Chapter 1 / The Meaning of Clothing and Fashion
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labels. Others show what they have achieved by
wearing service stripes or medals on a military
uniform or a school letter on an athletic jacket. All
of these items raise the status of the wearer.
Combined Needs
Today, people wear clothes because of a
combination of physical, psychological, and
social needs. Several human needs are fulfi lled
to different degrees at the same time.
People receive pleasure from their apparel,
and project their creativity while fulfi lling their
basic needs for wearing clothing. Clothing carries
a highly visible message about who a person is
or is not, 1-9. It can also indicate who that person
would like to be.
Why People Select
Certain Clothes
Besides physical, psychological, and social
needs, additional factors infl uence clothing
choices. People’s values and attitudes affect
clothing selections, as well as their tendencies
toward conformity or individuality. Personality
traits also infl uence clothing choices.
Values and Attitudes
Values are the ideas, beliefs, and material
items that are important to an individual. They
are the underlying motivations for a person’s
actions. They form the basis for a person’s
decisions, lifestyle, and personal code of ethics.
Attitudes are a person’s feelings or reactions
to people, things, or ideas. They are formed
from values. Values and attitudes have a major
infl uence on apparel selections.
Values and attitudes are learned and
passed from one generation to another. Family
members, friends, and the community are
important in forming them, as well as ethnic
and cultural traditions. These traditions include
customs, language, and social views of people’s
heritage or nationality. Traditional cultural fashion
infl uences are indicated in 1-10. In the United
States, where different ethnic groups coexist, the
way people dress is one means of providing a
social bond within each group.
Economic and social conditions affect
people’s values and attitudes toward the
selection of clothing. Also, how people spend
their money shows their personal values. Some
splurge on many clothes and accessories. Others
have few clothes, preferring to spend their money
on recreational activities, or to use their money
for a car or other important purchase.
Luca Luca by Luca Orlandi
1-9 Analyze how this outfi t satisfi es
the needs of protection, adornment,
identifi cation, modesty, and status.