To what extent does fashion drive individual self-expression versus conform to cultural expectations?

In the fashion world, consumers usually buy what’s trending or whatever they think is pretty. At plain sight a simple choice. In reality, this choice has a deeper background, as in fashion, there is a complex relationship between individual self-expression and cultural expectations, that varies depending on the context of the individual and its environment.

Within an individual it’s important to note the relevance of fashion in their life and the liberty with which they feel comfortable expressing their individuality through it. Most of the time, this sense of comfort and liberty comes from our environment that is directly tied with cultural expectations. The constraint these expectations may put on a person rely on the severness of a culture or society’s judegment for breaking the norm, as well as the personal fears of the individual. This as not everyone has the privilege of exercising their self-expression under safe conditions, and that not everyone has worked on getting out of their comfort zone and facing their fears.

Acknowledging how imposing following the fashion culture might be, it is true that it pushes self-expression, but it also has expectations and normalities on its own, apart from cultural expectations, although sometimes they go hand by hand. Generally speaking, the average expectations in the fashion industry are being skinny and pretty. Under these circumstances it now may seem right for a person to express themselves and their identity through garments, but not complying with these can make a individual gain the hatred of society. In a sense is it’s very hypocritical as the industry is technically saying that we can express ourselves, but under their conditions, taking away the freedom of expression.

In essence, the fashion industry drives people to self-expression, but under their own expectations and norms, and even under these some people aren’t able to express themselves for personal or societal reasons. This leads to an individual reflection of, what do we buy when buying clothes, cultural acceptance or self-expression?