Fashion in China and Japan

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the evolvement of fashion trends throughout history have come to mean more than merely a choice of dress and style for its own sake. Rather, they reflect the evolution of culture and national identification. The impetus of fashion is an integral part of cultural studies, semiotics, sociology and history. The author points out that, in contrast to the fashion uniformity prevalent during the Cultural Revolution as a mandatory symbol of national identity and cultural commonality, more modern styles were introduced to represent a new found freedom in social and political life. The paper relates that the ideals of citizenship and expected cultural and national standards is reflected in Japan in the uniforms that children wear to school.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Cultural Construction
Fashion and Culture in China and Japan
The Shaping of National Identity

From the Paper:

"Possibly one of the most obvious examples of the connection of fashion and the cultural construction of reality is the fashion or dress code that was dominant during the Chinese Maoist Cultural Revolution. Studies and reports of China during the late years of Maoist influence between 1949 and 1976 remark on the congruity between the style and fashion in clothing of the time and the communist doctrine of equality for all. The impression of China in those years was that it was a poor, fairly undeveloped country despite its glorious past."

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