Fashion By Leah Bowen Analysis

Those who are rather vexed by the situation believe India itself has become romanticized into a perfect country of color and life. Leah McLaren explains in her article published in The Globe and Mail, one of Canada’s most read weekly newspapers, that pop culture is “transforming a country of 953 million with a 5,000-year cultural history into feature fodder for In Style magazine.” According to McLaren, those participating and growing the trend do not care about the history and it is, more or less, ruining the culture. McLaren also points out that there is a fine line between appropriation and appreciation, hinting that the trend tends to overstep that line. These kinds of critics believe that Westerners are overlooking India’s real needs through

One of the most important themes in fashion is eclecticism. Eclecticism is the practice of blending different styles from different cultures. This is how fashion has been key to globalization. For example, Pasolini was a famous Italian writer in the mid-1900s who wrote about his appreciation for Indian women, introducing Indian culture to Italian fashion (Colaiacomo). He opened the eyes of designers to a whole new world through his praise, allowing Italy and India to finally merge and become partners in fashion. Fashion is a simple way to experience the world’s cultures and to assist in discovering own identities. Kopnina clarifies, “Fashion provides a short-cut by which we enter another identity and join a subculture that insulates us from contamination from other styles” (378). Fashion magazines like Vogue take advantage of the voice they have to introduce and educate their readers about other cultures through fashion. This allows the readers to intelligently combine what they know to build their own self-expression. People can create their own identity and style by adopting influences from multiple cultures to represent their self clearly and uniquely. This, in turn, provides designers with inspiration for new trends. Specifically, one of the more recent fashion trends is henna, inspired by the “Indo-chic”

Most of those who partake in the art apply henna to make a fashion statement and to express themselves, similar to western tattoos. Henna is like an accessory to some people, one that allows them to express their unique style. It is a one of a kind “accessory” in which people can benefit in multiple ways. It is so successful among Western women because “only mehndi can offer self-expression with natural ingredients and an opportunity to renew appreciation of your body, allowing you to define your own beauty” (Kousoulas). According to Kristen A. Conover, in her Article “Ancient Art of Mehndi Attracts the Trend-Setting Crowd,” published in The Christian Science Monitor, a one-hundred-year-old current events newspaper, these women are simply wearing it to appreciate the art and decorate their body, not to try to exploit the culture. Women in fashion defend the trend because it is a way for others to experience the lifestyles of other cultures, and it is not “a cheapening of tradition” (Conover). The trend gives designers the opportunity to discover what is next in