Fashion, Style & Popular Culture - Volume 12, Issue 3, 2025

Research shows that clothing style can influence self-perception, cognition and behaviour. However, the concept of personal clothing style and how it is linked to self-concept from an individual and subjective perspective of the wearer has received limited empirical attention. This qualitative study aimed to explore women’s lived experiences and perceptions of personal clothing style. Using a homogeneous sample of seven female participants, data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis revealed that personal clothing style constitutes an embodiment of the true self, representation of the ideal self and expression of the creative self. More specifically, personal clothing style is predicated on self-knowledge, consistency and enduring sense of comfort. It is also perceived to actualize desired self-conceptions and one’s creative potential. Findings not only provide an empirically founded conceptualization of personal clothing style, but also identify its important psychological properties with implications for both psychology and fashion research.

This article presents a whistle-stop tour through fashion history from Marlene Dietrich to Conchita Wurst and beyond, illustrating the complex iconicity of ‘naked’ dresses, also referred to as ‘nude illusion’ dresses. It interrogates notions of selfhood and performativity in relation to gender and celebrity. The article utilizes the embellished costumes made by Jean Louis for Marlene Dietrich as a starting point to explore the recurring image of a celebrity clad seemingly in nothing but rhinestones, sequins or similar embellishments. By providing an overview of notable instances of such ‘naked’ dresses, the article explores the accumulation of meaning through historical reference points ranging from the 1950s to the 2020s. In particular, it analyses images of femininity and desirability as evoked through these particular garments. The seeming exposure of the desirable body is set in relation to the careful construction of the image which brings together vulnerability and apparent truthfulness through the specific nature of the garment. The article explores how seemingly ‘baring it all’ is a carefully orchestrated performance with a long history and subversive potential.

This work presents a thesis on how fashion might reorganize and redefine its cultural presence and relevance by shifting its focus from material progress, expansion and profit to a re-emphasis on the more sacred principles that the author believes once defined its purpose. This discussion is particularly pertinent given the youth’s increasing cynicism with fashion as a capitalist concept and their disenchantment with the fashion system for its transparent commercial, superficial and socially irresponsible ethos. This research is in effect, presented as a retrospective and focuses on a particular era which for the author, represents an important, and final cultural moment where arguably fashion was oriented and underpinned by sacred principles. The cultural context to be explored is the 1990s. Within this context, three cultural moments (and intermediaries) are identified, each presented as a short case to illustrate the orienting presence of sacred principles within fashion at this time. It is felt that by reflecting on and analysing these contexts, similar principles can be reworked and reconfigured to address fashion’s current cultural malaise.

Obvious evidence does not exist linking the Italian Futurists’ conception of men’s fashion in the 1910s and 1920s with the tastes of the Mod subculture in London of the 1950s and 1960s. Yet the aesthetic behind both Futurist fashion and the Mod subculture is strikingly similar and suggests that ideas on style and lifestyle can cross-pollinate each other across decades and countries, given the right circumstances. Both Futurists and Mods wanted to be, as Giacomo Balla put it in a 1913 manifesto, ‘Dynamic/Aggressive/Shocking/Energetic/Violent … [with] Pattern changes […] available by pneumatic dispatch; in this way anyone may change his clothes according to the needs of mood’. London’s Mod subculture came from a directly coincident desire to abandon traditional aesthetics and methods of expression in favour of a constant turnover. The Futurists promoted an artistic movement as a lifestyle, declared in manifestos and acted out in the streets and in politics and that bled into fashion as a manifestation of their ideas, worn literally on their sleeves. The Mods promoted a lifestyle as an art, acted out on the streets, with fashion as the manifestation of their individuality, brought down to the level of the tapering of their pants legs. In both cases, the expression of their lifestyle and values was consciously manifested in the clothes one wore on an everyday basis and connected through the talents of Italian tailors for quick, inexpensive alterations. The similarity suggests an association between Futurism and the Mod subculture, in the appeal of Italian men’s fashion to both groups and demonstrating that certain avant-garde ideals in western art had filtered to the level of the average person over the course of five decades.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a crisis that has affected various aspects of life, including the consciousness of consumers in the fashion market. This article studies the synergies between the pandemic crisis and behaviour of consumers towards Ukrainian high fashion brands. The research aims to study the issue of the impact of the global pandemic crisis on such market segments as Ukrainian high fashion brands, reveal key drivers of consumers of these brands during the unstable economic situation and define the main models of promotion of designers’ brands. Uniqueness, materialism and the influence of a social group are considered three primary motivators for the consumption of Ukrainian high fashion brands. The authors of this article identified the modern hybrid model for promoting brands of Ukrainian designers as a set of communication tools that would restore the interest of the consumers.

This article explores the evolution and diverse interpretations of ‘design’ throughout history, emphasizing its broader implications beyond mere aesthetics. Initially a verb in the English language during the 1500s, design encompasses a range of activities from thought and planning to the creation and execution of artefacts. The work challenges narrow perceptions, highlighting design’s role across various domains as identified by Terence Love, who views it as a set of instructions for realization. The discourse extends to the discipline of design, asserting that all human activity inherently involves design, thus blurring the distinctions between design and daily life. The article also delves into fashion design, tracing its historical significance and the transition from individual craftsmanship to mass production, and the subsequent rise of different fashion genres. Additionally, the relationship between design and style is scrutinized, noting the influence of societal and cultural factors on fashion. The article concludes with an examination of aesthetics in design, underscoring the essential balance between functionality and visual appeal in successful design outcomes.

This research provides a framework of factors determining clothing interest and subsequent purchase motivation of Generation Z consumers in India. The predictors of young consumers’ clothing interest are uniqueness, self-concept, brand image, word of mouth and perceived quality, with price consciousness moderating the interaction between clothing interest and purchase intention. The study employed structural equation modelling to analyse data collected via a self-administered questionnaire from 211 consumers across India aged 18–24. The resultant model established the role of uniqueness, self-concept and brand image as significant predictors of clothing interest, which influenced consumers’ purchase intention positively. Both word of mouth and perceived quality have a low impact on the fashion clothing consumption of young consumers. The moderating role of price consciousness was also not established indicating that young consumers would go ahead with their clothing purchase if they develop an interest in it, regardless of the price. As the results confirmed the role of uniqueness, self-concept and brand image on clothing interest, which in turn influence consumers’ purchase motivation, this study throws significant insight on factors, which determine young consumers’ clothing interest. The research will hence enable clothing brands to develop strategies, which fit the young consumers’ values and appeal to their aspirational lifestyle, influencing their purchase motivation and brand loyalty in return.