As society has progressed, fashion trends have changed over time and developed to define certain social classes, and various sub groups within society. We often do not realize the importance of our fashion trends among each sub culture, age range, demographic, etc.. though these trends speak volumes through self expression and symbolism. Over time, every single sub group and social class has evolved in their fashion sense which has led to certain styles of each decade.As history has evolved, each decade tends to have its own unique styles based on all the factors within the time frame. Lets see each type of apparel in depth and look at the details of the changes throughout each decade.
Beginning with different occupations, we have various styles with commonalities among them. An example would be with government occupations that often wear clothing that expresses authority with shoulder straps, badges, bold and serious colors and more. This can be seen in some government jobs where the clothing tends to show authority with badges, titles, and shoulder straps. Military and police have standard uniforms that express the same authority and consistency so that they can be easily identified by both civilians as well as fellow soldiers or service workers. Plumbers, electricians, contractors, construction workers and more, can be identified by their heavy clothing with company logos. White collar workers on the other hand tend to dress very professionally with suit and ties, collared shirts, nice shoes and nice jewelry. The industries that have white collared workers would be those of salesman, representatives of financial institutes, Expensive restaurants, or Office environments.
There are also fashion trends that exist among social classes and various sub groups that are often tied in with similarities such as music and mindset. Out of this variety of styles, there are all often grouped as one of the following: Tomboy, preppy, classic, chic, arty, bohemian, sexy, punk, goth.All fashion types can be categorized in these sub groups that each have their own distinct characteristics: Punk, Preppy, Traditional, Western, Sophisticated, gothic, sexy, punk, romantic. Many of these last few listed are actually grouped under the term "alternative clothing." Alternative clothing is very far from ordinary and can easily be set apart by even an untrained eye. Those of Emo, Gothic clothing, punk clothing, hip hop clothing, rocker clothing are all considered alternative apparel though they are different in their styles.
Let's examine each one in more detail, beginning with Punk clothing. With this sub group of punk, we see it initially gained momentum in the 1970's and had characteristics of non materialism and edginess. A lot of spandex, leopard print, leather, and strange combinations categories punk wear accurately. Gothic clothing derives from a subculture that has a morbid and dark sense that uses much black, dark eyeliner, and some punk characteristics.
The way a person dresses can give off cues to their interests and mindset because of all of the different characteristics within each subgroup. Taking all things into consideration, you can recognize much about the individual and which subgroup they belong to. It is very interesting how the mindset of a person can be understood based off commonalities within their dress to stereotype their subgroup.