Fashion

Are women more fashion conscious than men?

Fashion is the prevailing consensus in a society about the art of dressing up and grooming oneself and the manner of carrying oneself in a social and civic setting. It is often manifested in the clothes one wears and the accessories that inevitably accompany it. It is the art of first, and foremost, dressing up and presenting in society as an act of courtesy, civility, and decency, which sets human beings apart from lower animals. Although there has never been homogeneity and universality in the prevailing trends in fashion across different cultures, almost every country and every society has had its distinctive fashion statement to offer. Multibillion-dollar fashion and modeling industries have grown up in their wake. Like any industry, this has also been fuelled by inexhaustible demand. The answer to the question as to who has driven this demand will give an indication of the central theme of this essay about who is the most fashion conscious.
Historically, it has always been the privileged classes that have fueled the demand for fashion. In pre-republican times the royal families and the aristocrats and later the upper middle classes that have been the trendsetters in fashion standards in societies across the globe. But within these classes probably few will disagree with the assertion that the torchbearers of changing fashion have been more women than men. Since time immemorial women have been described as the fairer sex: the more beautiful one. It has been this more beautiful of sexes who has always personified fashion. Helen of Troy, Cleopatra and modern day Aphrodites of Hollywood have been both the subject and the object of fashion. Clearly this has been so because they are more fashion conscious. It is ironic that the more beautiful of the sexes have been at greater pains to enhance their beauty and retain it. Beauty and fashion has always had a feminine face.
The fashion industry is a multibillion-dollar industry that thrives on the beauty of women. Beautiful women have always been an aphrodisiac for the fashion industry although most fashion designers have been men like Versace, Armani, and Pierre Cardin etc. There have been more designer clothes, more accessories like bags, shoes etc., for women than for men. There are always more cosmetics and perfumes for women than for men. Women bring more revenue to the fashion industry than men and therefore women models have always been the cynosure of the ogling eyes of the fashion industry while men have always been at the backstage.
This is not to say that men are not conscious of fashion. In fact these days the number of male models have been increasing also. However, in terms of numbers, it would probably be right to say that there are more badly dressed dowdy looking men moving around the streets than women in most societies. The inescapable conclusion therefore once again is that women are the more fashion conscious.