... that we wear can often act a barrier between groups of people. The aim of wearing a certain type of clothing could be said to achieve a sense of belonging to a social group. As fashion changes, groups may wish to make a statement about their beliefs through their clothes, or lack thereof. Examples of such groups have in the past included those such as the 'punks' or the 'Goths'. 'These groups were concerned with an implicit politics of style, using fashion to quote, invert and distort dominant meanings' (Connor, 1997, p.214). This idea of signifiers and signifieds is the reason that fashion has the effect on society that it does. If people could not read into the intended meaning of the fashion statement portrayed by the carrier, fashion would not be the important issue that it is and would in fact become obsolete. Accepting for now the importance of ...

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