If ideas were fashion by David Wong and Dana Hendricksen gives great insight into the world of fashion and its influence on students. The author’s state that “Fashion is a deeply engaging experience” they further go onto say that “We call fashion a deep inclination because the attraction to fashion has been evident in a wide variety of people over long periods of time (Wong, D., & Hendricksen, D., 2008)
This article resonated with me on many levels personally because growing up I went to a Catholic High School. My high school was right in downtown Toronto, not far from tourist attractions like Eaton Center and Queen Street, which to me are places that are the “Fashion districts” in Toronto. Meanwhile, myself along with the other students within my school wore a standard plaid kilt and white button up shirts to complete our uniform. I loved fashion and wanted to express myself and my individuality in that manner. The amount of times we tried to add our own personal touches to the uniform like fancy pins on our kilts or different variations of the school sweater or funky knee high socks to show individuality showed this love of fashion. I can relate to the article when it stated that students believe that their lives are made interesting meaningful and beautiful by fashion.
As an educator now to engage my students as much as they are engaged in fashion would be a very useful skill within the classroom. How can this be done? Because realistically the goal is not to teach fashion, but to create experiences with those qualities within the classroom so they can make connections. Teaching the curriculum is mandatory, but I believe that teaching it in a way that students can connect to the world around them is necessary and priceless. Educators need to become more attuned to the psychological qualities that make the experience of fashion so absorbing. This article really opened my eyes to the connection between fashion and education.
David Wong and Danah Hendricksen, “If Ideas WERE Fashion.” Mirror Images. Diana Silberman-Keller et al, Eds. Pp. 179-198.
This article resonated with me on many levels personally because growing up I went to a Catholic High School. My high school was right in downtown Toronto, not far from tourist attractions like Eaton Center and Queen Street, which to me are places that are the “Fashion districts” in Toronto. Meanwhile, myself along with the other students within my school wore a standard plaid kilt and white button up shirts to complete our uniform. I loved fashion and wanted to express myself and my individuality in that manner. The amount of times we tried to add our own personal touches to the uniform like fancy pins on our kilts or different variations of the school sweater or funky knee high socks to show individuality showed this love of fashion. I can relate to the article when it stated that students believe that their lives are made interesting meaningful and beautiful by fashion.
As an educator now to engage my students as much as they are engaged in fashion would be a very useful skill within the classroom. How can this be done? Because realistically the goal is not to teach fashion, but to create experiences with those qualities within the classroom so they can make connections. Teaching the curriculum is mandatory, but I believe that teaching it in a way that students can connect to the world around them is necessary and priceless. Educators need to become more attuned to the psychological qualities that make the experience of fashion so absorbing. This article really opened my eyes to the connection between fashion and education.
David Wong and Danah Hendricksen, “If Ideas WERE Fashion.” Mirror Images. Diana Silberman-Keller et al, Eds. Pp. 179-198.