”Popular culture is made by the people, not produced by the culture industry” (Fiske, 1989).
Popular culture or mass culture floods urban environments in both the digital and physical sense. It is the defining elements of a subculture, as it is unique to the likeness and preferences of individuals in a located society. Storey (2015, pp. 5-12) defines pop culture in his work as, ‘Authentic culture of the people’ and it remains to be exactly that. With that in mind, a significant pop culture in society loved by many (including myself) is fashion!
Fashion is a practical means of self expression and outward projecting individuality, it can be tailored (literally and figuratively) to the likes and needs of each person wearing it. Clothing is worn by every single person in the world, regardless if they take it seriously enough to use it as outlet of creativity and passion or wear it because covering up certain parts of your is an expectation of society. This means it is not only incredibly popular either way but is considered popular culture by the love of so many peoples ability to make it their own.
Fashion is incredible because it can be both practical and powerful. For many, the feeling of opening your closet doors each morning and being able to choose how you want to present yourself to the world that day and look amazing doing it, is a high like no other. Each clothing item worn has a purpose and is significant individually to you, there is a reason you chose to wear those jeans instead of that skirt, it may simply be that its windy outside and you don't want to have to spend all day worrying about flashing your entire neighbourhood; or it may be because those jeans make you feel amazing, beautiful and comfortable. They could be the jeans you wore on your first date with the boy you're going to marry or the same ones you wore out with your best friend on a night you'll never forget. People don't just like fashion for the clothes - okay some people might, BUT people love it for the feeling they get of looking and feeling amazing. And because of this, fashion is without a doubt a highly adored popular culture medium in the world.
Fashion in Popular culture, 2013, states, "our clothing communicates who we are and how we relate to our culture."
This book written by J Hancock, T Johnson-Woods and V Karaminas, breaks down explicitly the purpose and means of fashion as a popular culture and only further emphasises what i was saying above. Fashion is a multifaceted outlet; it is a whirlwind of colours and patterns, fabrics and styles, available to any and all. It is considered a popular culture because it accommodates for every single individual in the world, the ability of clothing to fit every persons' body in a flattering sense and obvious lack of discrimination towards individuals wearing it, makes it an amazing outlet that truly is about the people. Individuals are able to look, be and feel amazing and it's all personalised to their individuality and style, there is truly nothing to not love about it.
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