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Blair in her school outfit along
with her infamous headband |
During my reading for the week, I came across the article "Beauty... and the Beast of Advertising". The title captivated me because Beauty and the Best was my favorite Disney Movie when I was younger. As I continued reading, there was a few sentences that really stuck out to me talking about how adolescents are the prime targets of advertisements. It never really clicked in my head that this age group would be the main consumer of advertising but it the author, Jean Kilbourne is right! "They are in the process of learning their values and roles and developing their self-concepts" (Kilborne, 191). This quote instantly made me remember when I was younger what T.V. shows, magazines, and commercials influenced me the most.
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Blair and her boyfriend Chuck; one of my
favorite outfit |
I think T.V. shows was the greatest influences of my life. My favorite show when I was in high school, and still to this day is Gossip Girl. Leighton Meister's character, Blair, is my favorite T.V. character of all time. I remember my Freshmen year in high school and the show first started airing. After the first show I begged my mom to take me to the mall so I could buy headbands... one of Blair's identifiable styles. Once the show began to progress I wanted to switch to a private school so I could wear a cute uniform, plaid skirt and all. My parents refused and told me I was just going into a phase. However, this phase began to expand. I was introduced to my favorite store, Anthropologie, and couldn't get enough. Luckily for me, my father actually allowed me to dress in the types of clothes Anthropologie sells, but unfortunately his wallet always seemed to get a burden walking out of the store.
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The attire most girls wear to
TCU Football games |
I never really realized how much my personal style was influenced on ONE T.V. show, and it still does to this day. I'd much rather wear a preppy outfit with coats, dresses, blouses, and heels, but it doesn't fit where I attend school. Just looking around TCU campus, one sees an advertisement for the upcoming football game and girls are in purple sundresses with big watches and cowboy boots. The stadium even represents that with all of the pictures placed along the exterior walls. Even pictures online advertise how college women dress for the game.
Recently, my style has been evolving into more of a urban/hipster look. I ask myself why I bought brown combat boots and then remember that I saw them in all of the major magazines and that is what must be in style, but why? Why does the world conform to what the advertisements are saying. The answer is simple explained by Kilbourne "[Advertisements] tell us who we are and who we should be" (Kilbourne, 191).
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The brown combat boots I
purchased at DSW |
There are even tips on how to get more people to shop at clothing stores. The website smallbusiness.com wrote an article titled: "How to Boost Sales in a Clothing Store". One of the key things to do is to place the most popular and appealing clothes on the mannequins in the front of the store. One store in particular does this: Forever 21. This store is IMPOSSIBLE to find the clothes you want it them because it is massive and completely unorganized but they have wonderful advertisements. They have a different style in the store for everyone. From rocker to girly to athletic. They have something for everyone and their prices are cheap. They keep people coming back because they send out detailed advertisements through magazines and you always see something you want. You go to the store and of course it is hidden (probably in a secret room) and can't find it, but you end up finding something else. It is a genius play and that is why their business is so profitable.
Advertising and marketing is the most important thing a clothing designer can do for their company. That is why so many name brands pop up in T.V. shows and movies. The designer or company is advertising their clothing.
Read more about boosting sales in a clothing store here:
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/boost-sales-clothing-store-12669.html
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