Fashion: From Class Differentiation to Collective Selection, Essay Example

Herbert Blumer’s “Fashion: From class differentiation to collective selection” determines that fashion is a significant part of sociological research and study. He names three deficiencies in the current model of sociological concept and fashion, which are fashion being restricted to adornment, fashion as socially inconsequential, and fashion as aberrant and irrational. These deficiencies lead to a misunderstanding of how important fashion is in societal construction and behavior. The importance of fashion shows how society’s operate and how they change over time. Contemporary fashion is important in the sociological realm because it challenges assumptions yet also adheres to standards. Blumer discusses his first hand knowledge at Paris fashion shows in his study of fashion and clothing as representation of modern society. He says that fashion has different meaning for different people and creates an implicit understanding among those around them. Blumer talks about modernity and how fashion is always considered modern, because it always takes place at the moment and represents modern influences and ideas.