Advice Fashion Male Perspective

The Future of Fashion

Discerning what is to come is at the best of times difficult.  However, it is not impossible if you carefully evaluate what the present reality is and how we arrived at this moment.  Thus, determining the future of fashion can be reasonably guessed at if you’re willing to look at things with a critical eye.

First, the best way to look at the current state of fashion is to not only examine what’s coming from the major designers and off the runways, but also to look at what the general public has adopted.  If you scan around at people you see at your local mall you’ll notice something almost without fail, which is that for the most part the clothing that people are wearing is very simple in terms of its basic design and color.  The color inherent is generally a subdued hue; the designs are rather conservative and restrained, and there seems to be an almost depressed nature to what everyone is wearing.

This shouldn’t come as any surprise to anyone.  When you look at the events of this relatively new century, the lack of optimism found in many people has been very much reflected in the clothing that they wear.  There have been several market crashes, terror attacks, and a recession that still continues for many people.  Thus, the clothing that many wear almost permeates drabness.

While various designers have slowly put up some slightly more colorful clothing none of them have really caught on with the public.  Now while some of that can be attributed to the aforementioned depressive mindset, and other parts to economics, the real reason is that nothing has entered the public consciousness that has generated a sense of inspiration.

Yet, there are small signs that this may be ready to change.  One element believe it or not has been the superhero craze at the movie theatres.  Since the late 1990s movies based on comic book superheroes have dominated the box office, and slowly, but surely that has started to spill over into everyday fashion.  More and more over the last several years, people of all ages have begun to wear t-shirts with colorful superhero logos on them.

Why is this significant?  The reason is because they represent bright splashes of color that are in direct opposition to everything else that people have been wearing.  Eventually, a designer is going to find a way to successfully adapt the concept into everyday dresses, coats, boots, shirts, pants, socks, shorts, shoes, and accessories that the public will support.  Essentially, what you’ll end up with is superhero chic and superhero couture.  It just seems to be inevitable.

Want an example?  Just imagine taking the blue glowing repulsor chest unit that Robert Downey Junior`s Tony Stark character has in Iron Man, shrinking and replicating that visual design onto a black cloth, and making a dress out of it, and you get an instant sense of how this could work.  The key is using the concept in a way that`s elegant and stands out without being garish.

Once an influence like superhero chic occurs what will start to happen is that the drab almost depressed clothing will give way to more color and vibrancy.  Even if other designers don`t become directly influenced by them they will be forced to begin bringing greater life and optimism to their clothing than has been there for some time.  Otherwise they run the risk of being left behind.

There is also likely to be a technological influence on fashion in the coming years as well.  Recently, researchers announced that they had found a way to make a material that will be flexible onto which you`ll be able to have your touchscreen iPad and iPhone.  Once this has been perfected this will likely lead to some colorful wristlet and other hand devices through which you`ll be able to talk and email.  However, that isn`t the only possible application; such an innovation could be integrated into a purse, wallet, or even clothing.  Imagine having small pieces of a flexible iPhone sewn into your clothes which can be changed in terms of the design and colors that are being displayed on them.  It would literally give you the ability to alter your clothing on a daily basis and make it uniquely your own.

There is also the possibility that fashion may find itself looking to the 1920s.  With the ongoing popularity of the HBO show Boardwalk Empire, which is set in that era, it would seem likely there will at least be some influence on modern fashion.  From a fashion point-of-view it was a very colorful era coming off an earlier one in which the world was engulfed in its first true global war.  When you think about it would seem to be a good place for a designer to draw his/her inspiration from.  Many of the designs of that era had both simplicity and complexity in their designs and the colors were absolutely vibrant and full of life.  Also, with many experiencing warmer weather, hats could come back into popular use in order to keep in the shade.

In the end the only thing for sure is you get a sense that people want to throw off the hardness of the last several years and feel better about things, and fashion is likely to be the way in which they express it.  At this point it’s really just a matter of time and whatever designer comes up with clothing that`s colorful and affordable which catches the public`s fancy.

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