What they say...

"Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follow religiously the new."
--Henry David Thoreau

"We live not according to reason, but according to fashion."
--Seneca

"Fashion is as profound and critical a part of the social life of man as sex, and is made up of the same ambivalent mixture of irresistible urges and inevitable taboos."
--Rene Konig

"Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months."
--Oscar Wilde

"It is fancy rather than taste that produces so many new fashions."
--Voltaire

"Fashion is an imposition, a reign on freedom."
--Golda Meir

"What a deformed thief this fashion is."
--William Shakespeare

"Fashion is a social agreement, the result of a consensus of a large group of people."
--Stella Blum

I think I agree largely with what Stella Blum said. I suppose "large" can be subjective and open to interpretation from just about anyone. It can mean the staff over at Vogue who wield impressive power over their readers/anyone rich enough to consult the mag before popping into Holts/Saks. Or just general bodies of people--in Canada, I think being fashionable is pretty much open to whatever end of the spectrum you follow. Or just even designers and their consulting teams.

But on the whole, these claims that fashion "steals" people's individuality are hardly groundbreaking. Even back in ol' Bill's time, people were hardly unique compared to others, and then what?-fashion comes along, and turns 'em all into carbon copies of each others? Since we're exposed to the same social mentality from birth, it's hardly surprising that we chose to dress somewhat similarly when we're old enough to make decisions about what we wear.

Voltaire's aphorism cracks me up. Looking through some of the collections makes me give him a nod of general agreement.

Quotes are taken from www.thinkexist.com/quotations