ESSAY ON MODERN FASHIONS IN ENGLISH : Fashion refers to the prevailing custom that is followed, in one's clothes, behavior etc. Certain usages in society also come within the definition of fashion. We have to follow the fashion, lest we should be looked as with suspicion. All the same, such fashions as are harmful must be shunned. We have in mind particularly drug-addiction, drinking and smoking.
ESSAY ON MODERN FASHIONS IN ENGLISH
Fashion refers to the prevailing custom that is followed, in one's clothes, behavior etc. Certain usages in society also come within the definition of fashion. We have to follow the fashion, lest we should be looked as with suspicion. All the same, such fashions as are harmful must be shunned. We have in mind particularly drug-addiction, drinking and smoking.
In the West it is against fashion to enter a room with one’s hat on or to offer hand-shake wearing gloves. A man should not sit when a woman is standing. It will be unlucky if thirteen persons sit for a party. This is due to fear of the number thirteen.
In our dealings with others we have to observe etiquette. 'Excuse' is used as an advance apology for troubling somebody, as when passing in front of him or interrupting his conversation or when putting a question to a stranger. Pardon' is the polite way of asking somebody to repeat what he has said. In our country it has become fashionable to ask personal questions. But such questions show impoliteness in countries like England. We should also avoid staring at others.
Seeing the cinema has become a fashion. If a young man does not go to the cinema, he is considered as one lacking in artistic taste. But most of the young men who usually go to the cinema do not realize the great harm that they do to themselves. They may become discourteous to the fair sex. A few may even become criminals and drunkards.
No marriage is now complete without loud-speakers. Cinema songs are belched through them causing great inconveniences to the students and others in the neighborhood. Sound pollution is harmful to the ears, increases blood pressure and muscular tension, according to Dr. Justus J. Schifferes of the United States.
Fashion fad sweeps everywhere. The half sari or the long skirt is now out and the Salwar Kameez has made remarkable inroad recently. This outfit has slowly and steadily become very popular with the younger generations of the gentle sex especially those in the age-group of twelve to fifteen. College students prefer it, as it is comfortable, modest, and economical and facilitates mobility.
By 1950's jeans had become the staple play clothes of the children in the West and tanagers were battling with parents and teachers to be allowed to wear jeans to school. Gradually jeans itself became a symbol of defiance against authority oppression. Suddenly fashion discovered blue jeans. Shops bloomed with the blue jeans for the young and the old. Now the craze for this apparel has become very great in the west.
In some nations like the United States baby shower has become a fashion. An expectant mother sits in a chair. She is embellished. A number of gifts such as dresses, cosmetics, toys etc. are given to the woman for the use for her baby. The women who attend this function wish the pregnant woman a safe parturition. Men are not allowed to attend this function.
Now everyone wants to look elegant. Nobody likes to be called ugly or dowdy or old. Large amounts of money are spent on cosmetics and hair-dyes. The American women spend about three million pounds a week on cosmetics. Now-a-days many girls and women living in our cities and towns go to Beauty Parlors to get their pimples, scars etc. removed and to enhance their beauty. They are also fond of lip-stick and nail-polish.
The people of the present generation are very much conscious of the necessity of being beautiful. But we must remember 'Beauty is but skin deep’. According to Aldous huxley real beauty is as much an affair of the inner as of the outer self.
COMMENTS