Admittedly, fashion is an art. It’s the most influential art and has a bearing on everybody’s daily life. It creates trends to dress up in and builds self-esteem and confidence. It indeed provokes thought when it is revealed that fashion has its basics in science. It is the application of logic of its own kind and measure that makes fashionable attires possible for a wide range of people.

 

Chemistry and Fashion

 

Surely, clothes are made for humans, to dress up his/her body and satisfy the mental projection of one’s own personality. But, it is also true that most of the fashion wear is made to serve a purpose.  Right from the choice of fabric to the cut, patterns and colours, a lot of logic gets applied to nourish the creative designs. Even courses of fashion designing colleges agree to the fact that branches of science like chemistry and psychology are equally involved in different stages of making a garment. We thought we will take a deeper look into this and elaborate the connection through this article.

 

 

Some Simple Science Behind Fabric Choices

 

Let us skim the surface of the science of garment creation and understand the choices of fabrics from a practical viewpoint. A deeper study is possible at fashion designing institutes. Broadly, the most common fabrics used for garment creation are cotton, wool, linen and silk.

 

Cotton: Cotton is the most commonly used natural fibre. Cotton fabrics are inelastic but has more stability than fabrics like rayon and viscose. It may not be very smooth but it definitely has lesser shrinkage than many fabrics. It has excellent resistance to heat, detergents and bleach. It is a breathing fabric and absorbs water well. It degrades very slowly. All this makes it suitable especially for tropical climates.

 

Wool: Wool is another organic fibre that is used to make fabrics for warm attires. They are greatly elastic. Heat can have an adverse effect on the fabric. It’s best used to make winter clothing.

 

Linen: Compared to cotton, linen has greater resistance to heat and is even less degradable in comparison. It also fares well against bleaching and dyeing agents. But it has poor elastic recovery. It is nevertheless a stronger fibre than cotton.

 

Silk: A fibre to weave bright and shiny fabrics, silk is known for its smooth and luxurious feel. They are not meant for hard and regular use though as they have low elasticity, elastic recovery and resistance to heat. Also, treating it with chemicals can cause damage to its quality.

 

Psychology and Fashion

 

Since garments are meant for people, the psychology of fashion plays a definitive role in fashion designing. So, designing tips can set certain looks for people using cuts and patterns, choosing colours or adding accessories to create specific looks and impressions. Every institute of fashion designing gives you a good understanding of how different approaches to garment designing can make a distinct effect.

 

To look formal, cool, energetic, trimmed or balanced can be realized by properly planned cuts, patterns, colours and accessories. Few simple examples are:

• Horizontal stripes make lean bodies look bulkier
• Vertical stripes make one look slimmer
• Warm colours arouse cheer and enthusiasm
• Cool colours make your appearance more elegant
• Padded shoulders can make pear shaped bodies look balanced on the top

All this proves the point that fashion design is as much a technique, a science, as it is an art, and certainly perfection in fashion designing comes from a combination of both.