Multi Way Garments Concept Essay

The development of the fashion industry raises new challenges in face of fashion designers and companies manufacturing clothing. At the same time, the development of the fashion industry still has basic norms and principles, which determine the progress of fashion throughout time. In this regard, needs of consumers are the major drivers that determine, to a significant extent, the development of fashion and the fashion industry. In addition, economic aspects of designing and manufacturing clothing also comprise an important factor that affects the development of the fashion industry. Today, environmental issues have become particularly important and, to a certain extent, determinant for the development of the fashion industry, because consumers grow more and more concerned with their environment and the impact of industries, including the fashion industry, as well as their own activities and their environmental footprint. In this regard, fashion designers focus on the development of new products that meet needs and expectations of consumers and are different from products of their rivals. The development of multiway garments becomes one of the most prospective directions in the development of the fashion industry today because multiway garments match diverse needs of consumers and make garments truly universal and applicable to different occasions.

History of garment fashion in the West

Multiway garments emerged in response to the growing demand to provide consumers with garments that can perform multiple functions. However, they are not unique for the modern fashion industry. Instead, they have emerged on the ground of the historical development of fashion, which grew more and more complicated in the west and evolved from simple, if not to say simplistic forms of clothing, toward the development of more complex forms. At the moment, the development of the fashion industry and technology creates ample opportunities for the development of the multiway garment.

At the same time, the origin of multiway garment dates back to antiquity, when ancient clothing was design to perform multiple functions. However, the development of clothing and fashion started from the simplest forms. For example, Egyptians wore only light clothing. Women wore dresses with shoulder straps. Clothes were made of linen or cotton (Barwick, 2009).Greek women wore rectangles of woolen cloth folded and pinned together with holes for the arms and head. It was tied at the waist. This garment was called a peplos (Steele, 2008). Towards the end of the 5th century some Greek women began to wear a long linen tunic called a chiton. Women also wore cloaks called himations. Women wore jewelry like necklaces, bracelets and anklets. Rich women carried parasols to protect them from the sun (Cleveland, 2001). Roman Women wore long dresses called a stola, dyed different colors. Often they wore a long shawl called a palla. Ordinary Romans wore clothes of wool or linen but the rich could afford cotton and silk. Roman clothes were held with pins and brooches (Cleveland, 2001).

In the Middle Ages, Saxon women wore a long linen garment with a long tunic over it. They also wore mantles (Weber, 2006). In the late 14th and 15th centuries clothes became much more elaborate. Fashion in the modern sense began. For the wealthy styles changed rapidly. At that time women wore elaborate hats (Barwick, 2009). In the 16th century, women wore a kind of petticoat called a smock or shift or chemise made of linen or wool and a wool dress over it. A woman’s dress was made of two parts, a bodice or corset like garment and a skirt. Sleeves were held on with laces and could be detached. Workingwomen wore a linen apron (Wilson, 2006). In the late 16th century many women wore a frame made of whale bone or wood under their dress called a farthingale. If they could not afford a farthingale women wore a padded roll around their waist called a bum roll (Wilson, 2006). In such a way, women clothing became more and more complicated and evolved toward becoming multiway garment.

The trend to growing complexity and multiwayness of female garments grew stronger in the 17th century. Women wore a linen nightie like garment called a shift. Over it they wore long dresses. The dress was in two parts the bodice and the skirt. Sometimes women wore two skirts. The upper skirt was gathered up to reveal an underskirt (Steele, 2008). In the 18th century women’s clothes were basically the same as before. In the 18th Century both men and women wore wigs. Women wore stays (a bodice with strips of whalebone) and hooped petticoats under their dresses. Fashionable women carried folding fans (Weber, 2006). In the early 19th century women wore light dresses. In the 1830s they had puffed sleeves (Steele, 2008). In the 1850s they wore frames of whalebone or steel wire called crinolines under their skirts. In the late 1860s Victorian women began to wear a kind of half crinoline (Weber, 2006). The front of the skirt was flat but it bulged outwards at the back. This was called a bustle and it disappeared in the 1890s (Weber, 2006).

In the course of the 20th century, multiway garments evolved consistently.  They focused on economic aspects of multiway garments. In spite of the higher price, they were still attractive for consumers because of their multifunctional nature. The price of multiway garments was one of the determinant factors that influenced consumer choices in the 20th century. They were concerned with the affordability of multiway garments.

However, today, the interest of the public to multiway garments is heated by environmental concerns of the public. To put it more precisely, the public is aware of the negative impact of consumerism on the environment. This is why many consumers are seeking for durable clothing that can perform multiple functions at the same time. In other words, they are looking for one item, which they can modify, changing their style, function and make other essential modifications. In this regard, the multiway garment is virtually the only alternative for consumers today.

Advantages of multiway garment

Advantages of multiway garments are obvious for both designers and consumers. Multiway garments are multifunctional and, therefore, applicable to different occasions and even seasons. Clients can use their multiway garments for different purposes and for different occasions. They may change and modify their multiway garment, depending on their environment.

Multiway garments match the concept of durability that is attractive for clients interested in the environment protection. The durability of multiway garments is the direct effect of the multiple purposes of using such garments. A priori multiway garments are durable because they consist of several constituent parts and are supposed to serve longer than a conventional garment. The durability is essential for mutiway garment because such a garment is supposed to be used more frequently than conventional garment because clients wear mulitways garments for different occasions and they may even wear multiway garments in different seasons of the year that is impossible in case of the conventional garment.

Furthermore, the multiway garment also opens more opportunities for modifications to match new fashion trends. Miltway governments are designed to be modifiable and the ideal multiway garment is the government that lets the consumer to modify it whatever the consumer like and as much as the consumer likes. In such a way, the mutliway garment becomes a sort of kit garment for consumers and it is up to consumers to decide how and when to wear the garment.

 

In addition, multi garment opens new opportunities for the creation of new styles and experiments with one’s style through modifications possible in case of multi garment and impossible in case of the conventional garment. The change of the style is virtually impossible in case of the conventional garment and consumers have to buy a new garment to change their style. In case of the multiway garment, consumers can just modify it to change their style.

Drawbacks of multiway garment

At the same time, multiway garments have not only advantages, but also drawbacks, which discourage many designers and fashion companies to manufactured such garments en mass. For example, multi garments production is costly, especially compared to conventional garments, which perform one, specific function only. Today, the costs of production are often determinant for the decision whether to launch the production of the new product or not. Therefore, the higher costs of multiway garments compared to conventional garments may discourage companies operating in the apparel industry from starting the mass production of multiway garments.

The development of multi garments raises the problem of the adaptation for changing fashion trends. Even though multi governments offer wider opportunities for fashionable modifications, but the lifecycle of multi garments longer compared to conventional products. Conventional garments change faster compared to multi governments. Therefore, conventional governments can be trendier compared to multi governments. At any rate, conventional governments change their design faster, compared to multi garment. The fashion industry depends on the latest trends because consumers always want to be fashionable and stylish. In spite of the possibility to change the style and outlook with the help of the multiway garment, such garments still are created within certain fashionable framework that limit opportunities for changing their style point blank. As a result, there is a risk that mulitway garments will become out-fashioned due to the longer lifecycle and fewer opportunities to speed up their production and sales because consumers buying multiway garments naturally expect to wear them longer than conventional garments.

Prospects of the new multiway garment

The new multiway garment has good opportunities for taking a strong competitive position in the market. In this regard, the focus of the new multiway garment should be on the following aspects of the garment: durability, flexibility, multifunctionality, and affordability for consumers. These factors are crucial for consumer choices and, therefore, for the marketing success of the new multiway garment. At the same time, it is virtually only the multiway garment that can match all those aspects simultaneously.

The durability is one of the key elements of the modern multiway garment because consumers are concerned with durability as one of the essential elements of the environment-friendly fashion and design. Today, the durability of the mulitway garment is one of its strategic advantages compared to conventional garments. The durability of multiway garments can boost their sales because consumers will buy only one garment to replace several ones. As a result, their environmental footprint will decrease and so will decrease the negative impact of manufacturing companies because they need fewer resources to manufacture one mulitway garment instead of many conventional garments.

In addition, the durability of multiway garments makes it cost efficient for consumers. Even though the costs of production of such garments are higher, consumers benefit from using those garments because they can use them longer compared to conventional garments. The cost efficiency is one of the determinant factors for companies operating in the apparel industry today because the cost efficiency determines, to a significant extent the competitive position of their products in the market. Therefore, manufacturers are likely to be interested in the large scale production of mutliway garments due to their cost efficiency. At the same time, the cost efficiency will be beneficial for consumers as well because cost efficient products have lower price compared to conventional products that have the higher cost of production as is the case of conventional garments compared to multiway garments.

Furthermore, flexibility is another important feature of the new multiway garment. The flexibility means that the garment can change the style easily and consumers can adapt their multiway garments to any occasion. The flexibility makes multiway garments very attractive for consumers, who want to change their style frequently.          In this regard, the flexibility is close to multifunctionality. The multifunctionality involves the adaptability of the garment to the particular weather condition, season, time, and so on.

Finally, the affordability of the new garment is crucial for consumers and for the overall success of the new multifunctional garment because consumers will not buy the garment that is too costly and which they cannot afford buying. Instead, they will readily buy the multiway garment that is affordable and convenient to use. Moreover, consumers will benefit from the longer lifecycle of mulitway garment because they can wear such garments on different occasions and such garments are more durable compared to conventional garments.

Conclusion

Thus, the multiway garment can be a real success story in the fashion industry today. The growing popularity of multiway garments is the result of a combination of factors, such as growing environment concerns, intention of consumers to save their money, and desire to own multifunctional garment, which they can modify and, hence, elaborate their unique style, which can change depending on the occasion, mood and so on.

 

References:

Cleveland, D. (May 2001). “Champagne Taste. Beer Budget.” Essence Magazine.

Barwick, S. (2009) A Century of Style, New York: Allen & Unwin.

Steele, V. (2008). Paris Fashion: A Cultural History, Oxford University Press.

Weber, C. (2006). “Fashion-Books: Review of “IN VOGUE: The Illustrated History of the World’s Most Famous Fashion Magazine (Rizzoli)”, New York Times.

Wilson, E. (2006). “The Devil Likes Attention”. New York Times.

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
Available at:

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]
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