Become a Writer Today

Essays About Beauty: Top 5 Examples and 10 Prompts

Writing essays about beauty is complicated because of this topic’s breadth. See our examples and prompts to you write your next essay.

Beauty is short for beautiful and refers to the features that make something pleasant to look at. This includes landscapes like mountain ranges and plains, natural phenomena like sunsets and aurora borealis, and art pieces such as paintings and sculptures. However, beauty is commonly attached to an individual’s appearance,  fashion, or cosmetics style, which appeals to aesthetical concepts. Because people’s views and ideas about beauty constantly change , there are always new things to know and talk about.

Below are five great essays that define beauty differently. Consider these examples as inspiration to come up with a topic to write about.

IMAGE PRODUCT  
Grammarly
ProWritingAid

1. Essay On Beauty – Promise Of Happiness By Shivi Rawat

2. defining beauty by wilbert houston, 3. long essay on beauty definition by prasanna, 4. creative writing: beauty essay by writer jill, 5. modern idea of beauty by anonymous on papersowl, 1. what is beauty: an argumentative essay, 2. the beauty around us, 3. children and beauty pageants, 4. beauty and social media, 5. beauty products and treatments: pros and cons, 6. men and makeup, 7. beauty and botched cosmetic surgeries, 8. is beauty a necessity, 9. physical and inner beauty, 10. review of books or films about beauty.

“In short, appreciation of beauty is a key factor in the achievement of happiness, adds a zest to living positively and makes the earth a more cheerful place to live in.”

Rawat defines beauty through the words of famous authors, ancient sayings, and historical personalities. He believes that beauty depends on the one who perceives it. What others perceive as beautiful may be different for others. Rawat adds that beauty makes people excited about being alive.

“No one’s definition of beauty is wrong. However, it does exist and can be seen with the eyes and felt with the heart.”

Check out these essays about best friends .

Houston’s essay starts with the author pointing out that some people see beauty and think it’s unattainable and non-existent. Next, he considers how beauty’s definition is ever-changing and versatile. In the next section of his piece, he discusses individuals’ varying opinions on the two forms of beauty: outer and inner. 

At the end of the essay, the author admits that beauty has no exact definition, and people don’t see it the same way. However, he argues that one’s feelings matter regarding discerning beauty. Therefore, no matter what definition you believe in, no one has the right to say you’re wrong if you think and feel beautiful.

“The characteristic held by the objects which are termed “beautiful” must give pleasure to the ones perceiving it. Since pleasure and satisfaction are two very subjective concepts, beauty has one of the vaguest definitions.”

Instead of providing different definitions, Prasanna focuses on how the concept of beauty has changed over time. She further delves into other beauty requirements to show how they evolved. In our current day, she explains that many defy beauty standards, and thinking “everyone is beautiful” is now the new norm.

“…beauty has stolen the eye of today’s youth. Gone are the days where a person’s inner beauty accounted for so much more then his/her outer beauty.”

This short essay discusses how people’s perception of beauty today heavily relies on physical appearance rather than inner beauty. However, Jill believes that beauty is all about acceptance. Sadly, this notion is unpopular because nowadays, something or someone’s beauty depends on how many people agree with its pleasant outer appearance. In the end, she urges people to stop looking at the false beauty seen in magazines and take a deeper look at what true beauty is.

“The modern idea of beauty is taking a sole purpose in everyday life. Achieving beautiful is not surgically fixing yourself to be beautiful, and tattoos may have a strong meaning behind them that makes them beautiful.”

Beauty in modern times has two sides: physical appearance and personality. The author also defines beauty by using famous statements like “a woman’s beauty is seen in her eyes because that’s the door to her heart where love resides” by Audrey Hepburn. The author also tackles the issue of how physical appearance can be the reason for bullying, cosmetic surgeries, and tattoos as a way for people to express their feelings.

Looking for more? Check out these essays about fashion .

10 Helpful Prompts To Use in Writing Essays About Beauty

If you’re still struggling to know where to start, here are ten exciting and easy prompts for your essay writing:

While defining beauty is not easy, it’s a common essay topic. First, share what you think beauty means. Then, explore and gather ideas and facts about the subject and convince your readers by providing evidence to support your argument.

If you’re unfamiliar with this essay type, see our guide on how to write an argumentative essay .

Beauty doesn’t have to be grand. For this prompt, center your essay on small beautiful things everyone can relate to. They can be tangible such as birds singing or flowers lining the street. They can also be the beauty of life itself. Finally, add why you think these things manifest beauty.

Little girls and boys participating in beauty pageants or modeling contests aren’t unusual. But should it be common? Is it beneficial for a child to participate in these competitions and be exposed to cosmetic products or procedures at a young age? Use this prompt to share your opinion about the issue and list the pros and cons of child beauty pageants.

Essays About Beauty: Beauty and social media

Today, social media is the principal dictator of beauty standards. This prompt lets you discuss the unrealistic beauty and body shape promoted by brands and influencers on social networking sites. Next, explain these unrealistic beauty standards and how they are normalized. Finally, include their effects on children and teens.

Countless beauty products and treatments crowd the market today. What products do you use and why? Do you think these products’ marketing is deceitful? Are they selling the idea of beauty no one can attain without surgeries? Choose popular brands and write down their benefits, issues, and adverse effects on users.

Although many countries accept men wearing makeup, some conservative regions such as Asia still see it as taboo. Explain their rationale on why these regions don’t think men should wear makeup. Then, delve into what makeup do for men. Does it work the same way it does for women? Include products that are made specifically for men.

There’s always something we want to improve regarding our physical appearance. One way to achieve such a goal is through surgeries. However, it’s a dangerous procedure with possible lifetime consequences. List known personalities who were pressured to take surgeries because of society’s idea of beauty but whose lives changed because of failed operations. Then, add your thoughts on having procedures yourself to have a “better” physique.

People like beautiful things. This explains why we are easily fascinated by exquisite artworks. But where do these aspirations come from? What is beauty’s role, and how important is it in a person’s life? Answer these questions in your essay for an engaging piece of writing.

Beauty has many definitions but has two major types. Discuss what is outer and inner beauty and give examples. Tell the reader which of these two types people today prefer to achieve and why. Research data and use opinions to back up your points for an interesting essay.

Many literary pieces and movies are about beauty. Pick one that made an impression on you and tell your readers why. One of the most popular books centered around beauty is Dave Hickey’s The Invisible Dragon , first published in 1993. What does the author want to prove and point out in writing this book, and what did you learn? Are the ideas in the book still relevant to today’s beauty standards? Answer these questions in your next essay for an exiting and engaging piece of writing.

Grammar is critical in writing. To ensure your essay is free of grammatical errors, check out our list of best essay checkers .

Essay on Fashion for Students and Children

500+ words essay on fashion.

Fashion refers to anything that becomes a rage among the masses. Fashion is a popular aesthetic expression. Most Noteworthy, it is something that is in vogue. Fashion appears in clothing, footwear, accessories, makeup, hairstyles, lifestyle, and body proportions. Furthermore, Fashion is an industry-supported expression. In the contemporary world, people take fashion very seriously. Fashion is something that has permeated every aspect of human culture.

Essay on Fashion

History of Fashion

The origin of Fashion is from the year 1826. Probably everyone believes Charles Frederick to be the first fashion designer of the world. He also established the first Fashion house in Paris. Consequently, he began the tradition of Fashion houses. Furthermore, he gave advice to customers on what clothing would suit them. He was prominent form 1826 to 1895.

During this period, many design houses hired artists. Furthermore, the job of these artists was to develop innovative designs for garments. The clients would examine many different patterns. Then they would pick the one they like. Consequently, a tradition began of presenting patterns to customers and then stitching them.

At the beginning of the 20th century, new developments in Fashion took place. These developments certainly began in Paris first. Then they spread in other parts of the world. Consequently, new designs first came into existence in France. From Paris, they went to other parts of the world. Hence, Paris became the Fashion capital of the world. Also, Fashion in this era was ‘haute couture’. This Fashion design was exclusively for individuals.

In the mid-20th century, a change took place. Now Fashion garments underwent mass production. There was a significant increase in the rate of production of Fashion garments. As a result, more and more people became involved with Fashion garments. By the end of the 20th century, a sense of Fashion awareness was very strong. Now people began to choose clothes based on their own style preference. Hence, people began to create their own trends instead of relying on existing trends.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Fashion Trend

Political influences certainly play a major role in influencing Fashion. Many politicians become fashion symbols. Notable examples are First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and Princess Diana. Also, political revolutions make a huge impact on the Fashion trend. For example, in 1960’s America, liberal clothing styles became popular among the younger generation. This was due to the Liberal revolution.

Another significant factor which influences Fashion trend is technology. There certainly has been a rapid growth of technology in the Fashion industry. For example, wearable technology has become a popular Fashion trend. Furthermore, 3D printing technology and the internet have also made an impact on Fashion.

Social influences are probably the strongest influences on the Fashion trend. Many music stars strongly influence Fashion choice. For example, wearing hoodies became famous due to rap musicians. Furthermore, movie and television actors create a big impact on Fashion. Many youngsters love to emulate the Fashion sense of their favourite celebrity.

To sum it up, Fashion certainly has become a part and parcel of human life. It certainly is a force that is here to stay. Most noteworthy, Fashion has immersed every place on Earth.

Customize your course in 30 seconds

Which class are you in.

tutor

  • Travelling Essay
  • Picnic Essay
  • Our Country Essay
  • My Parents Essay
  • Essay on Favourite Personality
  • Essay on Memorable Day of My Life
  • Essay on Knowledge is Power
  • Essay on Gurpurab
  • Essay on My Favourite Season
  • Essay on Types of Sports

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Download the App

Google Play

fashion and beauty essay

45,000+ students realised their study abroad dream with us. Take the first step today

Meet top uk universities from the comfort of your home, here’s your new year gift, one app for all your, study abroad needs, start your journey, track your progress, grow with the community and so much more.

fashion and beauty essay

Verification Code

An OTP has been sent to your registered mobile no. Please verify

fashion and beauty essay

Thanks for your comment !

Our team will review it before it's shown to our readers.

Leverage Edu

  • School Education /

✍️Essay on Fashion: Samples in 100, 150, 200 Words

fashion and beauty essay

  • Updated on  
  • Oct 26, 2023

essay on clothing

Fashion is a non-verbal form of expression that describes a person’s character and sense of style. Before, it was just the realm of the famous, and aristocracy. However, the average person, particularly young people, can now afford to wear fashionable clothing. Additionally, fashion started out as a trend but through time came to be accepted as a certain way of living, whether it be in terms of behaviour, apparel, or lifestyle. Speaking of which, in this blog, we will talk about how fashion has evolved over time in our sample essays. Let’s dive in. 

Table of Contents

  • 1 History of Fashion
  • 2 Essay on Fashion in 100 Words
  • 3 Essay on Fashion in 150 words
  • 4 Essay on Fashion in 200 Words

History of Fashion

Not just fashion designers but other people are curious to know the history of fashion. According to historians, Charles Frederick Worth was the first fashion designer. When clothing was still created by unidentified seamstresses, he founded the House of Worth, a fashion design studio, in Paris. Contemporary fashion is characterized by a blend of diverse influences, styles, and trends from various cultures and time periods. Fashion has become more accessible and inclusive, with designers experimenting with sustainability, technology, and innovative materials to create unique and socially conscious clothing

Also Read: Essay on Nature: In 100 Words, 200 Words, 300 Words

Essay on Fashion in 100 Words

Fashion encompasses clothing, accessories, and even behaviours, reflecting culture and individuality. Fashion evolves continuously, driven by designers, influencers, and changing norms. It has the power to convey identity, status, and creativity. Whether classic or avant-garde, fashion allows individuals to make statements and connect with others through a shared aesthetic.

It mirrors the zeitgeist, responding to economic, environmental, and social shifts. In a world of fast fashion and sustainability concerns, redefining our approach to style becomes essential. Fashion’s allure lies in its ability to blend art, identity, and innovation, shaping our visual language.

Essay on Fashion in 150 words

Fashion is a form of self-expression that plays a significant role in our lives. It includes clothing, accessories, and personal style, reflecting one’s personality and cultural influences. Fashion trends constantly evolve, influenced by designers, celebrities, and societal shifts.

The 1920s saw the rise of flapper dresses and a rebellious spirit, while the 1960s embraced mini skirts and the counterculture movement. In recent years, sustainability and ethical fashion have gained prominence, emphasizing the need for eco-friendly choices and responsible consumption.

Fashion is more than just aesthetics; it is an industry that impacts economies, employing millions worldwide. It serves as a medium for creative expression, and social movements often utilize fashion to convey powerful messages.

In conclusion, fashion is a versatile cultural force that goes beyond mere clothing. It reflects our society’s values and artistic expression.

Also Read: Essay on My Favourite Book: Samples in 100, 200, 300 Words

Essay on Fashion in 200 Words

Fashion is an evolving form of self-expression that has penetrated our daily lives, bringing more clothing choices to become a reflection of culture, identity, and individuality. 

Fashion, throughout history, has mirrored societal norms and values. It has been a canvas for rebellion or conformity. Whether it’s the flapper dresses of the 1920s, the bell-bottoms of the 1970s, or the minimalist styles of the 21st century, fashion has been a powerful communicator.

Moreover, the fashion industry is an economic powerhouse, shaping global trends and contributing significantly to various economies. It influences not only what we wear but also the jobs we create and the environmental impact we have.

Fashion’s role in personal identity is undeniable. People use clothing to express their personalities, tastes, and beliefs. It empowers individuals to feel confident and unique.

However, the fast fashion industry has been criticized for its environmental footprint and labor practices. However, over time calls for sustainable, ethical fashion have gained momentum, emphasizing the need for responsible consumption.

In conclusion, fashion is more than just attire; it’s a reflection of our culture, an economic force, a personal identifier, and a global conversation. As we navigate the complex world of fashion, it’s essential to strike a balance between personal expression, industry responsibility, and environmental sustainability.

Related Articles

The development of clothing, footwear, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery with varied cultural aesthetics and their mixing and matching to create outfits that represent distinct styles of dressing are referred to as fashion. 

Fashion is a form of expression that is not restricted to clothing, this term often refers to designer clothing and accessories.

Dressing up shows how we look at someone. They help create an idea of what we think of someone’s personality. Wearing makes someone comfortable and people will respect your individuality. Therefore, this is an important part of fashion. 

For more information on such interesting topics, visit our essay-writing page and follow Leverage Edu ! 

' src=

Malvika Chawla

Malvika is a content writer cum news freak who comes with a strong background in Journalism and has worked with renowned news websites such as News 9 and The Financial Express to name a few. When not writing, she can be found bringing life to the canvasses by painting on them.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Contact no. *

fashion and beauty essay

Connect With Us

45,000+ students realised their study abroad dream with us. take the first step today..

fashion and beauty essay

Resend OTP in

fashion and beauty essay

Need help with?

Study abroad.

UK, Canada, US & More

IELTS, GRE, GMAT & More

Scholarship, Loans & Forex

Country Preference

New Zealand

Which English test are you planning to take?

Which academic test are you planning to take.

Not Sure yet

When are you planning to take the exam?

Already booked my exam slot

Within 2 Months

Want to learn about the test

Which Degree do you wish to pursue?

When do you want to start studying abroad.

January 2024

September 2024

What is your budget to study abroad?

fashion and beauty essay

How would you describe this article ?

Please rate this article

We would like to hear more.

Have something on your mind?

fashion and beauty essay

Make your study abroad dream a reality in January 2022 with

fashion and beauty essay

India's Biggest Virtual University Fair

fashion and beauty essay

Essex Direct Admission Day

Why attend .

fashion and beauty essay

Don't Miss Out

Logo

Essay on Modern Fashion

Students are often asked to write an essay on Modern Fashion in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Modern Fashion

Introduction.

Modern fashion is a dynamic world that reflects the spirit of the times. It’s not just about clothing, but also about expressing one’s personality and values.

Fashion has evolved significantly over time. It has moved from being a privilege of the elite to being accessible to everyone, thanks to technological advancements.

Fashion is influenced by various factors like culture, media, celebrities, and even politics. It’s a way for people to communicate their identity and beliefs.

In conclusion, modern fashion is more than just clothes. It’s a form of self-expression and a mirror of society’s changes and trends.

250 Words Essay on Modern Fashion

Introduction to modern fashion, fashion as a form of self-expression.

In the modern era, fashion has become an avenue for personal storytelling. It’s no longer merely about following trends set by high-end designers. Instead, individuals curate their style, blending vintage and contemporary pieces, high-end and affordable items, to create a unique aesthetic that reflects their personality and values.

The Influence of Social Media

The advent of social media has greatly democratized fashion. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok allow users to showcase their style, influencing trends on a global scale. As a result, the power to dictate fashion has shifted from designers and models to everyday individuals and influencers.

Sustainability in Modern Fashion

In response to growing concerns about environmental and ethical issues, sustainable fashion is gaining prominence. This movement encourages the use of eco-friendly materials, ethical production processes, and a shift towards slow fashion – buying fewer, higher quality items that last longer.

Modern fashion is a complex blend of personal expression, social media influence, and growing sustainability consciousness. As we move forward, the industry will continue to evolve, reflecting the changing times and the diverse identities of those who engage with it. With its dynamic nature, fashion remains an exciting and influential aspect of modern culture.

500 Words Essay on Modern Fashion

Fashion is an ever-evolving phenomenon, a reflection of societal changes and individual expression. Modern fashion is a complex blend of aesthetics, functionality, and cultural influences, marking a departure from traditional norms and embracing diversity on a global scale.

The Evolution of Modern Fashion

Global influences and cultural fusion.

Modern fashion is a melting pot of global influences. Designers are increasingly drawing inspiration from different cultures, leading to a fusion of styles. This cultural exchange is not just about aesthetics, but also about fostering understanding and respect for diverse cultures. However, it’s crucial to navigate this space with sensitivity to avoid cultural appropriation.

Technology and Fashion

Technology has revolutionized modern fashion in numerous ways. From digital sketches and 3D printing to smart fabrics and wearable tech, the marriage of fashion and technology is reshaping the industry. Online shopping and social media have also transformed the way we discover and purchase fashion, making it a more interactive and personalized experience.

Representation and Inclusivity

Modern fashion is also marked by a push for greater representation and inclusivity. Body positivity and diversity are now front and center, challenging traditional beauty standards. Fashion brands are recognizing the need for designs that cater to all body types, ages, and races, signaling a shift towards a more inclusive industry.

Conclusion: The Future of Modern Fashion

As we move forward, the future of modern fashion lies in its ability to adapt and innovate. With challenges like climate change and social inequality, the industry needs to evolve sustainably and inclusively. Modern fashion is not just about what we wear, but also about the values we embody. As consumers, we have the power to shape these values and drive change, making fashion a powerful tool for social and environmental progress.

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Pitchgrade

Presentations made painless

  • Get Premium

127 Fashion Design Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Fashion design is a creative and dynamic field that combines artistry with functionality. From clothing to accessories, fashion designers play a crucial role in shaping the way we dress and express ourselves. If you are a fashion student or aspiring designer looking for inspiration for your next essay or project, look no further. Here are 127 fashion design essay topic ideas and examples to help you get started:

  • The evolution of denim fashion
  • The impact of streetwear on mainstream fashion
  • The role of sustainability in fashion design
  • The influence of social media on fashion trends
  • The history of haute couture
  • The rise of gender-neutral fashion
  • The significance of color theory in fashion design
  • The relationship between fashion and identity
  • The process of garment construction
  • The importance of textile selection in fashion design
  • The role of technology in fashion innovation
  • The history of fashion illustration
  • The impact of globalization on fashion design
  • The relationship between fashion and politics
  • The role of fashion in cultural appropriation
  • The future of fashion retail
  • The influence of music on fashion trends
  • The significance of body positivity in fashion design
  • The role of fashion in storytelling
  • The history of fashion magazines
  • The impact of fast fashion on the environment
  • The relationship between fashion and art
  • The influence of celebrity style on fashion trends
  • The role of fashion in self-expression
  • The history of fashion photography
  • The significance of accessories in fashion design
  • The impact of vintage fashion on contemporary design
  • The relationship between fashion and technology
  • The influence of architecture on fashion design
  • The role of fashion in subcultures
  • The history of fashion shows
  • The significance of fashion in film and television
  • The impact of social movements on fashion trends
  • The relationship between fashion and sustainability
  • The influence of sports on fashion design
  • The role of fashion in the workplace
  • The history of fashion advertising
  • The significance of branding in fashion design
  • The impact of body image on fashion trends
  • The relationship between fashion and psychology
  • The influence of nature on fashion design
  • The role of fashion in education
  • The history of fashion retail
  • The significance of fashion in literature
  • The impact of technology on fashion trends
  • The relationship between fashion and music
  • The influence of travel on fashion design
  • The role of fashion in social justice movements
  • The history of fashion icons
  • The significance of cultural appropriation in fashion design
  • The impact of social media influencers on fashion trends
  • The relationship between fashion and gender identity
  • The influence of street style on fashion design
  • The role of fashion in the digital age
  • The history of fashion forecasting
  • The significance of body proportions in fashion design
  • The impact of pop culture on fashion trends
  • The relationship between fashion and the economy
  • The influence of historical events on fashion design
  • The role of fashion in activism
  • The significance of fashion archives
  • The impact of celebrity collaborations on fashion trends
  • The relationship between fashion and cultural appropriation
  • The influence of art movements on fashion design
  • The role of fashion in the entertainment industry
  • The history of fashion bloggers
  • The significance of fashion in social media
  • The impact of sustainability in fashion trends
  • The relationship between fashion and the environment
  • The influence of street art on fashion design
  • The role of fashion in political protests
  • The history of fashion exhibitions
  • The significance of fashion in museums
  • The impact of body diversity on fashion trends
  • The influence of music festivals on fashion design
  • The role of fashion in cultural heritage preservation
  • The history of fashion documentaries
  • The significance of fashion in virtual reality
  • The impact of celebrity fashion lines on fashion trends
  • The relationship between fashion and body image
  • The influence of sports uniforms on fashion design
  • The role of fashion in identity politics
  • The history of fashion in video games
  • The significance of fashion in cosplay
  • The impact of gender-neutral fashion on fashion trends
  • The relationship between fashion and the LGBTQ+ community
  • The influence of drag culture on fashion design
  • The role of fashion in disability representation
  • The history of fashion in film and television
  • The significance of fashion in performance art
  • The impact of fashion weeks on fashion trends
  • The relationship

Want to research companies faster?

Instantly access industry insights

Let PitchGrade do this for me

Leverage powerful AI research capabilities

We will create your text and designs for you. Sit back and relax while we do the work.

Explore More Content

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service

© 2024 Pitchgrade

59 Fashion Design Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best fashion design topic ideas & essay examples, 🥇 most interesting fashion design topics to write about, 📌 simple & easy fashion design essay titles.

  • Fashion Design and Famous Designers His character narrative is about the blend of the past and the present as he tries to make his collections more relevant.
  • Paris Fashion Design: Christian Dior Brand It was the brand that made women return to the concept of femininity in the middle of the twentieth century. In the 1970, the brand evolved to adjust to the changes in the society.
  • The Fashion Show: Famous Designers Feathers were very much in at the latest shows and they certainly add to the movement. There were many very lovely creations and the idea of creating the animal look was more successful than fur.
  • Coco Chanel: Life, Fashion, Designs, Perfume & Facts The places and people that came into Chanel’s life and helped her take the turn of life that brought her the success she achieved include; the magazine “Time 100: The most important people of the […]
  • Haute Couture: A Fashion Design Only for the Privileged Haute couture and high fashion is a flight of fancy of the best designers around the world. One of the most prestigious events in the world of fashion is the week of high fashion in […]
  • Designer Clothing Market in the UK Fashion Retail Industry The fashion industry first started in England after which it slowly spread to the rest of the world.”In the UK and in the United States, the fashion industry has been one of the largest employers”.
  • Analysis of Simone Rocha Fashion Designs The designs are inclusive and relate to women’s outer beauty as they bring out a sense of femininity in terms of skin tones, freckles, and skin lines.
  • Fashion Forecasting and Trends There are a lot of spring tendencies that are widely awaited; however, the designers are most thrilled about the new bottom silhouette.
  • Legal Context of Fashion and Design: Trade Dress This is one of the strategies that can often be adopted by designers to defend their rights in court. This is one of the points that can be made.
  • Eco-Friendly Design in Contemporary Fashion In this case, fibers are plants that need to be treated during processing; designing and they too require the usage of herbicides, fertilizers, and other chemicals that are hazardous to the environment at large.
  • Apparel’s Role in History: Fashion Exhibition and Impact of Historical Events on Design The proposed exhibit will be concentrated on the counterculture fashion and the role of patches in the counterculture. While in the 1960s denim jeans were of simpler fashion and had embroidery and patches as the […]
  • Coco Chanel: Profile and Fashion Design In 1910 she was successful in establishing her first millinery shop in Paris from the assistance of her former two boyfriends, a military officer and an industrialist which she branded as Chanel Modes. She launched […]
  • Online Shopping Impact on the Fashion & Design Industry In this report, the aim will be to determine the impact of online shopping on the fashion and design industry. The increased profitability of this industry means that the individual firms have the capacity to […]
  • Fundamentals of Fashion and Design Through this strategy, the firm will be in a position to design and develop fashion products that align with the customers’ needs and expectations.
  • Fashion Designer Jeremy Scott The collection is inspired by the theme of monsters and the unknown future. He is capable of creating new forms and exploiting the most striking concepts.
  • How the Internet Has Transformed Design & Fashion? Lastly and more importantly, the advent of internet has seen to it that there is increased reliability bas well as convenience in online shopping for fashion and design.
  • Fashion Designers: Coco Chanel’s Artistic Process This quote is relevant to this essay because it indicates that the experience of clients and their needs guide the work of a fashion artists. This is one of the details that can be identified.
  • Spinoff Dynamics and the Spatial Formation of the Fashion Design Industry, 1858-2005
  • Fashion Design Education and Sustainability: Towards an Equilibrium Between Craftsmanship?
  • Aesthetic Aspects of the Consumption of Fashion Design: The Conceptual and Empirical Challenge
  • Art Seen From Outside: Non-artistic Legitimation Within the Field of Fashion Design
  • From Early Virtual Garment Simulation to Interactive Fashion Design
  • British Fashion Design: Rag Trade or Image Industry?
  • Modern Fashion Design Development Using Morphological Characteristics of Hanbok
  • Developing Skills of Fashion Design by Augmented Reality Technology in Higher Education
  • Review on Development and Application of 3D-Printing Technology in Textile and Fashion Design
  • The Glass Runway: How Gender and Sexuality Shape the Spotlight in Fashion Design?
  • The Role of Technology Towards a New Bacterial-Cellulose-Based Material for Fashion Design
  • Approaching Fashion Design Trend Applications Using Text Mining and Semantic Network Analysis
  • Crafting an Antidote to Fast Fashion: The Case of Toronto’s Independent Fashion Design Sector
  • Toward AI Fashion Design: An Attribute-GAN Model for Clothing Match
  • Closing the Loop: Intentional Fashion Design Defined by Recycling Technologies
  • Fashion Variations: Students’ Approaches to Learning in Fashion Design
  • Factors Driving Fashion Design Industry: Key Success Factors of Thai Designers’ Brands
  • The Piracy and Paradox: Innovation and Intellectual Property in Fashion Design
  • The Language of Fashion Design: Principles Every Fashion Designer Should Know
  • Development of an Intelligent Data-Driven System to Recommend Personalized Fashion Design Solutions
  • When East Meet West: The Oriental Influence on Fashion Design Nowadays
  • Interactive Multimedia-Based Animation: A Study of Effectiveness on Fashion Design Technology Learning
  • Firm Entry and Institutional Lock-In: Global Fashion Design Industry
  • Fashion in the Globalized World and the Role of Virtual Networks in Intrinsic Fashion Design
  • The Use of VR for Collaborative Exploration and Enhancing Creativity in Fashion Design Education
  • Based on the Perspective of Sustainability, the Characteristics of Upcycled Fashion Design
  • Application of Interactive Genetic Algorithm to Fashion Design
  • Fashion Design as a Means to Recognize and Build Communities-In-Place
  • Standard vs. Upcycled Fashion Design and Production
  • Integrating Sustainable Strategies in the Fashion Design Process
  • The reDesign Canvas: Fashion Design as a Tool for Sustainability
  • The Management of Sustainable Fashion Design Strategies
  • Postmodernism and the Avant-Garde: Stylistic Change in Fashion Design
  • Social and Cultural Features of Fashion Design in Milan
  • Tools for Sustainable Fashion Design: An Analysis of Their Fitness for Purpose
  • Towards a Future Pedagogy: The Evolution of Fashion Design Education
  • Kimono History and Contemporary Fashion Design Influence
  • The Fashion Design and Style of Young Adults and Teenagers in the US During the 1950s
  • Sustainable Practices and Transformable Fashion Design
  • Zero-Waste Fashion Design: The Intersection of Cloth, Fashion Design, and Pattern Cutting
  • Gender Roles Paper Topics
  • Louis Vuitton Essay Topics
  • Gucci Topics
  • Photography Essay Topics
  • Contemporary Art Questions
  • Online Shopping Questions
  • Zara Research Topics
  • Brand Titles
  • Chicago (A-D)
  • Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, February 29). 59 Fashion Design Essay Topic Ideas & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/fashion-design-essay-topics/

"59 Fashion Design Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." IvyPanda , 29 Feb. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/fashion-design-essay-topics/.

IvyPanda . (2024) '59 Fashion Design Essay Topic Ideas & Examples'. 29 February.

IvyPanda . 2024. "59 Fashion Design Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." February 29, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/fashion-design-essay-topics/.

1. IvyPanda . "59 Fashion Design Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." February 29, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/fashion-design-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "59 Fashion Design Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." February 29, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/fashion-design-essay-topics/.

André Aciman: Why Beauty Is So Important to Us

By André Aciman Dec. 7, 2019

  • Share full article

A quest for our better selves

fashion and beauty essay

Humans have engaged with the concept of beauty for millennia, trying to define it while being defined by it.

Plato thought that merely contemplating beauty caused “the soul to grow wings.” Ralph Waldo Emerson found beauty in Raphael’s “The Transfiguration,” writing that “a calm benignant beauty shines over all this picture, and goes directly to the heart.” In “My Skin,” Lizzo sings: “The most beautiful thing that you ever seen is even bigger than what we think it means.”

We asked a group of artists, scientists, writers and thinkers to answer this simple question: Why is beauty, however defined, so important in our lives? Here are their responses.

fashion and beauty essay

We’ll do anything to watch a sunset on a clear summer day at the beach. We’ll stand and stare and remain silent, as suffused shades of orange stretch over the horizon. Meanwhile, the sun, like a painter who keeps changing his mind about which colors to use, finally resolves everything with shades of pink and light yellow, before sinking, finally, into stunning whiteness.

Suddenly, we are marveled and uplifted, pulled out of our small, ordinary lives and taken to a realm far richer and more eloquent than anything we know.

Call it enchantment, the difference between the time-bound and the timeless, between us and the otherworldly. All beauty and art evoke harmonies that transport us to a place where, for only seconds, time stops and we are one with the world. It is the best life has to offer.

Under the spell of beauty, we experience a rare condition called plenitude, where we want for nothing. It isn’t just a feeling. Or if it is, then it’s a feeling like love — yes, exactly like love. Love, after all, is the most intimate thing we know. And feeling one with someone or something isn’t just an unrivaled condition, but one we do not want to live without.

We fall in love with sunsets and beaches, with tennis, with works of art, with places like Tuscany and the Rockies and the south of France, and, of course, with other people — not just because of who or what they are, but because they promise to realign us with our better selves, with the people we’ve always known we were but neglected to become, the people we crave to be before our time runs out.

André Aciman is the author of “Call Me by Your Name” and “Find Me.”

The marketing machines of modern life would have us believe that beauty is about physical attributes. With the benefit of the wisdom we have attained after many years spent traversing the planet as conservation photographers, we know otherwise.

Beauty has less to do with the material things around us, and more to do with how we spend our time on earth. We create true beauty only when we channel our energy to achieve a higher purpose, build strong communities and model our behavior so that others can find inspiration to do better by each other and our planet. Beauty has nothing to do with the latest makeup or fashion trends, and everything to do with how we live on this planet and act to protect it.

Every day we learn that species, landscapes and indigenous knowledge are vanishing before our eyes. That’s why we’ve dedicated our lives to reminding the world of the fragile beauty of our only home, and to protecting nature, not just for humanity’s sake, but for the benefit of all life on earth.

Committing our time, energy and resources to achieve these goals fills our lives with beauty.

Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen are conservation photographers and the founders of SeaLegacy .

Science enriches us by bringing us beauty in multiple forms.

Sometimes it can be found in the simplest manifestations of nature: the pattern of a nautilus shell; the colors and delicate shapes of a eucalyptus tree in full flower; the telescopic images of swirling galaxies, with their visual message of great mystery and vastness.

Sometimes it is the intricacy of the barely understood dynamics of the world’s molecules, cells, organisms and ecosystems that speaks to our imagination and wonder.

Sometimes there is beauty in the simple idea of science pursuing truth, or in the very process of scientific inquiry by which human creativity and ingenuity unveil a pattern within what had looked like chaos and incomprehensibility.

And isn’t there beauty and elegance in the fact that just four DNA nucleotides are patterned to produce the shared genetic information that underlies myriad seemingly unrelated forms of life?

Elizabeth Blackburn is a co-recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

A person’s definition of beauty is an abstract, complicated and highly personal ideal that becomes a guiding light throughout life. We crave what we consider beautiful, and that craving can easily develop into desire, which in turn becomes the fuel that propels us into action. Beauty has the power to spawn aspiration and passion, thus becoming the impetus to achieve our dreams.

In our professional lives as fashion designers, we often deal with beauty as a physical manifestation. But beauty can also be an emotional, creative and deeply spiritual force. Its very essence is polymorphic. It can take on limitless shapes, allowing us to define it by what makes the most sense to us.

We are extremely fortunate to be living at a time when so many examples of beauty are being celebrated and honored, and more inclusive and diverse standards are being set, regardless of race, gender, sexuality or creed. Individuality is beautiful. Choice is beautiful. Freedom is beautiful.

Beauty will always have the power to inspire us. It is that enigmatic, unknowable muse that keeps you striving to be better, to do better, to push harder. And by that definition, what we all need most in today’s world is perhaps simply more beauty.

Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough are the co-founders and designers of Proenza Schouler.

Beauty is just another way the tendency of our society to create hierarchies and segregate people expresses itself. The fact that over the past century certain individuals and businesses realized that it is incredibly lucrative to push upon us ever-changing beauty standards has only made things worse.

The glorification of impossible ideals is the foundation of the diet and beauty industries. And because of it, we find ourselves constantly in flux, spending however much money and time it takes to meet society’s standards. First, we didn’t want ethnic features. Now, we are all about plumping our lips and getting eye lifts in pursuit of a slanted eye. Skin-bleaching treatments and tanning creams. The ideal is constantly moving, and constantly out of reach.

The concept of beauty is a permanent obsession that permeates cultures around the world.

Jameela Jamil is an actress and the founder of the “I Weigh” movement .

The Life of Beauty

The sung blessing of creation

Led her into the human story.

That was the first beauty.

Next beauty was the sound of her mother’s voice

Rippling the waters beneath the drumming skin

Of her birthing cocoon.

Next beauty the father with kindness in his hands

As he held the newborn against his breathing.

Next beauty the moon through the dark window

It was a rocking horse, a wish.

There were many beauties in this age

For everything was immensely itself:

Green greener than the impossibility of green,

the taste of wind after its slide through dew grass at dawn,

Or language running through a tangle of wordlessness in her mouth.

She ate well of the next beauty.

Next beauty planted itself urgently beneath the warrior shrines.

Next was beauty beaded by her mother and pinned neatly

To hold back her hair.

Then how tendrils of fire longing grew into her, beautiful the flower

Between her legs as she became herself.

Do not forget this beauty she was told.

The story took her far away from beauty. In the tests of her living,

Beauty was often long from the reach of her mind and spirit.

When she forgot beauty, all was brutal.

But beauty always came to lift her up to stand again.

When it was beautiful all around and within,

She knew herself to be corn plant, moon, and sunrise.

Death is beautiful, she sang, as she left this story behind her.

Even her bones, said time.

Were tuned to beauty.

Joy Harjo is the United States poet laureate. She is the first Native American to hold the position.

Beauty is a positive and dynamic energy that has the power to convey emotion and express individuality as well as collectiveness. It can be felt through each of our senses, yet it is more magnificent when it transcends all five.

Over more than 30 years as a chef, I have experienced beauty unfolding through my cooking and in the creation of new dishes. Recipes have shown me that beauty is not a singular ingredient, object or idea, but the sum of the parts. Each dish has an appearance, a flavor, a temperature, a smell, a consistency and a nutritional value, but its triumph is the story all those parts tell together.

When my team and I launched Milan’s Refettorio Ambrosiano, our first community kitchen, in 2015, beauty was the guiding principle in our mission to nourish the homeless. We collaborated with artists, architects, designers and chefs to build a place of warmth, where gestures of hospitality and dignity would be offered to all. What I witnessed by bringing different people and perspectives around the table was the profound ability of beauty to build community. In a welcoming space, our guests had the freedom to imagine who they would like to be and begin to change their lives. In that space, beauty wielded the power of transformation.

When I visit the Refettorios that Food for Soul, the nonprofit I founded, has built around the world over the years, what strikes me as most beautiful is neither a table nor a chair nor a painting on the wall. Beauty is the spontaneity of two strangers breaking bread. It is the proud smile of a man who feels he has a place in the world. It is the emotion of that moment, and its power to fill a room with the celebration of life.

Massimo Bottura is a chef and the founder of Food for Soul .

Who wouldn’t argue that some things are objectively beautiful? Much of what we can see in the natural world would surely qualify: sunsets, snow-capped mountains, waterfalls, wildflowers. Images of these scenes, which please and soothe our senses, are among the most reproduced in all of civilization.

It’s true, of course, that we’re not the only creatures attracted to flowers. Bees and butterflies can’t resist them either — but that’s because they need flowers to survive.

Lying at the opposite end of the beauty spectrum are reptiles. They’ve had it pretty bad. Across decades of science fiction, their countenance has served as the model for a long line of ugly monsters, from Godzilla to the Creature in the “Creature From the Black Lagoon” to the Gorn in “Star Trek.”

There may be a good reason for our instinctive attraction to some things and distaste for others. If our mammalian ancestors, running underfoot, hadn’t feared reptilian dinosaurs they would have been swiftly eaten. Similarly, nearly everyone would agree that the harmless butterfly is more beautiful than the stinger-equipped bee — with the possible exception of beekeepers.

Risk of bodily harm appears to matter greatly in our collective assessment of what is or is not beautiful. Beauty could very well be a way for our senses to reassure us when we feel safe in a dangerous universe.

If so, I can’t help but wonder how much beauty lies just out of reach, hidden in plain sight, simply because we have no more than five senses with which to experience the world.

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist with the American Museum of Natural History, where he also serves as the Frederick P. Rose director of the Hayden Planetarium. He is the author of “Letters From an Astrophysicist.”

Beauty can stop us in our tracks. It can inspire us, move us, bring us to tears. Beauty can create total chaos, and then total clarity. The best kind of beauty changes hearts and minds.

That’s why the bravery of our girls is so beautiful — it can do all these things.

Over the past year, girls have moved us to tears with impassioned speeches about gun control, sexual assault and climate change. They have challenged the status quo and brought us clarity with their vision of the future. They have changed the hearts and minds of generations that are older, but not necessarily wiser.

Girls like Greta Thunberg and Isra Hirsi are fighting for the environment. Young women like Diana Kris Navarro, a Girls Who Code alumna, are leading efforts against harassment in tech. Girls like Lauren Hogg, a Parkland shooting survivor, and Thandiwe Abdullah, a Black Lives Matter activist, are speaking out against gun violence. The list goes on and on and on.

These girls are wise and brave beyond their years. They speak up because they care, not because they have the attention of a crowd or a camera. And they persist even when they’re told they’re too young, too small, too powerless — because they know they’re not.

Their bravery is beauty, redefined. And it’s what we need now, more than ever.

Reshma Saujani is the founder and chief executive of Girls Who Code and the author of “Brave, Not Perfect.”

I spend most of my waking hours (and many of my nightly dreams) thinking about beauty and its meaning. My whole life’s work has been an attempt to express beauty through design.

I see beauty as something ineffable, and I experience it in many ways. For example, I love gardening. The form and color of the flowers I tend to fill me with awe and joy. The time I spend in my garden frequently influences the shape of my gowns, as well as the objects that I choose to surround myself with. It even brings me closer to the people who have the same passion for it.

As humans, we all are more or less attuned to beauty. And because of this, we all try to engage with it one way or another — be it by being in nature, through poetry or by falling in love. And though our interaction with it can be a solitary affair, in the best cases, it connects people who share the same appreciation for it.

Beauty is what allows us to experience the extraordinary richness of our surroundings. Sensing it is like having a visa to our inner selves and the rest of the world, all at once. The interesting thing about beauty is that there is simply no downside to it: It can only enhance our lives.

Zac Posen is a fashion designer.

“The purpose of sex is procreation,” a straight cisgender man once told me, trying to defend his homophobia. “So that proves that homosexuality is scientifically and biologically wrong. It serves no purpose.”

I was quiet for a moment. “Huh,” I then said, “so … what’s the science behind blow jobs?” That shut him up real quick.

I often hear arguments that reduce human existence to a biological function, as if survival or productivity were our sole purpose, and the “bottom line” our final word. That is an attractive stance to take because it requires the least amount of energy or imagination. And for most animals, it’s the only option — the hummingbird sipping nectar is merely satisfying her hunger. She does not know her own beauty; she doesn’t have the capacity to perceive it. But we do. We enjoy art, music, poetry. We build birdfeeders. We plant flowers.

Only humans can seek out and express beauty. Why would we have this unique ability if we weren’t meant to use it? Even quarks, those fundamental parts at the core of life, were originally named after “beauty” and “truth.”

That’s why beauty matters to me. When we find beauty in something, we are making the fullest use of our biological capacities. Another way of putting it: When we become aware of life’s beauty, that’s when we are most alive.

Constance Wu is a television and film actress.

Advertisement

A Wider Lens: Top Models on Beauty’s Past, Present, and Future

Fashion is constantly evolving—and so are the beauty standards that define it. Here, industry stars and experts examine the current landscape.

When Anok Yai started working as a model, she had a truly majestic head of hair: a cloud of bouncy corkscrews that, when fully unfurled, stretched nearly to her waist. In the photo that catapulted her into the fashion world—a 2017 snap by photographer Steven Hall of the then 19-year-old college student—her tresses effervesce in the golden-hour light, crowning her high, sculpted cheekbones. When one looks at the image today, it’s not at all surprising that the morning after Hall posted it on Instagram, top agencies were practically banging down Yai’s door. What’s harder to wrap one’s head around is that once the New Hampshire–raised daughter of South Sudanese refugees moved to New York and started booking big jobs, her enviable curls were suddenly considered a nuisance. Whenever she arrived backstage before a show or on set for a shoot, she was inevitably met with a flat iron. “And I just let them straighten my hair because I didn’t know that I could say no,” says Yai today. The consequences? “Within six months, I lost 10 or 15 inches of length,” she says. “People thought I’d cut my hair, but it had actually broken off.” After a few more months of stylists tugging, pulling, and heat-blasting her tresses into submission, she says, “I just came to a breaking point. I told my agents that I could do a show with my afro, with cornrows, or not at all.” The response: serious resistance.

“Designers would say, ‘Oh, your hair’s distracting from the clothes,’ ” remembers Yai. “But I stood my ground, and eventually it became a normal thing. A few seasons went by, and other Black models started noticing, and it inspired them to stand up for themselves too. Now, at every show, any girl can have an afro.”

Yai’s story should, of course, be celebrated as its own hard-won triumph, but it’s also notable for how closely it parallels a wider narrative unfolding in fashion. After decades of clinging to the very narrowest, most Eurocentric definition of beauty—in essence, and with very few exceptions, tall, thin, white, young, cisgender—the industry seems to be, at last, embracing a more inclusive and varied ideal. Now, on catwalks and covers, as well as in major campaigns, you’ll see not only Black women rocking their natural hair, but also transgender and nonbinary models, sizes that stretch well into the double digits, and seriously gorgeous humans in their 50s, 60s, and beyond. According to the Fashion Spot, a site that tracks runway demographics, the fall 2022 women’s ready-to-wear shows in New York, Paris, Milan, and London were the most racially diverse season on record, with models of color constituting 48.6 percent of total appearances. New York Fashion Week, in particular, made strides, with nonwhite models totaling 54.9 percent, up from a measly 20 percent in 2015. Across all four Fashion Weeks, there were also 59 castings of transgender models and 103 appearances by models considered plus-size.

But as in Yai’s case, progress hasn’t happened without a push. And the current step forward actually comes on the stiletto heels of a major step back. In the 1970s and ’80s, in the wake of civil rights advances and the Black Is Beautiful movement, the catwalk was a reasonably diverse place. Although African-American women were only very rarely featured in major mainstream ad campaigns, there were plenty of nonwhite faces on the runways, particularly in Europe, where designers such as Yves Saint Laurent and Thierry Mugler always made a point of casting a variety of skin tones and ethnicities. But before the turn of the millennium, things started to change. In Iman’s description, fashion shows became “like the blonde leading the blonde.” By that point, she had retired from modeling and launched her groundbreaking beauty line, so, she says, she wasn’t paying the closest attention to who was or wasn’t, say, opening a Versace show. But around 2013, she read a story about the disappearance of Black models. “And at that point, my best friend, Bethann Hardison [herself a modeling legend]; myself; and Naomi [Campbell] decided that we needed to check what was going on. And what we saw was completely jarring. When it came to Black models, it wasn’t just less, it was a total absence.”

The reason behind what some referred to as “fashion’s whiteout”? Looking back at it now, it appears to have been the convergence of a few different cultural and industry-specific shifts. First, the former Soviet bloc countries started to open up, which meant that Eastern European models could travel to the West; there was also a rush of cash-laden oligarchs with a newfound lust for Chanel shoes and Birkin bags. Designers needed to appeal to their tastes, and as Iman bluntly points out, “there are no Black Eastern Europeans.” At the same time, there was a touch of supermodel backlash in the air. In the ’90s, Naomi, Linda, and Cindy became household names, more well-known than the designers who dressed them. Following the logic of fashion, the pendulum then had to swing the other way: Rather than cast famous women who attracted as much attention as the clothes, designers assembled armies of very similar-looking models. No one stood out, and the focus remained squarely on silhouettes and hemlines. “The entire modeling world became all about the white Eastern European girls,” says veteran casting director James Scully.

Clearly, this was not going to fly. “Once we figured out what was going on, Bethann, Naomi, and I started talking to the press, writing letters to the CFDA and designers in Europe, and making it really public,” says Iman. Slowly, they started to see signs of change—but there was no quick fix. For some Black models, this new diversity didn’t always feel authentic. “Some of the most influential luxury brands are still quite conservative. When they do celebrate diversity, it’s often tucked under some special initiative that’s maybe tied to a philanthropic campaign. It creates a differentiation that lets you know: This isn’t the kind of body that we normally celebrate, but here’s a statement that we want to make,” says Kimberly Jenkins, an assistant professor of fashion studies at Toronto Metropolitan University and an industry consultant who founded the Fashion and Race Database, a platform that examines the impact of race in the fashion world. “So some Black models are understandably apprehensive with brands that have a track record of not being inclusive and now all of a sudden are grasping at them.”

That sort of behavior has been harder to get away with since 2020. “With Black Lives Matter, people started talking about the ills of whatever business they were in, and fashion is at the forefront of that,” says Iman. And thanks to social media, models now had a means of making their voices heard. Calls for change came from outside the industry, as well. “Gen Z became consumers,” says Scully. “This is a generation that is very open to diversity of sexuality, gender, color—and they were like, If I’m not seeing myself represented, I’m not buying your clothes, I’m not looking at your magazine.” Jenkins echoes the sentiment: “People are learning that they can vote with their dollars, and they’re connecting to say that.”

It’s impossible, in fact, to overstate the role that social media has played and continues to play in changing fashion’s beauty ideals; social platforms essentially allow anyone to be a model and each of us to choose which version of beautiful we want to look at. As recently as a decade ago, we were limited to print, film, and television for sartorial inspiration; now self-styled influencers of every stripe are constantly at our fingertips. “Whatever form of beauty you want to see, you can find it on social media, and I think that’s pretty much the only beautiful thing about social media,” says Bella Hadid, who played the Instagram game to perfection at the outset of her career but has also spoken up recently about the platform’s negative impact on her mental health. But even with the advent of filters—which, of course, create their own unattainable ideals—there’s no denying that Instagram and TikTok have democratized the concept of beauty. “You can see so many different types of faces and bodies now,” says Nancy Etcoff, a Harvard University psychologist and researcher whose 1999 book, Survival of the Prettiest , delves into the biological basis of beauty. “We’re seeing more of what people look like. In the past, we just had magazines where everyone was uniformly ‘perfect.’ ”

One obvious result of this wider lens has been a generational sea change in how we view body size. Walk past any American high school at dismissal time, for instance, and you’ll likely see a parade of size 16-and-up teens in crop tops or short shorts, proudly flaunting the same sort of curves that a decade ago were far more likely to be hidden under baggy T-shirts. “People used to be ostracized for wearing something revealing if they had a larger body. Now those same people are fashion influencers,” says journalist Kari Molvar, whose 2021 book, The New Beauty , charts the evolution of beauty in the fashion world and beyond. Perhaps that’s why major brands have welcomed larger sizes. “I’ve been surprised to see the curvy body being as present as it has been,” says Lauren Downing Peters, a fashion history professor at Columbia College Chicago whose book Fashion Before Plus-Size: Bodies, Bias, and the Birth of an Industry will be published by Bloomsbury in 2023. Peters, too, sees the Internet as a huge driver of body positivity. These days, plus-size goddesses are Fashion Week fixtures; at size 16, Precious Lee is headed for supermodel status. “For me to be on the cover of a September issue clears up any confusion about the progression of the modeling industry,” says Lee. “There is no more beautiful woman, skinny or plus-size,” says Iman of Lee. “The girl is gorgeous, a glamazon.”

Which brings us to the original glamazons. Those storied supes of the ’90s—Shalom, Amber, Christy, Naomi, et al.—are back on covers and catwalks in force. And lest you think it’s all about nostalgia, consider that Maye Musk (yes, Elon’s mom) is walking in the Dolce & Gabbana show and fronting the 2022 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in her 70s. The new rules, it seems, demand not just beauty at any size but beauty at every stage. “There weren’t women really modeling at my age a decade ago,” says Valletta, now 48, who returned to the profession full-time eight years ago, after an extended stint in Hollywood. “In the past, every once in a while you’d see a model in her 40s, but it was kind of tokenism. This isn’t tokenism; I’m getting huge jobs.” And if Musk is any indication, Valletta could still be doing so three decades from now.

It’s worth noting, of course, that this isn’t the first time we’ve collectively changed our mind about what’s beautiful. The definition of pretty is constantly shifting across time and space—as a walk through any historical art museum will demonstrate (consider a Rubens, for instance, next to a Degas). And seemingly every generation likes to think it has mounted a revolution in this realm. In the ’90s, following the reign of statuesque femmes fatales like Crawford and Campbell, Kate Moss was considered an utter departure because she was —gasp!—a waify five feet seven. It was as if no one had ever heard of Twiggy, who had caused a sensation with her supposedly boyish figure three decades before. So is the new diversity here to stay, or is it just another fashion trend masquerading as social change?

One factor to take into account is the fair amount of scientific investigation into what we, as humans, think is beautiful and why. According to psychologists, as counterintuitive as it might sound, we’re drawn to people who rank as average. More specifically, when researchers create artificial faces on a computer by blending photos to make a composite, the “average” image is consistently rated most attractive. It follows that, as our population continues to become, on the whole, browner, older, and larger-bodied—as demographic projections suggest—the “average” should continue to reflect that change.

But, of course, fashion’s definition of beauty hasn’t always lined up with dominant opinions in the culture at large. Consider the fact that Kate Moss and Pamela Anderson hit peak popularity at roughly the same time. And, says Molvar, when it comes to beauty ideals, social media has really upended everything. “When you look back, those little shifts in standards were incremental and took decades or even a century,” she says. “But now the digital explosion is very rapidly altering what we perceive as beautiful. What’s considered cool on TikTok truly changes on a daily basis.” Will the “slim-thick” Kardashian body still be the most wanted silhouette a decade from now? Sadly, for the thousands of women who’ve gone under the knife to emulate it in the past few years, there is no way of knowing. In life, but especially in fashion, the only constant is change.

fashion and beauty essay

Home — Essay Samples — Life — Fashion — Fashion for different Body types

test_template

Fashion for Different Body Types

  • Categories: Clothes Fashion

About this sample

close

Words: 356 |

Published: Jun 6, 2019

Words: 356 | Page: 1 | 2 min read

Dress According to Body Type

  • An hourglass: Draw attention to your waist and work on your curves to highlight it.Avoid wearing baggy clothes as it wont’ show your curves.Use the correct size of bra, if your busts are large as over-sized or short will show up very easily.
  • A pear shaped body:This body type is blessed with beautiful shoulders so highlight them using necklaces or scarfs. Avoid tight bottoms, go for A- line dresses or flared pants.For the bottoms use dark colors for color blocking with bright tops.
  • An Apple shaped body: Your bust is a virtue for you try enhances that wear belts on bust on waist as that will create more curves. Don’t wear tight tops, wear which are layered, or ruffled. Avoid putting on double breasts jackets. Skinny pants or straight pants are a big NO!, try flared or loose palazzo or pants. Wear prints. A rectangular body shapeIf your body don’t have natural curves, create them with your clothes. Wear belts on waist to highlight them, tops, peplum jackets, skirts and dresses will create the illusion of an hourglass shape.

Works Cited

  • Barcan, R. (2019). Nudity: A Cultural Anatomy. Berg Publishers.
  • Barnard, M. (2017). Fashion Theory: A Reader. Routledge.
  • Crane, D. (2012). Fashion and Its Social Agendas: Class, Gender, and Identity in Clothing. University of Chicago Press.
  • Davis, F. (1994). Fashion, Culture, and Identity. University of Chicago Press.
  • Entwistle, J. (2015). The Fashioned Body: Fashion, Dress and Modern Social Theory. Polity Press.
  • Kawamura, Y. (2005). Fashion-ology: An Introduction to Fashion Studies. Berg Publishers.
  • Rocamora, A. (2011). Fashioning the City: Paris, Fashion and the Media. I.B.Tauris.
  • Steele, V. (2010). The Berg Companion to Fashion. Berg Publishers.
  • Thomas, D., & Guzman, A. (2019). Fashion: A Philosophy. Bloomsbury Academic.
  • Wikipedia contributors. (2021, May 7). Fashion. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 20, 2023, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fashion

Image of Dr. Oliver Johnson

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

  • 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
  • Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

author

Verified writer

  • Expert in: Life

writer

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

1 pages / 500 words

2 pages / 848 words

6 pages / 2622 words

3 pages / 1353 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Fashion for Different Body Types Essay

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Fashion

Abercrombie and Fitch is a renowned American fashion brand, known for its casual luxury clothing and accessories. However, the brand has been embroiled in a series of controversies and faced public scrutiny due to its marketing [...]

My career goal is to become a successful marketing executive in the fashion industry. I am passionate about both marketing and fashion, and I believe that by combining these two interests, I can create a fulfilling and rewarding [...]

Fashion designers play a crucial role in shaping the way we present ourselves to the world. Their work goes beyond creating beautiful apparel; it impacts culture, economy, and individual self-expression. In this essay, we will [...]

The topic of revealing clothes is a subject of ongoing debate and discussion in society. Fashion choices have evolved over time, reflecting changing cultural norms, personal preferences, and societal attitudes. Revealing [...]

In the digital era, where fashion trends are born and die on the screens of smartphones, the 'fast fashion argumentative' debate has ignited a firestorm of scrutiny and reconsideration within the textile industry and among [...]

Women’s fashion in the 1920s changed the way women lived. It also changed how people saw women. Women’s clothing has changed a lot throughout the years (Hearst Media, LLC). Flappers in the 1920s cropped their hair, made up their [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

  • Instructions Followed To The Letter
  • Deadlines Met At Every Stage
  • Unique And Plagiarism Free

fashion and beauty essay

fashion and beauty essay

Essay on The Connection between Fashion, Beauty, Appearance and Identity

How significant is appearance to identity? This issue has been widely discussed in scientific literature and the mass media sources. Researchers have found that the significance of appearance and identity is reflected in social interaction. Appearance is considered to be the most salient symbol of social interaction. According to Kathleen J. Fitzgerald (2007), “appearance plays a significant role in identity construction simply because it presents our identity to others in social interaction”(p. 157). Scholars state that people perceive the appearance of others, placing emphasis on skin color, hair, eyes, weight, height, clothes, etc. As a result, appearance can be interpreted as the source of identity because through appearance, “the self presents an identity” (qtd. in Fitzgerald, 2007, p. 157). Finkelstein (1991) believes that physical appearance can be viewed as a means for claiming certain degree in representing social status. Physical appearance has direct relation to human character because some details of personal affectations tell much about one’s identity.

In addition, it is necessary to explain the meaning of the term “fashion” in order to find the connection between fashion and individual self-expression.  Fashion can be understood as both a system and a form of individual self-expression. There are several factors that influence the functioning of fashion as a system. First, fashion is a system because it has been developed into industry, which serves society. Second, fashion is a system that uses different signs to change appearance. Besides, fashion is a form of individual self-expression because it reflects individual culture, expressing one’s own individuality and personality. Fashion is conceptualized as the way to communicate identity through self-expression (Finkelstein, 1991).

In fact, appearance is important for a number of reasons. Appearance has the ability to impress others. According to Finkelstein (1991), people have always paid due attention to appearance, the body and clothing, in order to “enhance the human frame” and use fashion to highlight one’s identity. At the same time, beauty cannot function by denying its social construction because beauty is a social construction, based on research findings of social scientists (Kawamura, 2010).  It is possible to make everything look beautiful and aesthetic, depending on the context.  Due to cosmetic surgery, it is possible to improve the parameters of appearance, especially the appearance of women. The increase in the development of cosmetic surgery industry points out to the fact that it is possible to reshape the structures of body in order to improve both appearance and self-esteem (Northrop, 2010). Individuals today invest so much time, energy and money in appearance because they want to succeed in social interaction.  Fashion and display are implicated in the fabrication of the self. As a result, cosmetic surgery is focused on the promotion of certain appearance norms that have been evolved in human society as effective tools of social interaction (Northrop, 2010).

The surface tells us something much deeper about our self-identity.  We have not fallen prey to, in Lasch’s phrase, “a culture of narcissism”. Actually, social development effects the constitution and deployment of the self. For example, the politics of sexual identity, the role of the mass media and celebrity, social media and the Internet play an important role in the constitution and deployment of the self. It is impossible to fall prey to the “culture of narcissism” because many people have no opportunity to use cosmetic surgery. Their self-esteem is improved by the ability to demonstrate empathy.

Thus, it is necessary to conclude that there is the connection between fashion, beauty, appearance and identity. One’s own personality and individuality reflect the functioning of physical appearance. The popularity of such practice as cosmetic surgery helps to transform body and appearance, making it look perfect, based on the established social norms and standards. Cosmetic surgery helps to promote self-image contributing to social interaction. As a result, physical appearance has an enormous power over the successful practices of social interaction. Today many people are ready to invest much time, energy and money in their appearance in order to succeed in social interaction.  Fashion is conceptualized as an effective tool aimed at communicating one’s own identity through self-expression.

Do you like this essay?

Our writers can write a paper like this for you!

Order your paper here .

  • Advanced Search
  • All new items
  • Journal articles
  • Manuscripts
  • All Categories
  • Metaphysics and Epistemology
  • Epistemology
  • Metaphilosophy
  • Metaphysics
  • Philosophy of Action
  • Philosophy of Language
  • Philosophy of Mind
  • Philosophy of Religion
  • Value Theory
  • Applied Ethics
  • Meta-Ethics
  • Normative Ethics
  • Philosophy of Gender, Race, and Sexuality
  • Philosophy of Law
  • Social and Political Philosophy
  • Value Theory, Miscellaneous
  • Science, Logic, and Mathematics
  • Logic and Philosophy of Logic
  • Philosophy of Biology
  • Philosophy of Cognitive Science
  • Philosophy of Computing and Information
  • Philosophy of Mathematics
  • Philosophy of Physical Science
  • Philosophy of Social Science
  • Philosophy of Probability
  • General Philosophy of Science
  • Philosophy of Science, Misc
  • History of Western Philosophy
  • Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy
  • Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy
  • 17th/18th Century Philosophy
  • 19th Century Philosophy
  • 20th Century Philosophy
  • History of Western Philosophy, Misc
  • Philosophical Traditions
  • African/Africana Philosophy
  • Asian Philosophy
  • Continental Philosophy
  • European Philosophy
  • Philosophy of the Americas
  • Philosophical Traditions, Miscellaneous
  • Philosophy, Misc
  • Philosophy, Introductions and Anthologies
  • Philosophy, General Works
  • Teaching Philosophy
  • Philosophy, Miscellaneous
  • Other Academic Areas
  • Natural Sciences
  • Social Sciences
  • Cognitive Sciences
  • Formal Sciences
  • Arts and Humanities
  • Professional Areas
  • Other Academic Areas, Misc
  • Submit a book or article
  • Upload a bibliography
  • Personal page tracking
  • Archives we track
  • Information for publishers
  • Introduction
  • Submitting to PhilPapers
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Subscriptions
  • Editor's Guide
  • The Categorization Project
  • For Publishers
  • For Archive Admins
  • PhilPapers Surveys
  • Bargain Finder
  • About PhilPapers
  • Create an account

Moscow on the fashion map: between periphery and centre

Reprint years, other versions.

No versions found

PhilArchive

External links.

  • From the Publisher via CrossRef (no proxy)
  • dx.doi.org (no proxy)
  • link.springer.com (no proxy)
  • link.springer.com [2] (no proxy)
  • jstor.org (no proxy)

Through your library

  • Sign in / register and customize your OpenURL resolver
  • Configure custom resolver

Similar books and articles

Citations of this work.

No citations found.

References found in this work

Phiosophy Documentation Center

Outsiders: the new faces of Russian fashion are far from perfect

Moscow-based independent model agency lumpen challenges conventional standards of beauty by putting a spotlight on the new generation of post-soviet youth. who are the new faces of the east and why does it matter beyond the fashion world.

Contemporary fashion is not about perfection anymore. Eastern European girls — tall, skinny, angelically beautiful — have been the top casting choice for the past couple of decades, but the rules of the game are changing. Model agencies are trying to cast more ethnically diverse models and to provide a wider range of characters and body types. The Russian designer Gosha Rubchinskiy was among the first to cast his models from Russia’s streets — from friends, skaters and various types of lost youth. For Rubchinskiy, casting individuals rather than generic models was a way of putting a face to the story of post-Soviet youth.

In his wake, now comes the Moscow-based model agency Lumpen , set up by film director Avdotja Alexandrova, who founded the company based on her fascination with faces and characters who didn’t fit the standards of the fashion industry. Those outsiders were featured in Alexandrova’s films and video works but this wasn’t enough for her. She wanted to create a means for them to be employed and appreciated, and to receive more credit for their stories.

“I became a photographer and a film director because I’ve always been fascinated by unusual types. I used to think that I love really striking, bold faces simply because I have bad eyesight, but now I realise that my interest is deeper than it seems - I am drawn to both appearance and character of my models, to their stories and experiences as much as their faces,” says Alexandrova.

fashion and beauty essay

Lumpen models have already been featured in international fashion magazines, in a video by London-based fashion brand ZDDZ and in the latest Vetements Paris fashion show. Lumpen and Vetements, the French fashion brand often described as a successor to Nineties-era Maison Martin Margiela, were a real match: dressed in strangely oversized, disproportionate garments and leather, the Russian outcasts were in their element. Lumpen male models have also made unlikely poster boys for LGBT rights through editorials by British photographer Harley Weir and stylist Lotta Volkova for Re-Edition and Document journal exposing a different side of Russian masculinity.

The story, however, is not limited to pages of fashion magazines. Lumpen is interesting as a collective portrait of the new generation of Russians. These are the faces that would otherwise go unseen, the boys and girls living in their ordinary neighborhoods, in ordinary Russian cities, with no obvious connection to the international fashion world. Kids who just happened to pass someone who appreciated them for the way they are. They’ve lived most of their adolescence under a conservative government, in an environment hardly welcoming of individuality. Lumpen is a step towards appreciating the different, and in today’s Russia, it’s badly needed.

Featured editorials were published in Afisha Mag and Document Journal .

Outsiders: the new faces of Russian fashion are far from perfect

Poor but cool: how has the Cold War become a defining symbol for modern fashion?

Outsiders: the new faces of Russian fashion are far from perfect

Village disco: scenes from the post-Soviet dancefloor

Outsiders: the new faces of Russian fashion are far from perfect

New look: Paris turns east for fashion regeneration

Moscow on the fashion map: between periphery and centre

  • Published: 27 April 2011
  • Volume 63 , pages 111–121, ( 2011 )

Cite this article

fashion and beauty essay

  • Djurdja Bartlett 1  

462 Accesses

4 Citations

Explore all metrics

This essay considers Moscow’s simultaneously peripheral and central position on the global fashion map. It is predicated on a study of imaginary Russian geographies presented in Vogue and other fashion media, advertisements and promotional activities by important fashion brands, as well as the promotional texts and visuals of several new Russian fashion designers. While these different players all contribute to shaping the imagery of Russian fashion today, their agendas and aesthetics differ. This essay identifies three main approaches within the field of the symbolic production of Russian fashion. Western fashion designers and fashion media mainly rely on Russian imperial sartorial heritage in their orientalizing approach to Russian fashion. Secondly, Russian Vogue perpetuates Moscow’s peripheral international fashion position either by passively transmitting derivative Western representations of Russianness, or by reconstructing its own high-fashion versions of traditional Russian decorative style. Finally, several young Russian fashion designers deconstruct both traditional Russian and socialist iconography, in a fundamentally new development for the country’s fashion scene.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save.

  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime

Price includes VAT (Russian Federation)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Rent this article via DeepDyve

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

fashion and beauty essay

Pride and Glamour on the Catwalk: Fashion Models as National and Ethnic Icons

fashion and beauty essay

Towards an Inclusive Fashion System

Telling the indigenous ghanaian fashion cosmovision: the case of royal ahenema sandals.

Founded in 1954, Comité Colbert is a trade association for French luxury products that organizes promotional activities for its member companies. It has seventy members in ten industry sectors. For references concerning the event ‘Moscow encounters French style’ see www.comitecolbert.org (accessed 10 Sept 2009).

Indeed, in the previous year that market had grown by 60 percent, bringing sales in Russia to 600 million euros for Colbert companies, which covered the country’s immense territory with 302 points of sale, mostly in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Ekaterinburg. Forty chief executive officers (CEOs) of leading French luxury companies that travelled to Moscow held meetings with their retail partners and high-ranking Russian trade officials (Ibid.).

( 2008 , September 9). Louis Vuitton celebrates an updated and broadened shop opening. In GUM http://www.gum.ru/en/news/id/171/ (accessed 9 Sept 2009).

For an overview, see Polhemus and Procter ( 1978 ).

The Western and Russian media covered Gaultier’s haute couture fashion show with great interest, especially because Ukrainian First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko was seated in the front row. See, for example, Alexander, H. ( 2005 , July 9). Inspired Gaultier creates a fairytale from the steppes. The Daily Telegraph , p. 15; Bowles, H. ( 2005 , October). Gaultier: Folklore romance. Vogue , New York, p. 192; Willard, A. ( 2005 , July 15). Fashion guru inspired by Russia. The Moscow Times , p. 7.

Moreover, Gaultier’s evening gowns, with prices starting from $10,000, had names such as ‘ balalajka ’ and ‘ matrëška ’.

Reinventing itself each season, fashion borrows cuts, patterns, and colour schemes from its past. Fashion “[requires] quotation to rewrite its own history” (Lehmann 2000 , 308).

Marras quoted in Blanks, T. ( 2009 , March 11). Kenzo. In Style.com http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/F2009RTW-KENZO/ (accessed 16 Mar 2009).

Bowles, H. ( 2005 , October). Gaultier: Folklore romance. Vogue , New York, p. 192.

Di Lello, A. ( 2005 , October). Balletti russi. Elle , Milan, pp. 166–172.

Muir, L. ( 2005 , October). Russian revolution. Vogue , London, pp. 202–204.

On the House of Kitmir see Vassiliev ( 2000 ).

For an overview, see Benton, C., et al. (Eds.) ( 2003 ). Art deco, 1910 – 1939 . London: V&A Publications.

In the period 2007–2010, luxury brands, such as Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Chanel, Gucci, and Etro, branched out from Moscow and St. Petersburg and began to open stores all over the former Soviet Union in cities such as Ekaterinburg, Sochi, Samara, Rostov-na-Donu, Baku, and Astana.

Karl Lagerfeld, who designs the Chanel collections, presented both his short film and the fashion show Paris - Moscow at the Ranelagh Theatre in Paris on 3 December 2008, as the original plan to show it in Moscow was abandoned due to the looming global economic crisis. A CD of that film accompanies Lagerfeld’s book Chanel’s Russian connection ( 2009 ).

West, N. ( 2005 , November 12). Tsars in their eyes. Telegraph Magazine , pp. 8–9.

Blanks, T. ( 2009 , March 11). Kenzo. In Style.com http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/F2009RTW-KENZO/ (accessed 16 Mar 2009).

Testino, M. (photographer), & Roitfeld, C. (stylist) ( 2006 , October). Poupées russes. Vogue , Paris, pp. 254–267.

Roversi, P. (photographer), & Gentilucci, A. (stylist) ( 1998 , September). Poupées russes. Vogue , Milan, pp. 498–509.

See, for example, an image from that collection in ( 2003 , September). Zri v koren’!. L′ Officiel , Moscow, p. 313.

See, for example, a review by Suzy Menkes ( 2009 , February 22). Christopher Kane’s constructivism. In The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/style/22iht-rkane.4.20353699.html (accessed 16 Feb 2011).

Vlasov, F. ( 2000 , November). Voentorg. Vogue , Moscow, p. 30.

( 2001 , September). Šapki, šljapy. Vogue , Moscow, p. 210.

Mikhailovskaja, O. ( 1999 , February). Ljubov’ k geometrii. Vogue , Moscow, pp. 64–65.

( 2009a , September). Sel’skaja nov’. Vogue , Moscow, pp. 118–119.

Reveriego, M. (photographer), & Phillips, A. (stylist) ( 2007 , December). Russkaja pravda. Vogue , Moscow, pp. 406–419.

See, for example, the description of a jewel-encrusted kokošnik that Princess Nadine Wonlar-Lansky offers in her memoir ( 1937 ).

( 2009b , September). Spasibo za kampaniju. Vogue , Moscow, p. 154.

Simačëv, D. About. In Denis Simačëv http://www.denissimachev.com/content/tm.html (accessed 16 Feb 2011).

Quoted in Greene, L. ( 2008 , August 26). The Russians are coming! Why the fashion pack can’t get enough of our former Soviet friends. In Mail Online http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1048839/The-Russians-coming-Why-fashion-pack-Soviet-friends.html (accessed 10 Sept 2008).

On this collection, see Menkes, S. ( 2008 , October 6). Miu Miu: An apron for a new age. In The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/style/06iht-rmiu.4.16731002.html (accessed 19 Feb 2011).

Alexander, H. (2005). Inspired Gaultier creates a fairytale from the steppes. The Daily Telegraph , p. 15.

Anonymous, (2001). Šapki, šljapy. Vogue , Moscow, p. 210.

Anonymous, (2003, September). Zri v koren’!. L′ Officiel , Moscow, pp. 312–315.

Anonymous (2008). Louis Vuitton celebrates an updated and broadened shop opening. In GUM http://www.gum.ru/en/news/id/171/ . Accessed 9 Sept 2009.

Anonymous, (2009a). Sel’skaja nov’. Vogue , Moscow, pp. 118–119.

Anonymous, (2009b). Spasibo za kampaniju. Vogue , Moscow, p. 154.

Benton, C., et al. (Eds.) (2003). Art deco, 1910–1939 . London: V&A Publications.

Google Scholar  

Blanks, T. (2009). Kenzo. In Style.com http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/F2009RTW-KENZO/ . Accessed 16 Mar 2009.

Bourdieu, P. (1993). Haute couture and haute culture. In P. Bourdieu (Ed.), Sociology in question (pp. 132–138). London: Sage.

Bowles, H. (2005). Gaultier: Folklore romance. Vogue , New York, p. 192.

Di Lello, A. (2005). Balletti russi. Elle , Milan, pp. 166–172.

Greene, L. (2008, August 26). The Russians are coming! Why the fashion pack can’t get enough of our former Soviet friends. In Mail Online http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1048839/The-Russians-coming-Why-fashion-pack-Soviet-friends.html . Accessed 10 Sept 2008.

Groys, B. (2008). Art power . Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Hannerz, U. (1996). Transnational connections: Culture, people, places . London: Routledge.

Lagerfeld, K. (2009). Chanel’s Russian connection . Göttingen: Steidl.

Lehmann, U. (2000). Tigersprung: Fashion in modernity . Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Martin, R., & Koda, H. (1994). Orientalisms: Visions of the east in western dress . Exhibition catalogue. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Menkes, S. (2008, October 6). Miu Miu: An apron for a new age. In The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/style/06iht-rmiu.4.16731002.html . Accessed 19 Feb 2011.

Menkes, S. (2009, February 22). Christopher Kane’s constructivism. In The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/style/22iht-rkane.4.20353699.html . Accessed 16 Feb 2011.

Mikhailovskaja, O. (1999). Ljubov’ k geometrii. Vogue , Moscow, pp. 64–65.

Muir, L. (2005). Russian revolution. Vogue , London, pp. 202–204.

Nochlin, L. (1983). The imaginary orient. Art in America, 71 (5), 118–131.

Polhemus, T., & Procter, L. (1978). Fashion and anti-fashion . London: Thames and Hudson.

Reveriego, M., & Phillips, A. (2007). Russkaja pravda. Vogue , Moscow, pp. 406–419.

Roversi, P., & Gentilucci, A. (1998). Poupées russes. Vogue , Milan, pp. 498–509.

Saïd, E. W. (2003). Orientalism . London: Penguin.

Simačëv, D. About. In Denis Simachëv http://www.denissimachev.com/content/tm.html . Accessed 16 Feb 2011.

Testino, M., & Roitfeld, C. (2006). Poupées russes. Vogue, Paris, pp. 254–267.

Vassiliev, A. (2000). Beauty in exile: The artists, models, and nobility who fled the Russian Revolution and influenced the world of fashion . New York: Harry N. Abrams.

Vlasov, F. (2000). Voentorg. Vogue , Moscow, p. 30.

West, N. (2005, November 12). Tsars in their eyes. Telegraph Magazine , pp. 8–9.

Willard, A. (2005, July 15). Fashion guru inspired by Russia. The Moscow Times , p. 7.

Wollen, P. (1987). Fashion/orientalism/the body. New Formations, 1 , 5–33.

Wonlar-Larsky, N. (1937). The Russia that I loved . London: Elsie MacSwinney.

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, London, UK

Djurdja Bartlett

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Djurdja Bartlett .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Bartlett, D. Moscow on the fashion map: between periphery and centre. Stud East Eur Thought 63 , 111–121 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11212-011-9138-y

Download citation

Published : 27 April 2011

Issue Date : May 2011

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11212-011-9138-y

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

  • Auto-exoticism
  • Fashion designer
  • Fashion quotation
  • High-fashion ethnic
  • Orientalism
  • Picturesque
  • Symbolic production of fashion
  • Find a journal
  • Publish with us
  • Track your research

IMAGES

  1. Essay on Fashion in 500+ Easy Words

    fashion and beauty essay

  2. Concept of Beauty (400 Words)

    fashion and beauty essay

  3. What Is Beauty?

    fashion and beauty essay

  4. Essay on Is Fashion Important for all Class in 100 to 500 Words in English

    fashion and beauty essay

  5. Fashion It is Everywhere A Constantly Changing Art Form Fashion Free

    fashion and beauty essay

  6. Fashion Designer Issey Miyake Free Essay Example

    fashion and beauty essay

COMMENTS

  1. Essays About Fashion: Top 5 Examples and 9 Prompts

    5 Top Essay Examples. 1. Why Fashion is Important by George K. "The clothes we wear has become more than merely a way to cover our nakedness; instead it has also become one of the primary ways in which people express themselves.". George K explains that fashion separates individuals from the rest.

  2. 286 Fashion Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

    It is definitely worth studying! Our article will inspire you whether you want to write an argumentative essay about fashion history or a persuasive paper about modern fashion. Here you'll find a huge list of fashion topics to discuss and write about, outlining tips, and excellent fashion essay examples. Enjoy!

  3. Essays About Beauty: Top 5 Examples and 10 Prompts

    10 Helpful Prompts To Use in Writing Essays About Beauty. If you're still struggling to know where to start, here are ten exciting and easy prompts for your essay writing: 1. What Is Beauty: An Argumentative Essay. While defining beauty is not easy, it's a common essay topic. First, share what you think beauty means.

  4. 100 Fashion Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

    To help you get started, here are 100 fashion essay topic ideas and examples that you can explore: The evolution of fashion trends over the decades. The impact of social media on fashion. The role of sustainability in the fashion industry. The influence of celebrity fashion on mainstream trends. The history of high fashion and couture.

  5. Essay on Fashion for Students and Children

    500+ Words Essay on Fashion. Fashion refers to anything that becomes a rage among the masses. Fashion is a popular aesthetic expression. Most Noteworthy, it is something that is in vogue. Fashion appears in clothing, footwear, accessories, makeup, hairstyles, lifestyle, and body proportions. Furthermore, Fashion is an industry-supported expression.

  6. Essay on Fashion

    Students are often asked to write an essay on Fashion in their schools and colleges. And if you're also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic. ... It's a way of life, a reflection of inner beauty, and a sign of personal expression. Also check: Paragraph on Fashion; Speech on Fashion; 250 ...

  7. ️Essay on Fashion: Samples in 100, 150, 200 Words

    Essay on Fashion in 100 Words. Fashion encompasses clothing, accessories, and even behaviours, reflecting culture and individuality. Fashion evolves continuously, driven by designers, influencers, and changing norms. It has the power to convey identity, status, and creativity. Whether classic or avant-garde, fashion allows individuals to make ...

  8. Essay on Modern Fashion

    500 Words Essay on Modern Fashion Introduction to Modern Fashion. Fashion is an ever-evolving phenomenon, a reflection of societal changes and individual expression. ... Body positivity and diversity are now front and center, challenging traditional beauty standards. Fashion brands are recognizing the need for designs that cater to all body ...

  9. 127 Fashion Design Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

    Here are 127 fashion design essay topic ideas and examples to help you get started: The evolution of denim fashion. The impact of streetwear on mainstream fashion. The role of sustainability in fashion design. The influence of social media on fashion trends. The history of haute couture. The rise of gender-neutral fashion.

  10. Free Fashion Essay Examples & Topics

    Check our 100% free fashion essay, research paper examples. Find inspiration and ideas Best topics Daily updates. IvyPanda® Free Essays. Clear. Free Essays ... Corsets may be a perfect illustration of the expression 'beauty has its price', and ladies from the past centuries were willing to sacrifice the health in order to look beautiful and ...

  11. 59 Fashion Design Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

    The designs are inclusive and relate to women's outer beauty as they bring out a sense of femininity in terms of skin tones, freckles, and skin lines. Fashion Forecasting and Trends. There are a lot of spring tendencies that are widely awaited; however, the designers are most thrilled about the new bottom silhouette.

  12. André Aciman: Why Beauty Is So Important to Us

    Constance Wu. André Aciman. Humans have engaged with the concept of beauty for millennia, trying to define it while being defined by it. Plato thought that merely contemplating beauty caused ...

  13. The Beauty: From Philosophical Thought to Fashion

    Abstract. This article discusses the philosophy that portrays beauty and how each philosopher theorized beauty in their narratives, namely Plato, Aristotle and Kant. The essay aims to report how beauty was initially described and what were the aspects that transformed these thoughts into a science that shaped aesthetics as far as we know it.

  14. A Wider Lens: Top Models on Beauty's Past, Present, and Future

    Those storied supes of the '90s—Shalom, Amber, Christy, Naomi, et al.—are back on covers and catwalks in force. And lest you think it's all about nostalgia, consider that Maye Musk (yes ...

  15. Beauty and Fashion

    HISTORY OF BEAUTY AND FASHION - 4 - 4. CONCLUSION - 7 - 5. REFERENCES - 8 -. 1. INTRODUCTION. Throughout history, people in every culture have sought to change the natural appearance of their bodies. They reshape and sculpt their bodies and adorn them with paint, cosmetics, clothing, and jewelry. These customs, however, are diverse and ...

  16. A new way of living and dressing

    When the world moved out of World War Two in the 1950s, a new silhouette emerged, as embodied by Christian Dior's New Look: "Fitted jackets, padded hips, wasp-like waist and A-line skirts ...

  17. Fashion futures and critical fashion studies

    The essays in this collection address the creative, social, material, environmental, technological, and political forms of fashion and clothing, drawing on a range of interdisciplinary methods to get to the heart of thinking fashion critically. The essays are drawn from conversations emerging from critical fashion studies events hosted at the ...

  18. Fashion for different Body types: [Essay Example], 356 words

    Fashion for Different Body Types. Your clothing, makeup, accessories, lifestyle, footwear, body and hairstyle this is Fashion and style. Everyone has there own style of carrying themselves. The word Fashion comes from Latin word 'Facere' meaning 'to make'. Fashion keeps changing with day to day trends.

  19. Essay on The Connection between Fashion, Beauty, Appearance and Identity

    Fashion is conceptualized as the way to communicate identity through self-expression (Finkelstein, 1991). In fact, appearance is important for a number of reasons. Appearance has the ability to impress others. According to Finkelstein (1991), people have always paid due attention to appearance, the body and clothing, in order to "enhance the ...

  20. Moscow on the fashion map: between periphery and centre

    Abstract This essay considers Moscow's simultaneously peripheral and central position on the global fashion map. It is predicated on a study of imaginary Russian geographies presented in Vogue and other fashion media, advertisements and promotional activities by important fashion brands, as well as the promotional texts and visuals of several new Russian fashion designers.

  21. Outsiders: the new faces of Russian fashion are far from perfect

    The story, however, is not limited to pages of fashion magazines. Lumpen is interesting as a collective portrait of the new generation of Russians. These are the faces that would otherwise go unseen, the boys and girls living in their ordinary neighborhoods, in ordinary Russian cities, with no obvious connection to the international fashion world.

  22. Moscow on the fashion map: between periphery and centre

    This essay considers Moscow's simultaneously peripheral and central position on the global fashion map. It is predicated on a study of imaginary Russian geographies presented in Vogue and other fashion media, advertisements and promotional activities by important fashion brands, as well as the promotional texts and visuals of several new Russian fashion designers. While these different ...

  23. Russian fashion

    During the Stalin era, anti-fashion sentiments dissipated.Party-sanctioned magazines now promoted fashion and beauty as necessary parts of a Soviet woman's life. Rabotnitsa included fashion advice in almost every issue and regularly reported on new fashion houses opening across the Soviet Union. [9] Krest'yanka even organized traveling shows to bring fashion to the countryside. [10]