Fashion dictates styles with no objective, aesthetic, or practical justification.

Evidence

Fashion is merely a product of social demands, even though the individual object which it creates or recreates may represent a more or less individual need. This is clearly proved by the fact that very frequently not the slightest reason can be found for the creations of fashion from the standpoint of an objective, aesthetic, or other expediency. While in general our wearing apparel is really adapted to our needs, there is not a trace of expediency in the method by which fashion dictates, for example, whether wide or narrow trousers, colored or black scarfs shall be worn. As a rule the material justification for an action coincides with its general adoption, but in the case of fashion there is a complete separation of the two elements, and there remains for the individual only this general acceptance as the deciding motive to appropriate it. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 715

Categorization

• XREF: Directly feeds the essay’s framing of urban-adapted moderns who internalize form over substantive meaning—parallels the blasé attitude’s indifference to content. — connects to: Classic forms resist fashion because they lack points of attack for change — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 745; Fashion substitutes for class and profession as a source of individual differentiation. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 732; Class-rule consciousness is mutilated and no valid aesthetic standard. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 495
• SHARE: Great close-read detail for the student working on Simmel. Zips directly to the claim that fashion’s motive is purely formal/social.

Related

• Fashion substitutes for class and profession as a source of individual differentiation. (similarity 0.85)
• Opposing fashion is itself a form of conforming (similarity 0.84)
• Fashion arose to reconcile individual identity with mass-produced industrial aesthetics (similarity 0.84)
• Fashion is abandoned by a class once it diffuses to other classes (similarity 0.83)
• Fashion requires both the impulse to union and to isolation (similarity 0.83)
• The weakening of permanent convictions drives modern consciousness toward fashion (similarity 0.82)
• Fashion goods resist the rationalization that transforms other production (similarity 0.82)
• Classic forms resist fashion because they lack points of attack for change (similarity 0.81)
• Emancipated women signal status through indifference to fashion. (similarity 0.81)
• Rapid fashion change signals nervous exhaustion in an era (similarity 0.81)
• Dress regulations and political strategy made even ‘straight’ appearance misleading (similarity 0.80)
• Fashion heightens the felt presence of the present moment (similarity 0.80)
• Fashion diffusion works through upper-class innovation followed by lower-class imitation and upper-class retreat (similarity 0.80)
• Style lets particular individuals imprint what they express onto the universal (similarity 0.80)
• Fashion recurs cyclically because old forms regain the charm of difference once forgotten (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Classic forms resist fashion because they lack points of attack for change #expands (0.70) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 745
• Fashion substitutes for class and profession as a source of individual differentiation. #expands (0.60) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 732