How fashion affects society, how society affects fashion

How we look physically affects how we feel mentally.

For thousands of years, fashion has affected our society and our society has affected fashion. We wear what we do because either it appeals to us, it appeals to others, or what we wear has a greater meaning. What we wear shapes who we are and affects how we feel about ourselves.
Society affects fashion because of statements thrown out about what we should look like, or what we should wear. This is what one calls the "ideal". Every culture and even every person's ideals are different. In Chinese culture, we are judged by what we wear based on how we look while wearing the items of clothing, or mainly the colors that we wear. In Chinese culture, colors are very important. We can't wear an abundance of white, white as an accessory (white is a color that signifies the dead), or even green hats (which signifies trickery). Generation to generation we are judged by these stigmas or these bad omens which affects how we should dress. Our modern society is like that now in a way that we judge someone based on if we like what they wear or not, and then we put them in a category just based on their appearances.
The other outlook is fashion affects our society. What we wear can describe who we are or who we want to be. I dress the way I do because of inspiration. What I wear is not always based on creative thought but based on what other people wore that I thought was appealing. This is the same for most people and this is how trends come about. Because of social media websites like Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, and etc., we look at the fashion that we find appealing and it is translated onto ourselves. This is fashion creating the society. Based on our inspirations we wear a certain style and society is separated based on those styles. One person may find the "hippie" look more appealing and another will find the "Preppy" look more appealing. This separates the two into different groups just like how ethnicity is separated into different groups. You can see the difference more in Chinese history where different classes of society wore different kinds of garments. This physical aspect of people is what separated one from the other, or distinguishing their identity. 
Lastly, what we wear can be based on our personal selves. We may wear something because of our emotions and these emotions can change throughout time. This is why people that change emotionally also change their appearances. This also applies to people who are tired in the morning so they just wear something more comfortable, which differs from a person that is more awake and have more time so they feel like dressing up. 
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Do you think social media fashion affects us greatly?

I don't think being different is a bad thing. I find it okay to be separated into different groups by what we wear, because we are being true to ourselves and we don't need to be for anyone else. Our differences is what makes up a society, a society that is not just dull or monotonous. Judgment will always be there no matter what culture, what century, or what one person's garments look like. Fashion will forever shape society and vise versa. Just enjoy our surroundings and our differences. Wear what you want no matter what category you get put in. Be confident.