Fashionista Alert

In the 12th chapter of Understanding Media - The Extensions of Man, by Marshall McLuhan, McLuhan indicates that clothing is an extension of our skin, just like how the wheel is an extension of our feet, the Internet is an extension of our nervous system, and the camera is an extension of the eye. It is not not a strange thing to wake up every morning and choose appropriate articles of clothing to wear, based on mother nature's choice of weather that day, or based on the visual aspects of appearance. Clothing always seems to divided into categories of aristocracy. A rich man will wear clothing that is beyond the affordable price of a middle-class man. Even though there are these boundaries, it is certain that clothing can be afforded by anybody, and even the way you wear clothes can make you look more upper-class than you are.

I am infatuated with the fashion industry. It's impossible to focus only on one aspect of fashion because all this different media collaborates to make one giant industry. Photographers, designers, journalists, stylists. All aspects of fashion represent the choices I make in my daily life. Seeing a model on television or in a magazine looking fantastic in Oscar De La Renta, or Dior, or what have you, actually influences me to make alterations on my own appearance. Media has persuaded me to include fashion in my daily routines. There are endless options to the way I can express myself because fashion is continuously changing. I know that what I read in magazines and what I see on television is accurate because every new fashion idea is filtered through professionals before being published or sold. Fashion allows my life to be mediated on a daily basis. I wake up, I choose my clothes, my accessories, my purses, my make-up all based on how I feel that day, or how the weather is. Even while out shopping, I pay close attention to advertisements. Certain people they choose for ads, and certain colours and fonts that are used for the ads influence me, and I realize that this is how they get my money, and in no way do I feel that they are stealing, because lots of thought and effort goes into selling that product. This is why I am a slave to fashion.
Ive noticed that some of the clothing that designers create, can't even realistically be worn in every day situations such as these two pieces created by designer Gareth Pugh.Realistically, I would not wear these outfits to my sister's baby shower or to my office job, but I still respect every detail. Media still allows designers to express their ideas through creativity, no matter how bizarre they might look.

How does all of this define me as a person? Because I am already participating in the world of fashion by expressing my appearance with certain clothing and accessories, and it's not even something that I need to really think about. I like to believe that is how my every day life is mediated. I would love to one day be an actual puzzle piece of the fashion industry: A fashion photographer, so I too can take photographs that will persuade others to be glamorous victims of fashion.