fashion,  mobile phones,  technology,  WATCHES

The Growth of Wearable Tech

smartphone-girl-typing-phone-large

Remember when fashion was just about clothing? Maybe you could also include hairstyle and makeup in that bracket too. But now there are a whole bunch of other items, accessories and styles that fit into fashion. You may think that this change has been gradual but it’s always been there. The items we own have always been a part of fashion. Take the car for instance. When the first cars were marketed, people who could afford them were instantly more fashionable. They were at the highest peak of society. Then as the market progressed different brands of cars appeared. Some were more fashionable than others. This was partly due to their cost but also the power and appeal attached to the name.

However, I don’t think it’s true to say that anything has grown more in fashion than technology. I suppose, once tech was small enough to carry around, it was inevitable. The technology was going to become a huge part of fashion. But it’s not until recently that we have truly seen the impact of this change. In this post, I hope to examine how technology has affected fashion trends and the fashion industry in a whole variety of ways. But let’s start where it all began.

The Mobile Phone

Are you old enough to remember when the first cell phone arrived on the market? I’m not talking about the massive ones that you carried around in the back of your car. Or the huge brick that Zach had on saved by the bell? I mean the phones that were properly mobile. The ones that you could carry around in your purse or your pocket. They sure have come a long way since then haven’t they? The first cell phones weren’t designed to be cool, stylish or attractive. They were designed to work, to function and to be durable.

But, at the end of the 90’s things started to change. Marketers realised that as tech changed phones could be made smaller, thinner. Arguably they could be made to be more fragile and easier to damage. However, consumers largely accepted this change because suddenly phones were stylish. They were modern and cool. They became a fashion accessory and everyone wanted one.

The punch came when the first iPhone was announced. After the success of the iPod, Apple were keen to profit off the lucrative cell phone market. And boy did they ever. The iPhone was a huge hit that has paved the way cell-phones have been styled to this day. You will get the random odd duck but mostly all phones look remarkably similar. Make no mistake, though, Apple was the first and is still one of the most popular.

Then came the growth of customization. It wasn’t enough to have a cool, sleek phone. You needed to personalise it a little and show it’s yours. A couple of years ago there was a huge trend for girls to give their phone some bling with glitter and sparkles. Tacky, perhaps, but it was certainly seen as fashionable at one point. Today you can get a whole bunch of different cases for your phone. So if you buy an iPhone 6, you’ll immediately be looking to purchase the best iPhone 6 case.

Of course, it didn’t just stop with cell phones. Tablets were the next big craze and, of course, the same thing happened. Apple and a number of different producers started to make products to be sleek, thin and stylish. They are not going to stop either. Already rumours are emerging that Apple is planning to remove the headphone jack in their phone to make the seven even slimmer.

Some people claim that while this tech trend has been interesting for the fashion industry, it’s damaged innovation. While this is debatable, there is certainly a lot of evidence to support this argument.

However, as I said, I don’t believe we truly started to see the integration of tech and fashion until recently.

Smart Watches

Smart Watches started to hit the market late 2014 and have continued to be a trend ever since. Are they as successful as producers had hoped? Perhaps not. Let’s face it, who’s going to spend an extra three hundred so they can check the time on their wrist rather than the phone. And if you’re going to do that, why not just get a normal watch. It’s still unclear how great the impact of the smartwatch is going to be on the market.

But I predict that the available tech hasn’t allowed it to be as thin as it needs to be. If you’re going to wear a piece of tech on your wrist, it needs to be smaller than the typical watch. It needs to be sleek, similar to what we’ve seen in science fiction movies. However, when tech reaches that point and it will, I think we will see the public welcome this concept. It will be the first piece of technology that is completely integrated into fashion.

What’s Next?

 

9039775862_2614b788b4_n

 

Finally, it’s interesting to look at the future of technology and fashion. Recently, we have seen the push of VR technology and this can be used by adding a device to your phone. However, if you have seen the tech it looks truly ridiculous. It looks like something that you would have expected the 80’s tech industry to produce. Certainly it is not the beautiful tech future we were promised nor the one that we hoped for. Again, I think these devices are going to have to be smaller and sleeker before they are embraced.

On that note, I recently read an article about how Star Trek has predicted many tech items we have today. This includes video calling, tablets and touch phones. The last prediction on the list was a concept similar to Google Glass. Google Glass disappeared from development early this year, losing its release date. The last update claimed it was being revamped for the public market. While some think Glass will quietly be forgotten, I think it will reappear next year. When it does, it may very well be the latest piece of tech that slips into the world of fashion.

Sharing is caring!

Welcome to the world of fashion-mommy, a world of fashion, lifestyle, theatre and fun. Enjoy the ride.

One Comment

  • John Adams

    Wearable tech is great, but we must be masters of our technology. I’d be lost without my cell phone, but do I want Google Glass?No, that’s a step too far. But…as this is a fashion blog let me be honest. tech is such a large part of my life, all our lives, it needs to look good in this day and age.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.