"Tonight we engaged in a cross-cultural discussion of Fashion and Culture, looking at the macro contexts of Politics and Ecology. I was encouraged by the high level of participation and the insight into Uruguayan culture. There were some differences of note, especially in regards to the use of fashion to affect political change. The women in the class did not think that in Uruguay messaging on T-shirts was as effective as actual participation. That is to say, buying a shirt with a socio-political message did not hold the weight that perhaps it does in the States. More different still was the current U.S obsession with limiting our "clothing footprint." It was decided that usually ideas like organic vs. synthetic, green vs. traditional lifestyles don´t hold the cultural clout here like the seem to do elsewhere. Buying from up-and-coming designers, neighborhood markets, and other non-corporate brands seemed to be a better expression of "purchasing power."
What we did share was the idea that fashion speaks to cultural values and is a way in which we can express our self and our context. In the upcoming weeks we will discuss how fashion can act as an effective and thoughtful tool of personal expression."