What is the social construction of reality? How can you apply this concept to fashion trends?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers will vary but should include that the social construction of reality relates to the concepts of agency and structure. People at the agency end of the continuum are seen as creating social reality (macro-level phenomena) through their thoughts and actions. That reality then comes to have a life of its own. The structure is partly or wholly separate from the people who created it and exist in it. Once macro phenomena have lives of their own, they constrain and control what people do. Once the fashion world comes into existence, that world has a great deal of influence over the social constructions, especially the tastes, of individuals who purchase the fashions it produces. Famous fashion houses such as Dior dominate the industry and perpetuate their existence through continual fashion changes. These companies and "fast-fashion" companies that copy and mass produce their products (e.g., Forever 21 and H&M) control people's tastes in fashion and thereby the nature of the clothing they buy and wear. Many people have their own sense of fashion and create their own way of dressing, while others ignore fashion altogether. Of greatest importance from this perspective is the idea that what is "in fashion" comes not from the fashion industry but rather from the different ways people put together fashion themselves. These people, in a sense, construct their own social reality.