INTRODUCTION...About who i am and what I think the Fashion is

                                                          Hello, everyone!


       My name is Anastasia Kryukova. I was born and raised in Russia and came to USA not long time ago. Right away I want to apologize for any grammar mistakes! But I will try to do my best! 
       Also I'm an artist, craftsman, writer and fashion designer. My mind never stops creating and doesn't matter what field I choose.



       Anyway, finally I decided to proceed one of my dream about starting a blog. A blog about Fashion. One of my dreams were to write a book about Fashion History. Who knows, maybe it will still happen. But so far seems to me a good idea to start it small-with a blog. This way I can  cross one line from my Bucket list! Check!
        Here I will be talking about anything what is related to fashion. I will be posting about Fashion history, Fashion names, brands, how to make yourself fashionable things and etc.


        Ok. Enough with introductions... I need to start with something and first blog I would like to start with meaning of Fashion.

***

Fashion is a term used commonly to describe a style of clothing worn by most people of a country. A fashion remains popular for a few months or years before being  replaced by yet another fashion. A product or activity is in fashion or is fashionable during the period of time that  a large segment of society accepts it. After a time, however, the same product or activity becomes old-fashioned when the majority of people no longer accept it.

The Evolution of Fashion and Fashion Changes

Major changes in fashion occurred frequently before the 1300s. Since then, the political and social conditions of a nation, plus technological developments, have influenced fashion in various ways.
During the 1300s, rulers of many European nations began to set fashions that were followed by the members of their courts. In the mid-1600s, King Louis XIII of France began wearing a wig to hide his baldness. Fashionable Frenchmen soon began to shave their heads and wear wigs. In the mid-1800s, English women were said to have copied Queen Victoria’s stout figure by wearing puffy dresses with padding underneath.

Some fashion changes have accompanied a breakdown in the system of having social classes. The members of the nobility lost much of their power during the 1300s, when rigid class systems were weakened in Europe. The nobility began to dress more elaborately to distinguish themselves from the middle classes.
During the mid-1800s, mass production of clothing made fashionable clothes available to more people at lower prices. People of all social classes began to wear similar styles of clothing. Today, it is easier to identify an expensive garment by the quality of its fabric and manufacture than by its style.
Through the years, fashions in games and sports have influenced the way people dress. During the 1700s, people in England adopted simpler clothing styles after they became interested in fox hunting and other outdoor sports. Today, many people wear special clothing for activities such as golf, horseback riding, hunting and tennis.
Wars have also affected the style of dress in a country. European soldiers returning from the crusades during the 1100s and 1200s brought back various eastern ideas of dress styles. The crusaders also returned with rich silks and other textiles not available in Europe.
During the French Revolution (1789-1795), the elegant dress styles associated with the French nobility were replaced by simpler fashions. After Napoleon became emperor in 1804, he brought back elaborate fashions in clothing in court.

During the World War II (1939-1945), the shortage of fabrics limited new fashions. The governments of many countries restricted fabric that could be used in various garments. Nylon stockings were also scarce during World War II and many women began to wear leg paint.
The development of new dyes, machinery and textiles has greatly affected most areas of fashion, especially clothing. The style of dress has changed frequently in countries that have highly mechanized production systems.
During the 1700s, new dyes made new colour combinations possible. In the late 1700s, the invention of the toothed cotton gin, the power loom and the foot-and water-powered machinery for spinning and weaving made factory production of cloth possible.
After the Industrial Revolution began in Europe in the 18th century, it became increasingly possible to produce cloth and clothing quickly and inexpensively. The invention of foot- and water-powered machinery stimulated the development of the sewing machine. Barthelemy Thimonnier of Paris patented the first practical machine in 1830. Improved versions soon followed, including one by Isaac M. Singer of Pittstown, N.Y., in 1851.

Fashionable clothing styles began to spread rapidly from the upper classes to the middle and working classes in the West. As communications improved, styles also spread to members of the elite classes in other parts of the world. Mass production of clothing meant that the traditional clothing styles of Africa, Asia, and the Americas were largely replaced by everyday European styles.
As national economies grow increasingly international, clothing styles have become correspondingly global. Young people in Johannesburg and Jakarta, Boston and Buenos Aires all tend to wear the same kind of clothing. However, different cultures have modified these originally European styles in accordance with local values and lifestyles.
In particular, religious beliefs have influenced the clothing that women wear in public. Thus, a woman in Iran may wear blue jeans and a T-shirt at home, but cover them up with an enveloping robe called a chador when she goes outside. In addition, many people enjoy wearing their traditional clothing on holidays and other special occasions for reasons of national or ethnic pride.

Fashion change includes both short-term fluctuations in style and longer-term trends. Two trends seen in the 20th century seem likely to continue in the future. The first of these is the blurring of gender boundaries.

Fashionable clothing of the 19th century made very sharp distinctions between men's and women's clothing in color, shape, fabric, and decoration. Gradually these distinctions have broken down, especially when women claimed masculine items of clothing for themeselves. Trousers and tailored suits are two notable examples of men's styles now worn regularly by both men and women.

Today's standard wardrobe includes a large number of garments that are essentially ungendered (neither male nor female), including T-shirts, jeans, casual jackets, and many kinds of special sports clothing, such as running shorts and sweat suits.

At the same time, true unisex clothing (clothing with no distinction between genders) is very rare and is likely to remain so. Men's and women's tailored business suits, for example, can be regarded as simply two versions of the same basic garment, but they are generally very different in shape and in details, such as on which side the buttons are placed. Even outwardly ungendered items, such as jeans, are usually made in slightly different versions for men and women.

An important function of clothing is to serve as a signifier of social identity, including gender, and that is likely to remain true.

A second continuing long-term fashion trend is the increasing importance of casual and sports attire in the overall wardrobe of both men and women. Tailored suits as business attire are now rapidly giving way to more casual dress.

Innovations in textiles and clothing construction often appear first in specialized sports clothing and then rapidly spread to everyday dress. Just as clothing sends signals about gender, it carries messages about situations and occasions; special formal attire of some sort will continue to be a part of fashion for the foreseeable future. However, such clothing is likely to become even more occasion-specific than it is today, and the trend toward ever more casual everyday dress is expected to continue.