The European idea of fashion as a personal statement rather than a cultural expression begins in the 16th century: ten portraits of German or Italian gentlemen may show ten entirely different hats. But the local culture still set the bounds, as Albrecht Dürer recorded in his actual or composite contrast of Nuremberg and Venetian fashions at the close of the 15th century (illustration, right).

欧洲时尚理念作为一个个人陈述，而不是一种文化表达开始于16世纪:十幅德国或者意大利绅士的肖像图，可能会展示了十顶完全不同的帽子。但是当地文化仍然是主要的内容，就像阿尔布雷希特·丢勒在15世纪末时，记录他真实的和综合的对纽伦堡和威尼斯时尚的比较。

Fashions among upper-class Europeans began to move in synchronicity in the 18th century; though colors and patterns of textiles changed from year to year, (Thornton), the cut of a gentleman’s coat and the length of his waistcoat, or the pattern to which a lady’s dress was cut changed more slowly. Men’s fashions derived from military models, and changes in a European male silhouette are galvanized in theatres of European war, where gentleman officers had opportunities to make notes of foreign styles: an example is the “Steinkirk” cravat (a necktie) (see Cravat). The pace of change picked up in the 1780s with the publication of French engravings that showed the latest Paris styles. By 1800, all Western Europeans were dressing alike: local variation became first a sign of provincial culture, and then a badge of the conservative peasant (James Laver; Fernand Braudel). Fashion in clothes has allowed wearers to express emotion or solidarity with other people for millennia.

在18世纪时尚在欧洲上流社会开始朝前同步；虽然纺织品的颜色和图案每年都在改变，(桑顿),裁切师切一个绅士的外衣和背心的长度,一个女子服装的样式的裁剪、变更得更慢了。男人时尚来源于军事模型、变化于剧院里刺激的欧洲男性轮廓，在那里军官先生有机会去做笔记记录外国风格:例如，“司坦克围巾”领带（领带）（领带）。变化的步伐发生在1780年代最新的巴黎风格的法国雕刻的出版。到1800年,所有西方欧洲人穿衣都相似:当地变化成为第一个省级文化的标志，然后就是保守农民的一个徽章(James紫菜,布罗代尔)。时髦的衣着使穿着者表达情感或与他人团结了几千年。

Modern Westerners have a wide choice available in the selection of their clothes. What a person chooses to wear can reflect that person’s personality or likes. When people who have cultural status start to wear new or different clothes a fashion trend may start. People who like or respect them may start to wear clothes of a similar style. Fashions may vary significantly within a society according to age, social class, generation, occupation and geography as well as over time. If, for example, an older person dresses according to the fashion of young people, he or she may look ridiculous in the eyes of both young and older people. The term “fashion victim” refers to someone who slavishly follows the current fashions (implementations of fashion).

现代西方人对于衣服有着广泛的选择。一个人要穿什么才能反映他的性格和爱好呢？当一些有着文化地位的人开始穿新的或不同的衣服时，可能就开始新的时尚了。人们可能喜欢或尊重一个人可能是从他们相似的穿衣风格开始的。时尚可以随着时间的推移根据社会中年龄、社会阶层、辈分、职业和地理发生明显的变化。例如,如果一个老年人根据年轻人的时尚来穿衣，不过是在老年人还是年轻人的眼里他或她都是很滑稽的。术语“时尚受害者”指的是那些盲目遵循当前时尚(实现流行)的人。

One can regard the system of sporting various fashions as a fashion language incorporating various fashion statements using a grammar of fashion. (Compare some of the work of Roland Barthes.) Thornton, Peter. Baroque and Rococo Silks. This is an example list of some of the fads and trends of the 21st century: Capri pants, handbags, sport suits and sports jackets, ripped jeans, designer jeans, blazer jackets, and high-heeled shoes.

一个可以把各种体育时尚看作是一个合并各种时尚语句的时尚语言系统并使用时尚语法。(和罗兰·巴而特的一些工作相比。)桑顿，彼得，巴洛克和洛可可丝绸。这些都是21世纪时尚和潮流的一些例子：紧身长裤、手袋、运动套装、运动夹克,牛仔裤,破洞的牛仔裤,夹克外套以及高跟鞋。