help identify women. Personally, I feel identified with the wide waist belts trend only to a certain extent because I like the style and to me it’s just part of the interest of a woman to always look for things to make herself appealing to others. But I don’t feel identified fully with the trend because I am not that crazy about it, this or any other trend does not defines who I am. Many people rely on trends or allow them to define them as a person. I don’t think there’s no specific music genre, beliefs, ideals, behaviors or rituals attached to this group since women from all over the world participate in this trend. Who would’ve thought wide waist belts would come to fashion again? But this is the world of the “Tipping Point, where radical change is more than possibility.”
I think most of us are likely to pursue fashion in today’s society. The fashion trend is rapidly changing over time. A few years ago, when I was still in middle school, Old Navy was popular among my classmates. As a result, my mom frequently shopped at Old Navy for me. But now, one can observe Hollister, Abcrombie and Aeropostole being the newest fashion trend in middle school. As far as shoes, most people wore Nike or Adidas sneakers a few years back, but now, you can notice more people start to choose Converse as their choice brand for sneakers.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think this particular fashion identifies with a particular group. Fashion trend is more like people’s luxuries. Some people are more concerned about how their look in society, so they always try to keep up with the latest fashion. As an author, Gladwell said, “Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do.” This is a rather true statement because people want to do the same things other people do. For example, in the winter time, if one sees most people are wearing UGG boots, when he goes to the store to shop for boots, the first one he tends to walk in browsing is probably an UGG store. Therefore, I believe fashion trend is just a way for people to pursue in order to feel better about themselves.
High school was a time for me where various fashion trends took place. I’ve seen the most outrageous styles and some I participate or would participate in. I’ve seen styles brought back from the past, like the late 80’s-90’s vintage look. For instance, tattoos and piercings; from late sophomore to early junior year my friends got tattoos of their name, astrological sign, birthday, foolish stuff. The history of tattoo began over 5000 years ago and is as diverse as the people who wear them. I think it became popular especially with boys because of the artist Wiz Khalifa. I would say he was sort of a role model to some of these boys because of his lifestyle. Wiz Khalifa is an American rapper and most of his upper body is tatted. I’ve always thought about getting tattoos but I’d rather piercings. Today, piercings are pretty outlandish. My generation consists of some with a piercing(s) on their eyebrows, nape, hips, lower back, dimples, and you name it. I’m getting a nose and more ears piercings, which I think is normal though. Each piercing has a sort of name based on how the piece looks and where it’s being pierced. Like, “Medusa, Madonna, Gauge Plugs, Monroe, Prince Albert”. This particular fashion does help identify a particular group because some people do certain piercings and tattoos based on their culture. I’ve always thought tattoos and piercings were attached to music like Rock, Heavy Metal, and Rap.
ReplyDeleteOther fashion trends in the past three or four years are hairstyles. For example, girls that shaves the side of their head and creating a “Mohawk” of some sort, black boys bringing back the old school “Flattops”. Accessories such as thick gold chains, “goddess chain head-wraps”, “good wood necklaces”, pin back buttons, stiletto acrylic nails, and snap-backs. Apparels like Adidas tracksuit, Ugg, skinny jeans, leggings/tights, varsity jackets, cargo pants, lace outfits, and denim outfits. I participate in a few of these trends. In the article, “Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell stated: The idea of the Tipping Point is very simple. It is that the best way to understand the emergence of fashion trends, the ebb and flow of crime waves, or, for that matter, the transformation of unknown books into bestsellers, or the rise of teenage smoking, or the phenomena, of word of mouth, or any number of other mysterious changes that mark everyday life is to think of them as epidemics. Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do. (4) Overall, I believe fashion trends are art, self-expression, history, and sometimes cool.
Graciano Clause
ReplyDeleteENG 125 – PQ1
Prof. Addis D’Amato
e-Journal #3
10/4/12
Street wear has been around for several decades already and still up till this day. This distinct kind of apparel wasn’t as hyped back then then it is now. It wasn’t until a few years back when street wear started becoming Mainstream. This type of fashion can actually be described as a combination of a number of words including, sneakers, skateboarding, and urban. Because of technology, hype has helped develop street wear into a huge culture. Skaters were wearing street wear before it became a trend, to them it was just something comfortable to wear. Clothing such as graphic t-shirts, sneakers, etc. At the time I think this particular fashion helped identified skaters because they were the only one wearing street wear, but know everyone wears it. Malcolm Gladwell made a valid point saying, “A world that follows the rules of epidemics is a very different place form the world we think we live in now (5)”. Gladwell is basically saying that at any one moment something dramatic can influence a society all at once which is called the Tipping point. I can say that I identify myself with the group of people that wear street wear because I obviously wear a lot of it. It’s not that I follow the hype, it’s just that I like the designs street wear brings. For the most part I would say that street wear has definitely been inspired over the years by contemporary pop culture. Music had had a crucial impact and for this reason it is normal to see select groups or bands to display this fashion.
Jonathan RIos
ReplyDeleteENG 125-PQ1
Prof. Addis D'Amato
E-Journal
10/5/12
Trends have a major tendency of coming and going. What people usually wear is a symbol of them and their personalty. This can have a somewhat of a misunderstanding due to the fact that we mostly like to conform to what's in "style" today. There are factors to figure out how trends come back and fade away. Pop Culture has had a major influence on what we say, do, and wear. In society we are in a "Monkey See, Monkey Do", mindset when it comes to choosing what we want to do. I personally like to feel comfortable so I like to wear Sweatpants, Sweatshirts, and Sneakers. In "The Tipping Point", Gladwell states "The rise of Hush Puppies and the fall of New York's crime rate are textbook examples of epidemics in action."(3) This statement has somewhat of an a positive correlation, saying that as a society we shift in to different phases of our life. Although crime will always be present in society, The Hush Puppies symbolize the peace and sanity within our own inner beings.
Fashion overtime has changed dramatically, to the point where it has changed our personally. I remember when it wasn't popular to wear a letterman jacket unless you played sports. Now when I go to school I at least see 7 out of 10 people wearing a letterman jacket. As a society we need to "strip ourselves" of the clothing that we wear because it has changed or social mind state.
Emma Sackeyfio
ReplyDeleteEnglish 125
E-Journal #2
October 3rd, 2012.
Over the years there have been a lot of fashion trends that have made their way back into main stream fashion and just like Glaswell wrote they resurfaced due to the fact that certain people wore them because others weren't. One thing I have observed about fashion and people is that every one wants to be an individual and express themselves through the way they dress all while looking good doing it. Only a few people know how to do that without following the crowd. For example the trend setters and them the mass produced fashion junkies who just observe whats current in fashion and put it on.
Due to this urge for the real trend setter to reinvent their sense of style or wardrobe they just take things that once were the in thing years ago and recycle them as Gladwell explained, "Those few kids, whoever they were, weren't deliberately trying to promote. They were wearing them precisely because no one else would wear them." Some of these trends in our modern day society are skinny pants which were first introduced in the late 1800 when Levi Strauss invented jeans and made them in the cut. They later faded in the hip pop era of the early 1900,when baggy pants became the in thing for young people to dress in. That trend also faded in the mid 1900s when economic imbalance settled in and suits and slacks were the attire of the hard working man. Now look their back in style. Another is converse and tennis shoes. This trend was started amongst the well to do youth of the early 1900s era when pop culture hadn't fully settled in yet. Then the excitement over Jordans and Nikes quickly swept through Western culture and they faded out. Now they have come back as what the Europeans know as Plimsolls and we still call converse or if one might say "Chuck Tailors". I can go on and on but one last example of a fashion come back are the famous leggings. These were a great hit during pop culture. They were seen worn by famous actresses and portrayed in movies as what the popular kids wore. Those also faded somewhere along the line of fashion but now its back. Almost every girl owns a pair of leggings if not in assorted colors, simply because it goes with everything. There are so many more examples one could give but in this ever changing fashionable world who can list them all. Who knows maybe as you read this corduroys are coming back into the fashion mainstream.
In modern world, many teenagers attempt to wear their pants much lower than the regular, it seems like those people are proud to show their underwear in front of people’s eyes. This style of wearing pant is originated from the jail, it has a special symbolic meaning between prisoners, which is homosexual sex accepted! Indeed, after these people were released from the prison, they bring their way of dress to outside world and it influences many teenagers. As we all know, young people always looking for something new and special, and this new way of dress is what they want. Therefore, it becomes an epidemic.
ReplyDeleteThis trend is unexpected in the society. To say the truth, it tells people that the person who wears like this is lacking of etiquette. However, most of teenagers do not care; they still dress like that as long as it was consider “Cool” in their friend circle. According to Malcolm Gladwell’s article , “The three rules of the Tipping Points – the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, the Power of Context – offer a way of making sense of epidemics.” (Page 5) It makes sense of why this style of dress becomes an epidemic. It start from the prisoners, then it spread into the society, and it influence teenagers, lastly, it spread into a place such as schools or clubs and influence more people.
I have seen many different trends sets during the past three years. For one is skinny jeans, it came back. They were hip before and now there hip again. Everyone wares skinny jeans weather it is a girl or a boy. I also wear skinny jeans. This trend started coming back when I was in middles school. I saw some girls in my middle school ware it and I thought they looked nice in them but I did not start wearing them until I was in high school. I think that the girls first started wearing it to show that they were different. I guess they wanted to feel special and unique. Mostly I thought it was for attention and these girls were not very nice. They use to be mean to people because they thought that they were special for trying to look different, but the truth of the matter is that I had seen the trend outside of my middle school too and during that time fashion was not a big deal to me, so it didn't matter.
ReplyDeleteI think people wear different things not only to send a new trend, but to also show who they are as a person. I think that fashion is a way to express yourself in ways that you can if you are a shy person. I show some times when I am warring something to show how I am feeling or what type of mood I am in. If it's a rainy day of I would wear according to the weather and how I feel about the weather. If I am going out with my friends I would dress happy and go out of my way to look nice. There many reasons why we dress the way we do and pick the cloths we wear and like the things, we like. These all can send a trend because people will always copy others weather it is good or bad
Throughout my life, I have seen and participated in many fashion trends. One of the fashion trend I have participated in past years is wearing skinny jeans. In the beginning I saw skaters, and few rappers such as lil wayne wearing a skinny jeans. Back then skinny jeans used to represent skaters. And I love skateboarding, and I thought it was a style for me, because I wanted people to know that I love skateboarding. And one way of showing that was by wearing a skinny jeans. I believe my sense of fashion has changed throughout my life because I went from wearing a baggy jeans to skinny jeans.
ReplyDeleteFour or five years ago, baggy jeans were in trend. Almost everyone used to wear baggy jeans, and I did the same. But, now the skinny jeans are in trend, and I am also participating in it. I think we follow these fashion trends, not because we want to, but because we want to fit in with others. When we buy a clothes, we not only look at the quality of the clothes but, also its popularity. If no one is not wearing a similar clothes as other people, one wouldn't feel comfortable wearing those clothes either. We want people to acknowledge that we are interested in fashion, and know how to dress up. And the way to show that will be by wearing whats popular.In the article "The Tipping Point", Malcolm Gladwell writes, "No one was trying to make Hush Puppies a trend. Yet, somehow that's exactly what happened. The shoes passed a certain point in popularity and they tipped". Gladwell pointed out that the hush puppies weren't meant to be the trend, but due to the popularity it gained, it became a fashion trend. In conclusion, the more popularity a certain fashion gets, the more it becomes a trend.
Throughout my middle school and high school life the fashion trend that i have noticed were Jordan and Nike shoes. They happen to get very popular very quickly and everyone seemed to have them. They both were getting popular as time goes and currently both are still very popular and have influenced many, as well as myself. But as these trends were in place also were other shoes, like converse which got very popular also.The group of people who wear Jordan's or Nike's the most were people involved in basketball. Whether they watched or played, they will have Jordan's and/or Nike sneakers. I played basketball during my middle school and had both. For most of the people who play basketball with their Jordan or Nike shoes gives them a better look and personality.
ReplyDeleteIf a new pair of shoes came out there would a necessity for everyone to get the pair shoes if they participated in this fashion trend. Same goes with this trend of jordan's and nike's. If you participate in this trend and fail to follow it buy not buying the latest shoes on the market, you feel you are incomplete without it. All these trends that come and go happen very quickly, it doesn't take time for a brand to get popular and be the hottest pick on the market. In the article "The Tipping point", Malcolm Gladwell points out how the changes in trends happen at a quick pace, rather than at a slow pace. "Finally, both changes happen in a hurry"..."...and three, that change happens not gradually but at one dramatic moment.." Nowadays there are so many varieties with shoes and in Nike sneakers it self.
One fashion trend I’ve noticed is converse sneakers. They were really popular in the 1920’s. Converse came back as a trend about 5 years ago. At first mostly skater kids wore them. But then they started coming out in more colors, which made almost everyone want to buy them. Kids of all ages were buying them. Basketball players were wearing them instead of expensive Jordan’s and Nikes. I believe converse became really popular because both male and females could wear them. At one point they became so popular, every group of kid had them. They were the only sneakers I’ve seen, that a nerd and a popular kid were able to pull off at the same time. Eventually everyone had them. Like Gladwell once said, “When a virus spreads through a population, it doubles and doubles again until it has grown from a single sheet of paper all the way to the sun in 50 steps.”
ReplyDeleteThe reason I bought them was because they weren’t a complicated trend. They would go with any outfit, they were cheap, and they didn’t make me feel like I was in a specific clique or group trying to fit in. I feel like a trend starts when people think it’s gone. Only one person has to wear it for the new generation to make it a comeback. Like Gladwell said, “It made no sense to them that shoes that were so obviously out of fashion could make a comeback.”
One fashion trend I've participated in during the past three or four years is the body modification trend. In high school, I have had my lips pierced in four places, a tragus piercing, multiple cartilage piercings on my ears, and stretched lobes. Since then, I've decided I'd look much more professional without so much metal on my face, so I removed most of my piercings for employment purposes. In the past, piercings and tattoos have been considered strange and were not socially accepted for the most part. Piercings and tattoos are closely associated with groups who listen to alternative types of music. Personally, I somewhat identify with these groups but I do also listen to various other genres, such as pop, hip hop, reggae, soca, even country music, as well as music in languages other than English.
ReplyDeleteMore recently, I've seen people outside of alternative communities with piercings and tattoos. In "The Tipping Point," Malcolm Gladwell mentions the growing interest in Hush Puppies during the 90s. He writes, "those first few kids weren't deliberately trying to promote Hush Puppies. They were wearing them precisely because no one else would wear them" (2). Ironically enough, most trends start with someone who is trying to stand out. However, I like the fact that body mods have become a growing trend because I personally find them aesthetically pleasing. It's nice to know that people have become more open to expressing their individuality through body modification and more accepting of those who choose to.