Does Social Media dictate Fashion?

Fashion and Social media

If you are reading this now, you are probably a blogger. As a fashion blogger I can guarantee that you will empathise with almost everything I say in this post.

  
Social Media

 As a society we are totally obsessed with social media. We cannot escape it. Our trusty smart phones comes with us everywhere! No one can deny it. Imagine now, leaving the house for the entire day and forgetting your phone? Are you filled with anxiety yet? Go on, think about it a little more…are you clutching your phone praying that such a thing will never happen? OK, maybe I am exaggerating slightly, but I bet you have felt some anxiety when forgetting your phone, or your battery dying whilst out. I realised how obsessed I was last week when the electricity went off at 7pm on Friday night. I was all set for Corrie and I’m a celebrity when we were plunged into darkness…it seemed quite funny at first as the whole village was dark and the room was romantically lit by the faint light of the fire. I was of course expecting it to go straight back on. The power cut lasted until 11.30, 4 and a half hours without Facebook, Twitter, e-mail or any other addictive app of which I check approximately once every 5-10 minutes. It soon dawned on us in a sad reality that we were so not used to making conversation anymore! It was at that point I thought, I have a social media addiction!

I am, by far, not as bad as many people. Not because I don't want to be, but I simply can't be, due to the fact I have a stressful full time job, a two year old and a husband. I simply cannot spend my life stuck to these apps. I know, however, that if my situation was different, this would not be the case. Our world is now a strange surrealism in which we know so many people and know the intimate goings on in their lives, see their personal family holiday pictures, but don't actually know them at all. We are all such aggressive observers that we are obsessed with other people's lives, what they are doing, what they are wearing. It is like a modern day, real life soap opera which we can tune into whenever we choose to see what is happening now.

In the past, fashion was dictated by designers, models and celebrities, in many respects it still is, but at a much faster pace. We can see a celeb wearing something on Instagram one day and it will be manufactured in a factory in China within 24 hours. High Street shops hungrily search the web for what is "trending" so that they can copy and send to the factory and have it on the store shelves in no time at all.
It does beg the question are we all being told what to wear rather than deciding for ourselves? Don't get me wrong, we are all influenced by others. I have my favourite fashion bloggers who I try to "steal" their look, but at least this is my choice. Shops like New Look and Top Shop push current trends onto us, chosen by the latest celebrity facebook image. Are we that easily manipulated that our style and taste can be decided for us? Are we that influenced by the media and celebrities that we follow like foolish sheep to the slaughterer which is the media world?

Unfortunately, I cannot answer all of the questions. I certainly cannot judge. I like nothing more that to nose through someone's Facebook page/Instagram and blog, why? I'm not sure, but I cannot help feel that maybe a few more power cuts might do me a bit of good.