The term “fashion” refers to a variety of related ideas, not always clear cut. Most commonly, fashion is used to refer to the visual culture, which includes designs and modes of dress seen in various media, including fashion, movies, and popular culture. Fashion is also a form of autonomy and self-expression in a given time and venue and at a given context, with regard to clothing, footwear, jewelry, hair, makeup, body language, accessories, hairstyles, and social behavior. Within its broader usage, the word also indicates a perceived look stereotyped by the fashion industry as what is popular at the moment. But even within this broad usage, there are many subcategories, such as high fashion and low fashion, evening wear, sportswear, casual wear, and lingerie.
The majority of individuals and fashion lovers know the difference between high fashion and low fashion. High fashion generally refers to any garment, accessory, or article of clothing intended for the mature market, intended for casual wear or daily wear. Often made from expensive materials, high fashion articles of clothing are worn by celebrities and fashion icons. Fashion houses produce a number of print magazines and catalogues, in order to satisfy the growing demand of the public, who increasingly patronize websites like eBay and Amazon in order to purchase these items.
One of the fastest growing industries in the field of fashion is fast fashion. This is an offshoot of the traditional fashion industry, and it uses a different set of ideas and principles. Fast fashion generally refers to online retail stores that sell clothes, shoes, accessories and fragrances, in a relatively short period of time. A major advantage of fast fashion is the ability to source products and merchandise on a global scale, without having to travel or communicate with the manufacturer or retailer. Many people are now buying clothing and accessories on the internet, as it allows them to do research and purchase the items from any country around the world. Many retailers that specialize in fast fashion are also experiencing strong growth rates, as people are now using the internet to purchase all kinds of items, from books, shoes to clothing.