| Fashion (French: mode, From Latin. modus — standard, image, way, rule, order) — revelation of beauty in time. Ancient philosophers, starting from Plato, considered that the beauty cannot be expressed adequately once and for all. Hence, beauty can be expressed only by inconsistent image. But, inconsistencies, according to Kant, can coexist only in time. With time, fashion precipitates into style, which often opposes fashion even though fashion lies in style.
Upon today, works of fine arts, together with architecture, are only extant evidence of spiritual culture of many disappeared civilizations. According to modern archaeological data, fine arts appear in the beginning of upper-Paleolithic and associated with the appearance of modern age man. Sources of graphic forms were “natural models” of hunting trophy, color imprints of hands, “macaroni” (placement of parallel lines on cave walls, painted by fingers) and several other resultants of ancient man. Virtually, monumental painting on cave walls, and primitive forms of graphics and sculpture appear simultaneously. Animal genre develops (Main topic of works of Stone Age) and picture of man (Paleolithic “Venus” and later- scenes of hunting).
Fine arts instantly absorb new fields of human activity. Development of material culture in Mesolithic and Neolithic Ages brings forth rise of decorative-applied art in various genres.
Rise of literature in historic age gives birth to appearance of calligraphy. In the civilizations of Ancient world, fine arts which were already present in significant genre diversity, now acquired expressive ethnic-cultural characteristic and subjected to theoretic conceptualization. Advanced concepts about authorship took shape. Fine arts developed in close connection with architecture and literature, regulated in accordance with canons of Antiquity, and “big styles” of Middle and New Ages. These periods were signalized by graphic production, exponential development of painting, sculpture, and splitting of new genres.
Fashion in clothes:
In much narrower sense, fashion is change in forms and samples of clothes which take place in relatively much shorter time intervals. Usage of word (to be dressed “according to fashion”, фр. à la mode) goes back to XVII century, when French court fashion became sample for all European countries. From the point of view of art, fashion is close to conceptual art, since it concludes in combination of various elements (hair-do, cloth material, style, color, accessories), creating an image.
Fashion, as social phenomena:
Fashion in human society – is still a means for creation of social borders and for creation of sum of social attributes "Mine-alien ".
"Fashionable" always draws public attention and therefore it is often unimportant, whether it is positive or negative, for persons with low social status or for "socially deprived". In this word sense, even neo-fascism, Satanism or homosexuality (see pseudo-homosexuality) can become fashionable in certain conditions.
In change and variability of fashion, promise of final ideal of “Beauty” (which is unfulfilled) occurs every time again and again. Each time person, with willingness, trusts this promise and each time the person is compelled to obey commands of new fashion. Human body is fundamental subject of fashionable stylization.
Fashion in broader sense:
Word "Fashion" is used also for designating unstable, fast reversible popularity.
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Surprising news from archaeology this week - recent excavations of
ancient European settlement showed that women wore short tops and mini
skirts as long as 7000 years ago. Such "modern" women's wardrobe was
shown in the figurines of young women found at the excavation site.
The findings prove that even prehistoric women dressed to impress and
had passion for fashion.
