Ako’y naniniwala na ang bawat indibidwal ay may kani-kaniyang istilo at pamamaraan kung papaano dadalhin ang sarili sa pamamagitan ng kanilang mga damit at ng mga palamuting ilalagay nila sa kanilang katawan. Ngunit mayroon mang iisang pinanggagalingan ang istilong ito, ang impluwensya ng makabagong teknolohiya ang makapagdidikta kung ano ang maganda, uso at patok sa lipunan. Ito ang nagiging instrumento upang maihayag sa kamalayan ng tao ang maganda at pangit na fashion. Mag-aambag ito ng matindi at kapakipakinabang na konsepto sa kung ano ang nararapat at hindi nararapat sa isang partikular na panahon. Kaya nasa sa atin kung papaano ba natin dadalhin ang ating sarili at kung papaano ba natin tatanggapin ang iminumungkahi at inihaharap sa atin ng midya.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Epekto ng Midya sa “fashion trends”
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Uniform and Society
Living in a society with numerous businesses and schools, uniforms play a vital role in organizing and identifying the groups people belong to. But when can the uniform be an object of judgment or simply be unnecessary? The more privileged were able to go to school and that's probably where most people first experienced wearing a uniform. As kids, they probably didn't mind what they were wearing.
But as people grow older -- like when they step onto high school -- they encounter people who judge them negatively because they go to a school where other people think they're not getting a good education and in wearing their school's uniform, "namamaliit sila."
I am not saying that these schools should remove uniforms because of this reason, because this might show embarrassment towards a certain school. But having uniforms may also be considered a good thing. You can be identified easily and you can avoid hazardous situations like being prohibited to be in places that are not safe for you.
When we reach the point in our lives where we have to work, the presence of unifoms are still there. Some workplaces require a certain attire for their workmen, mostly for safety issues. Some go with semi-formal clothing. People judge professions by how the employees look; the guy in the suit looks more professional, more successful than someone wearing a shirt with a company logo on the back.
Although that is not always the case since some jobs require proper uniforms for the workers to be more efficient; for example, workers in construction sites or soldiers in the battlefield. All in all, I think that uniforms should be trimmed down to the identification card. For me, that is the most important part of the uniform, and is the single most important part of it. Uniforms in some areas of business can't be argued, though because it's required in the field. Firefighters without uniforms, can't have that, now, can we?
The UP fashion scene
by Edgar Felizmenio
Come as you are - UP fashion has always been described by those four words. The University of the Philippines has always been known for its unique culture and the extremely diverse blend in the members of the student population. The university is known for the freedom that it gives to its students regarding all aspects of life, from the subjects they take, to the organizations they join, to the time they choose to go to class, and ultimately, to what they wear to school.
Fashion in UP is a challenge because there is no uniform in the university, hence everyone is allowed to come in whichever preferred pieces of clothing. It is a popular notion that UP students tend to go the extreme and be as eccentric as they can be in fashion, and that holds true to some extent.
Fashion scene? It is observed that real fashion scenes exist on colleges that are inclined towards the arts, like the College of Fine Arts, College of Arts and Letters, and the College of Mass Communication. The students in these colleges are stereotypically (and generally) more creative than the rest of the student population, and the way they dress serves as evidence. These students have better artistic eyes, and it is easier for them to see whether a piece of clothing would look good with something else or not. It is easier for them to wear eccentric clothing, because these are people who generally have higher tolerance for exploration and have low regards for convention (which could be explained by the courses they take, partly).
There are fashion scenes in the CBA-Econ end of the Academic Oval as well. The College of Business Administration and the School of Economics are colleges which are clichéd as the rich colleges. The students here generally belong to the higher socio-economic edge of the social spectrum, hence giving them the money to spend for fashion. They are known to be the more “sosyal” component of the population, and so I rest the case.
It is a little uninteresting to note that as for the other colleges, there isn’t really a “fashion scene”. Most of the UP students are defined by maong jeans, and it is ironic that although UP does not require a uniform, jeans seem to be taking over.
Why maong jeans? Maong jeans are your reliable fashion friends. They are comfortable and can be worn with anything else. It is only in UP where you always see students who always wear their UP shirts and org shirts and their jeans, paired with the most comfortable footwear, rubber slippers.
This doesn’t mean to say that the way one would dress up is dictated by his college or course. Of course not. It is possible that the culture in one’s college affects one’s way of thinking, although it is also a possibility that one’s way of thinking is actually the one that affected choice in course or college. Whichever the case is, the point is some colleges happen to exude a certain style that adds to their overall image as a college.
In general however, there is a common ground for all UP students, whether they live in style or not. UP fashion is all about comfort, and subjective as it is, comfort varies for everyone. If comfort for you is to wear your dirtiest look or your most glamorous attire, as long as it’s comfortable, UP embraces that. The atmosphere in UP is so laidback and relaxed that students are able to wear whatever they want at whatever day they choose. This is why the pambahay look is so popular – it provides comfort at all times.
So, who sets the trend?
“Who” wears “what” really matters in the fashion world. Even in the world before, the discrepancy between social statuses is quite highlighted, that is, the ones below look up to the ones above them in the social hierarchy. The tendency now for the mass is to copy or imitate the fashion of those people they look up to, thus giving the “high society”, that is, the prominent people in the society, a right to set the trend in the fashion world. “What you wear defines what you are”. This is the rationality behind every fashion. Essentially, whatever a person wears establishes an implicit definition about that particular person.
Nowadays, the television (or any other type of media) is very influential already, so much as to partake in every detail of human life—including the clothes we wear. Televisions, magazines, etc. now serve as the quintessence of fashion, for it is where the newest and the latest trends are brought into being. The role of celebrities now comes into the picture; they don’t merely give entertainment and information, but they also provide standards and set the latest trends in fashion. What they wear is what’s considered “in” the fashion, especially those worn by the more famous ones including the commercial models and ads. People nowadays also engage to the works of famous designers.
The media also shows the current trends in fashion in other ways than using celebrities. The existence of the “emo” look now is so rampant, which is also currently the most popular theme nowadays. There is also the “punk” look, which existed way earlier than the “Emo” look. This particular type of fashion mainly rooted from the emergence of famous artists including musical bands famous boy bands, etc .
