EFFECTS OF FASHION: HOW IT CAUSES IT INSECURITIES

Effects of Fashion: How It Causes Insecurities

Jerrell Funtila

VCU

Focused Inquiry 112

Cates
EFFECTS OF FASHION: HOW IT CAUSES IT INSECURITIES 1

The media portrays to society their ideal image of the “perfect” human. In 2014

Victoria Secret launched a controversial campaign entitled “The Perfect Body” which

featured Victoria Secret models advertising their “Body” lingerie line. Similar images

and ads are distributed through various types of media such as, TV, the Internet, and

magazines; which give perceptions on how to look, how to talk, and what to wear to be

the ideal American. This affects women, men and typically teenagers, which may

pressure them to meet the expectations that the media sets for them. Young women often

begin to hate their image and wish they were skinnier, prettier, and just look better

because of the media. Young men wish they were more muscular, handsome, and taller.

The Fashion industry and models cause insecurities, which may lead to body

dissatisfaction amongst teenagers and young adults. Models have to constantly keep up

with their eating choices in order to maintain their body shapes so that they can fit into

tight clothing and look more appealing. Model, entrepreneur, and media host Summer

Rayne Oakes wrote on the fashion industry and body image on huffingtonpost.com. She

gave her insight on this issue through her experience as a model. Oakes stated that her

own personal views on body, mind, and spirit helped emphasize her current lifestyle. This

is how she became interested in the world of fashion. She would soon begin to realize in

the fashion industry, one is judged solely by the size of their bust, hips, and waist. She

stated that this is why the industry is such an easy target for body image issues. “One can

argue that the business has done very little to shed its unhealthy stigma. In 2006, the

international fashion community took reactive steps to safeguard against unhealthy body
EFFECTS OF FASHION: HOW IT CAUSES IT INSECURITIES 2

image (Oakes, 2013).”

This doesn’t just cause insecurities among women who want to be future models

but normal women as well. Models are advertised to young women as being perfect and it

affects young women’s self-esteem. Some women develop eating disorders and other

diseases such as anorexia in attempt to meet the body figures of some supermodels. Even

current models struggle with meeting the standards that is set by the fashion industry. The

media portrays being beautiful as being skinny, the skinnier you are the more pretty you

are. Former model Georgina Wilkin stated “My modeling career lasted for three years

and as a result, I’ve had anorexia for eight, and I’m still battling today (Georgina Wilkin,

2013).”

Body dissatisfaction is not a concern of only women but men as well. While

women tend to pressured into being slimmer, men may feel the need to be more

muscular. According to UCLA professors David A. Frederick, Martie G. Haselton, and

Daniel Fessler; “Men represented as prestigious in popular magazines are often lean and

muscular. For some men upward social comparisons between their own bodies and the

body types depicted in the media lead to body dissatisfaction and the desire for increased

muscularity (Frederick, Berezovskaya, Buchanan, Haselton, Lipinski, Peplau, Sadehgi-

Azar, 2007).” In a survey of 52677 visitors on a popular U.S. website 48% of men were

dissatisfied with their weight, 11% felt physically unattractive, and 16% avoided wearing

bathing suits in public because they felt insecure about their bodies.
EFFECTS OF FASHION: HOW IT CAUSES IT INSECURITIES 3

Along with the perceptions of what the ideal perfect body for a man and woman

are the clothes that they wear. Clothing affects behavior and has a major influence on

human psyche. Award winning Mertie Buckman Professor of Design, Kim K.P. Johnson,

and professor in the Department of Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design at Indiana

University, Sharron Lennon, have wrote about the psychology of dress that includes other

researchers data and conclusions. Two social psychologists, Bettina Hannover and Ulrich

Kühnen (2002), discovered that clothing styles influences self-descriptions because

certain clothing styles might be related to specific trait categories. In their research they

found out that participants described themselves in a way that were related to the way

that they were dressed (Johnson & Lennon, n.d.). In terms of self-expression someone’s

fashion preference is a reflection of who they are as a person. Although, since the media

and fashion industry have such a big influence on people, it is possible that they have a

stronghold on how people view themselves, which as a result may cause someone to

dislike or even to attempt to change their image or personality.

Teenagers develop insecurities when trying to fit into the “crowd” or attempting

to be accepted into certain groups or cliques, especially at school. Fashion is a big part of

how others perceive you and what you wear reflects characteristics and traits about

yourself. A teenage boy may think that he is not “cool” and in attempt to fit into that

category he may begin to change his image by wearing similar clothing to the popular

teenage boys at school. Teenage girls often face the same situation when desiring to be

more popular at school and/or fitting in with others. “Fashion can be the ticket into a
EFFECTS OF FASHION: HOW IT CAUSES IT INSECURITIES 4

certain group,'' says Gary Little, principal of Vancouver's Sir Charles Tupper Secondary

School, ``and some groups hold up mediocrity as the norm (Brady, 1993).'' Since fashion

is a huge part of how you are perceived and affects the impressions of others, changing

your style to be perceived as what you want to be perceived as, is common. An example

of this would be when attending a job interview; often you will be judged on what you

wear to a job interview thus you must dress appropriately to receive a job.

Fashion is a way of communication for humans. A person’s clothing and style can

tell you a lot about a person without even having a conversation with them. In 1990

researcher Mary Lnn Damhorst conducted an analysis of 109 impression formation

studies to determine the kind of information that was communicated by dress. In this

study she found that 81% of content of the information communicated by dress was

competence, power, or intelligence while 67% of the messages were about character,

sociability, and mood (Johnson & Lennon, n.d.). If someone wanted to show people or

simply express to others how they are feeling it can be done through different types of

clothing. For an example, if someone was at a store wearing sweatpants, slippers, and t-

shirt, it can be assumed that person is relaxed and in a calm mood. Many messages can be

passed to others through fashion.

Just like any other form of communication, there can be misunderstandings. In

fashion the misunderstandings would be referred to as the impressions of others, in

simpler terms the common expression, a judging a book by its cover. Dorothy Behling, a
EFFECTS OF FASHION: HOW IT CAUSES IT INSECURITIES 5

dress scholar and Elizabeth Williams, a high school teacher, conducted an experiment

that investigated impressions of intelligence and scholastic ability among high school

students and teachers. They showed people photographs of random male and female

student that were wearing either cutoff jeans and t-shirts or suits. The teachers and

students based their impressions on the students’ clothing style. Students wearing cutoff

jeans and t-shirts they were rated lower in intelligence and scholastic ability while the

other students that wore suits in the photographs were rated higher in intelligence and

scholastic ability (Johnson & Lennon, n.d.).

Fashion is apart of a teen’s lifestyle. Perceptions of fashion are constantly

evolving. Teenagers as a demographic are the most fashionable and are more involved in

society, media, and culture more than any other demographic group. This results in how

teenagers perceive fashion and also how fashion perceives the teen market. Fashion

affects how a teenager thinks and behaves. It influences their own style and views on

media and also society itself. Insecurities may develop amongst teenagers and young

adults since fashion has such a heavy influence on their lives. A teenager who believes

his/her clothes are out of style because of what he/she seen in the media or amongst their

friends and other teenagers may result in he/she changing their style in attempt to

confrom. Furthermore, the pressures of feeling the need to conform or the misconceptions

about themselves can cause body dissatisfaction eating disorders such as anorexia and

low self-esteem. This is a result in how the fashion industry constantly embeds images of

the ideal humans to people around the world, no matter how unrealistic it really is. The
EFFECTS OF FASHION: HOW IT CAUSES IT INSECURITIES 6

major fashion corporations and brands must stop advertising to the youth their idea of

beauty or norms. The media is responsible for some teenagers to hate their

image/themselves and wish that they were better looking in various aspects because of

what they see in magazines television, and social media.

If the fashion industry and modeling industry would stop advertising unrealistic

body images and conformities to the youth than there wouldn’t be as much judgment as

there is amongst young adults and teenagers. Overweight and thicker women would feel

better about their size instead of feeling the need to be skinnier and wouldn’t feel like

they were ugly. Even women who are reasonable weights and sizes still think they are

overweight and fat sometimes. Young men wouldn’t feel so ashamed of their skinny

bodies or their height. Teenagers would feel more secure about themselves instead of

hating their bodies and faces. Also, they would be able to wear whatever they want and

not be put into categories simply based on what they wear. The need and desire to

conform to the new hottest trends in order to look “cool” or become “popular” would no

longer cause people to feel insecure about themselves.

 Works Cited

Brady, Diane. "Kids, Clothes And Conformity." Maclean's 106.36 (1993): 44. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 3 Mar. 2016.

Frederick, D. A., Sadegh-Azar, L., Haselton, M. G., Buchanan, G. M., Peplau, L. A.,
Berezovskaya, A., & Lipinski, R. E. (2007). Desiring the Muscular Ideal: Men’s Body
Satisfaction in the United States, Ukraine, and Ghana. American Psychological
Association. Retrieved April 29, 2016.

Johnson, K. K., & Lennon, S. (n.d.). The Social Psychology of Dress. Retrieved March
28, 2016, from
http://www.bergfashionlibrary.com/page/The$0020Social$0020Psychology$0020of$002
0Dress/the-social-psychology-of-dress

Oakes, S. (2013, July 21). The Skinny of Fashion’s Body-Image Issue. Retrieved April
15, 2016, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/summer-rayne-oakes/the-skinny-of-
fashions-body-image-issue_b_3308004.html

Wilkin, G. (2013, September 20). Former model: 'What young girls can learn from my
anorexia' Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-
life/10323519/Former-model-What-young-girls-can-learn-from-my-anorexia.html