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| Last updated 19.02.03 |
Welcome to my Freak Style page! This site is currently under construction. Please keep checking back.
In tribal societies decoration has, and does, communicate information about each person - what their lineage is, which tribe they belong to, their age, rites of passage and often status of wealth. In today's non-tribal societies the significance of decoration of bodies, although in different contexts, is little different. This said however, our social conditions are very different. A great proportion of the world's population live in heavily populated cities and even those that don't are not isolated from them. The result 
is
that smaller communities (often overlapping each other) have tended to develop within a large
global one. Communities can span continents, yet be highly exclusive, and the opposite
is true also. For this reason, the significance of body decoration becomes far more
complex when considered within the context of today's non tribal society/ies.
In all situations, at all times, the way you adorn your body will be percieved as meaningful to others, even if only through a subconscious thought process. What you are wearing may give information (or misinformation) to others pertaining to your gender, class, occupation, taste, opinion, attitude, etc, etc. Given that this is the case, your choices of how to decorate your body have the potential to be very significant and very powerful. This situation gives rise to many interesting consequences. Choices lead to two related but significantly different phenomenons - that of style and fashion. Where style can exist in an individual context, fashion dictates that that there must be a group of people who agree that a particular style, or particular aspects of style, are particularly tasteful. Fashions tend to be fleeting. Whilst style may come into play in a group context within the realm of fashion, it can also exist in isolation from fashion. 
Style that is isolated from fashion may exist within a group - such as a
subculture, and also through individuals that prescribe to no group values in this area.
Whilst many sources of information about fashion exist, both through online and offline sources, there is little information to be found that investigates style outside of the context of fashion. I am hoping that over time this website will become a useful resource specialising in the latter. My particular interest in the topic of style lies in its ability to make people feel empowered and/or powerful. This website contains articles, references etc that are the result of my research on style and style related topics thus far. I am hoping visitors will participate by posting stories and photos to share their personal style, how it has evolved, and what it means to them. Email me! Get a GoStats hit counter |
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