PART ONE: INITIAL CONCEPTS AND RESEARCH

When trying to figure out a garment’s source of value there are a few key concepts to take into account: origin, use, affection, fit, price, and style The origin of a piece, how a person came about it, who it may have belonged to, the inspiration behind it, how it was manufactured and the shopping experience influence how long a person wants to hold on to a garment It may give the item an original perspective or relate it to someone we may know and love. On that note, affection is extremely important when generating value as it has the ability to generate drastically different emotions in different people Items may be related to a specific moment or person in someone’s life and are therefore a direct representation of it. Personal value does not have to be necessarily related to functionality and use but these are all still things that coexist in a single object. Some, although not sentimental or emotional, are useful and necessary, such as uniforms or socially-coded garments Price also comes into play as items that were worth a lot of money for the buyer are taken better care of and seemed as less disposable as opposed to those that were cheap or even free. In a capitalist society, people tend to take better care of items that require a great financial effort for them to acquire What is deemed as expensive and cheap is different and personal to everyone depending on their own financial situation. Finally, fit and style are two very important aspects of fashion Trendy and in-fashion items may seem more crucial than those that are outdated Garments that fit a person properly tend to get used more frequently and are therefore deemed more valuable and necessary, whereas garments that are uncomfortable or unflattering will probably not be worn as often