The Origins of Fashion

I have two possible theories about the origin of fashion. One is "the accident theory." Someone dresses up different one day, for no particular reason. Maybe they tilted their hat sideways to block the sun. Maybe they wore their pajamas outside the house because they had no clean clothes (or their friends dared them to). They get noticed by some others when they go out, and those others think, "Look at them! I want to wear that cutting edge fashion, too." The others copy, or adapt the accidental ensemble, and then it spreads. After enough people do it, it becomes noted in a magazine and it is now a "trend," or a "craze," or "fashion."

Theory #2 is the "I gotta be me" approach. Someone with a strong, independent, non-conformist attitude purposely tries something new - mostly to stand out. They like to be noticed, and like to be different. The same thing described above happens: they get noticed, and they get copied.

The reality is, maybe fashion is caused by a combination of these two theories. But, I'm still happy with the jeans and t-shirt style so I'm probably not the best authority on this subject. :)