People generally relegate fashion bloggers to “airheads”, claiming that all they do is “commoditize” fashion victims. They fail to see that they have an important role in society as  they observe and criticize trends.Many readers choose to comply with a popular look for the sake of being socially accepted, and this draws our attention to how different trends represent people collectively, depending on where they are and what they choose to value.

Looking at the different epochs of fashion, nothing could be more intriguing than the ‘flapper girl’ phenomenon of the late 1920′s.

During the Great Economic Depression, women were expected to keep up with the norms of wearing stockings outside the home. Due to the dire conditions, most began to wear sheer varieties that were poorer in quality. Many simply took charcoal and drew vertical lines at the back of their calves up till their knees! The Flapper Girl costumes, which were a rage, were simple satin tunics with tasseled lace, buttons and stone-sequined work. Women tended to make tassels out of their ragged clothes. The hairstyles looked greasier. Tight curls stuck to the head, most probably the result of downgraded lifestyles which didn’t allow many to bathe and perfume themselves as they did before. As the unit of female labour in factories soared , the craze was to look more masculine ; a statement of economic independence. This went hand in hand with the ‘red lipstick madness’ during the 1940’s , symbolizing adult sexuality and womanhood.

Soon the economic boom of the late 50’s  splashed onto Hollywood and other movie capitals around the world. The skinny Flapper Girl was now told to blossom and increase in dimension. Full-figured actresses paved the way for bigger hair, tighter skirts, brighter lipsticks and vibrant pumps, something we happen to idolize in fashion magazines today.Everything had to be bigger, recreated if lacking, heightened and overtly sensual.

The 1980′s called for an androgynous look for men and women. It was about defying every norm there was in fashion and film. Were the outcomes terrible? Sometimes they were, but they were iconic. People were now financially comfortable and were caught up in the excitement of technological advancement (traces of which could  be seen in the wave of “sci-fi” films an robotic dance moves) .

While brands became a way of life, the 90’s was about the destruction of the superficial self. Baggy t-shirts, blue or black lipstick, formless hair and ripped jeans filled up our screens that were most likely tuned to MTV. It was concerned with appearing to not care about how you looked.

Posts on fashion allow people to  choose what style to mimic, and to observe changes in fads, believing that they unveil certain characteristics of people in particular socio-economical situations across the world. In the long run, people need to let their hair down, and stop worrying about “what’s in or out’’, because things will come around full circle, eventually.