Bondage - inspired fashion

Bondage Inspired Fashion
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Introduction
Fashion is one of the most dynamic aspects of the human race. Fashion keeps changing with time depending on the preferences and trends in society. Bondage inspired fashion is a concept that was begun a couple of years back and which has become popular over time (The Market, 2013). It is a concept that seeks to pick of the certain salient features from various previously developed fashion concepts and merge them into fashionable concepts. This has been done through clothing, shoes and jewelry. This research paper seeks to establish the psychological factors behind bondage inspired fashion. In addition, the discussion will explore the various ways in which bondage inspired fashion affects different individuals. The discussion shall also establish some of the reasons why people prefer specific bondage inspired items. Other areas of focus in the discussion are some of the materials written on the topic by other authors in the past.
Research Goals
The goal of this research is to establish what factors inform bondage inspired fashion. Bondage inspired fashion has drawn a lot of controversy especially from conservative societies. It has been described as provotacive and indecent. Many view this type of fashion as one that lacks decorum and one that seeks to encourage indecency in the society. This research paper therefore seeks to establish, the kind of inspiration that would see people draw fashion from such an angle. The second goal is to establish the extent of the inspiration and what they hope to achieve by using bondage inspired materials. It will also be important to understand what drives the buyers of such items to go for them. Despite the concept being fairly new, it has already gained popularity the world over. This discussion will seek to establish what is in bondage-inspired fashion that draws such a huge following.
Bondage inspired fashion, despite its popularity stirs a lot of controversy. Also known as fetish fashion, bondage inspired fashion appears to be gaining popularity and controversy in equal measure. It is concept that is fairly new yet the numbers of people who ascribe to it keep growing by the day. On the other hand there seems to be an increase in the number of people who criticize this kind of fashion.
It will however be crucial to understand the psychological factors that drive people to embrace such a foreign concept. It will also be important to understand and explore the future of this concept. The research will establish whether the concept is likely to grow or will diminish with time. The discussion herein will also look at ways in which one can embrace bondage-inspired fashion without necessarily eliciting negative emotions.
Choice of Topic
The main reason as to why I chose this topic for my research is to establish the controversy surrounding the topic. There appears to be a major misunderstanding among people. For many people in the society bondage inspired fashion is a representation of obscenity. As such, they feel that it should not be encouraged as it contributes to moral decadency in the society. The topic is of crucial importance especially because the fashion industry has broadened. It is therefore important to establish how bondage inspired fashion can fit into the mainstream fashion industry. It is also crucial that people are well informed of the concept behind bondage-inspired fashion. The diversity of the fashion field brings with it controversy and ambiguity. The fashion industry is also dynamic, making styles and trends change very quickly. As a result, this research is intended to bring clarity on some of the contentious issues surrounding bondage-inspired fashion.
Definition of Terms
Fashion- This is any popular style in clothing, shoes or a way of doing things. It is what is considered trendy and appealing to the majority of people at any given time. Fashion changes with time and it also repeats itself from time to time.
Bondage- This refers to joining or bringing together. A bond implies an element of two or more items that have been put together to form one item. Bondage in this case refers to merging of various fashion concepts to come up with one main concept.
Inspiration-Any motivation or encouragement to do something. For example, bondage inspired fashion has been inspired by some previous fashion concepts. People in the fashion industry who come up with these trends have therefore been encouraged by trends of that period.
Psychological Factors- These are innate aspects that are determined by the genetic makeup of a person. It is due to psychological factors that people end up behaving differently. Psychological factors are partly determined by genetic makeup and partly the environment of an individual. These factors inform individual, behavior, attitudes and beliefs.
Conceptual/ Theoretical References
There are various authors who have written extensively on the topic of bondage inspired fashion. A majority of them have attempted to extenuate or broaden the understanding of the concept. According to the observation of many authors, majority of big designers all over the world now carry bondage-inspired designers in their lines. This could only be interpreted to mean that this style is increasingly becoming popular as more people embrace it. Usually, for the well-established designers to carry a certain line of cloth, they normally undertake research first. This is so as to establish the extent of popularity of the design (Vigilant- Fashionista, 2013). If a design is found to be highly popular, it is only then that they agree to carry that particular design on their line.
There are certain designers who are now moving from just carrying the fashion-inspired styles on their lines, to fully specializing in these designs. Gianni Versace is one of the designers that have made a significant contribution in the popularization of bondage-inspired fashion. The first item the Versace ever brought on board that was bondage inspired was a dress. Initially, the dress brought about a lot of controversy as a majority of people could not understand the reason. With time however, this piece of clothing would be the inspiration for which other lead designers would follow suit. Vivienne Westwood and Herve Leger have also made significant contributions to bondage-inspired fashion.
Wolfendale and Kennet (2011) note that one of the main reasons why bondage inspired fashion is controversial is because of the kind of designs it embraces. Majority of those designs are seen to promote promiscuity and indecency thereby stirring controversy in a largely conservative society. Craik (2009) is however quick to dispel the misconception arguing that bondage inspired fashion attempts to combine various fashion designs into one. He notes that more often fetish designs are confused fro costumes. This is because majority of those who have embraced bondage inspired fashion are artists. He, however, is quick to correct the notion and says that bondage inspired fashion is not a costume. It falls within the category of ordinary clothes. According to the author, these designs c...