Being In Fashion Never Goes Out Of Style

Being In Fashion Never Goes Out Of Style
Do you know what you're going to wear to work tomorrow or to that party this weekend?

Wearing the right outfit is important to almost everybody, unless you're one of those people who think you still look good in Reebok high tops and skintight jeans with holes in the knees.

But for those people who are relatively fashion unconscious (you know, the ones who wear white after Labor Day), it's time to ask the experts what's in style and how the whole fashion craze began.

"I guess you can define fashion as a regular pattern of style change," said Valerie Steele, director of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. "In the past, theorists thought people used fashion for modesty or sexual attraction. Nowadays, people think it has to do with the symbolism of decoration."

It's simply about people who want to show their individuality, she said.

"Accessories are what make your outfit," said Sakina Claytor, owner of Sakina's Inc. on Boonsboro Road. "Two women can have the same outfit ? it's the way you accessorize that shows you're different."

The urge to be unique through fashion has definitely evolved since the days of the Roman Empire, where everyone wore togas and tunics. (Romans, however, showed their individuality through their hairstyles, Steele said.)

In the Middle Ages, fashion