Fashion Is a Form of Collective Behavior Only the Strongest

Fashion is a form of collective behavior only the strongest among us ignore. What force makes you wear your pants practically around your knees? If this fashion is a social pattern that reflects the interests, values, and motives of a segment of society at a certain point in time, can you identify that segment of society? Is that segment of society your reference group? Why or why not? An interesting research project would be to trace the development of an item of clothing--men's trousers, for instance--for about one thousand years, and see what interests, values, and motives we can deduce from each change in fashion.