Annalise Plater: America's Stylin' Manifest
Under "Manifest Destiny," the early settlers had to spread their ideals "in order to free people in the Western Hemisphere from European monarchies and to uplift 'less civilized' societies" (http://www.historynet.com/westward-expansion). Just as the early settlers spread their American values westward, Americans circulate their fashion identity worldwide.
Recently, bloggers from the US have spread American fashion by making exclusive events like New York Fashion Week more accessible to the public. In an interview from September, five bloggers discussed the changes in Fashion Week since blogs and online magazines have become popular in the fashion world. Although there were 264 shows in New York's 2011 fashion week, the event is not public; blogs, however, have made Fashion Week more accessible and "intimate" for their readers. With the publicity from blogs, New York Fashion Week remains the leader with London, Milan, and Paris close behind in September every year.
Similar to blogs, Pinterest has brought attention to the fashion world in an innovative way, allowing for American fashion influence to spread through technology. Pinterest is a site where you can organize and share images. These images called "pins" can be categorized on different boards. These boards do not have to be about fashion, but since 80% of the 70 million users are women, many encompass aspects of women's fashion. When a user pins an image, the image shows up on all of his/her followers' feeds, giving them an opportunity to pin the same image. This process spreads miscellaneous photos from the runway, fashion blogs, or boutiques across the country to people all over the world.
America's first break in the fashion world came shortly after the expansion west had ended; born in America, Vogue magazine is a symbol of the spread of fashion worldwide. Due to its prominence most people have read or at least heard of the lifestyle and fashion magazine Vogue. Like most magazines that started in the 1890s, Vogue highlighted women's fashion, allowing American women an identity in fashion. When Vogue began printing globally, it not only spread the US's credibility in fashion, but the identity that women gained through magazines. Today, the liberation that comes with Vogue is still recognized: "Recent Vogue launches in China and India became important events in these countries. The arrival of Vogue was interpreted as a sign of progress, liberation and enlightenment of women" (https://condenast.ru/en/portfolio/magazines/vogue/in-world/).
Although the early Manifest Destiny spread many American ideals in a morally questionable way, the spread of American fashion influence may have an overall positive effect on women's liberty worldwide.
This is so cool. Have we basically replaced the other top fashion cities (like Milan or Paris, which you mentioned getting images from Fashion Week), or do you think we're still catching up?
ReplyDeleteHelen: If you're interested in the fashion capital rankings you can read this article. Although Americans have always looked towards Europe in high fashion (from Coco Chanel to Alexander McQueen), the blog craze has really popularized New York as a Fashion Capital, ranking number one as of 2014.
DeleteAnnalise: I love your title; its so creative!! Do yo know if Pinterest has become a more world-wide used site with foreign users as well as American, even though it is an American company/web site?
ReplyDeleteJayna! You are so right. Although the majority of pinners are from the US, Pinterest is getting super popular and 40% of users are pinning from foreign countries.
DeleteAnnalise! I especially like your last paragraph and how you use Vogue as a component of fashion that symbolizes progress and freedom. It's almost like the U.S. is progressing fashion, and therefore individualism as well!
ReplyDeleteLove your blog Annalise! connecting to Jayna's comment about Pinterest, is there any other app/website that is used in the U.S that allows Americans to be influenced by fashion through technology?
ReplyDeleteVale! My go-to has always been Pinterest, but some of my friends are big fans of sites like Wanelo that make it easier to buy the clothes in the images that come up on a user's feed. You should check it out! <3
DeleteI think the idea of Pinterest is very interesting. There are a lot of creative people out there and getting their ideas into the world is important. Pinterest helps them express their ideas.
ReplyDeleteHey Annalise, I really like your blog. Do you think that America is a frontier in men's fashion also? If not then which country is?
ReplyDeleteJulian! I am no expert in men's fashion, but it seems like other countries, at least in the magazine industry, have taken the lead in men's high fashion. The more respected magazines are generally not from the US. For men, Japan and England seem to be leading the way in the fashion magazine industry.
DeleteGreat point on including Pinterest as an influence of the pioneering the fashion world. As a teenager, I am constantly on social networks including Instagram. Do you think that Instagram could also have an influence because I sometimes see that profiles are almost used as advertisements for clothing companies?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! A ton of companies use Instagram to spread the word of promotions and opportunities they are offering, and it also plays a role in high fashion. In the interview I referenced earlier in the post, the bloggers talk about how easy it is to share photos and news with their followers via Instagram.
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