Each individual has a natural desire to show that he or she is uniquely different.
Some seek to enrich their character, some to enhance their minds, some their health, looks and physique, others seek to spread their influence. However these are not so easily visible to others unless blatantly displayed.
However what is external to us is easy to witness and pass comment upon. Clothes, jewellery, accessories, assets and status symbols, the whole world can see.
What is new and dazzling and usually very expensive is naturally imitated by others and soon becomes cheap and common thus losing its novelty and status value.
So the rich keep on trying to stay ahead of the hordes in being different spare no effort and money to stand apart, discomfort and inconvenience are no hinderance to demonstrate status.
Money can buy things but it cannot buy taste nor beauty.
Anything bought out of a competitive spirit can at best be functional and efficient but rarely can it be beautiful.
When we talk of fashion one always assumes it to be clothing etc. However fashion dangerously extends to include what music we listen to, movies and television programs we watch, what we read, the latest management fad etc. etc.
Its clear to see that fashion is not only an insanity that afflicts individuals and families, it also drives leaders of corporations, owners of business organisations, heads of government, military generals, etc. to jump from one management fad to another.
Often its old wine packed in new bottles and that too very bad wine.
Fashion should not be confused with innovation. Innovation is where things are redesigned to provide a better or more suitable fit, a more functional design and a more aesthetic appearance.
Why then do we see so much dysfunctional, unsuitable and ugly things passed of as fashion.
Fashion is an essential drug for individuals who usually, have acquired wealth and position not by their own merit, but by chance such as inheritance and marriage, or by cunning, theft, fraud etc.
Fashion usually consumes individuals who live a life without real purpose, yet possess too much wealth and time than they know how to spend.
Fashion is a magnet for insecure people who try to conceal their own sense of inferiority by seeking props to stand out. This is why most advertisements are designed to make the average consumer feel insecure or deficient unless they buy a particular product or service.
Because of our great dread to be just our unique selves we take umbrage in following the latest fashion. When we do that we are not ourselves but conforming to someone else's fantasy, desire or idea of happiness.
When will we see with our own eyes and feel with our own hearts?