Art and Fashion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Art and Fashion - Essay Example This is after taking over the title from Spain which was the dominating power of Europe in the 16th century. Spain was Europe’s political and military controller spreading its court’s culture of dressing to Europeans courts. It spread its culture and political way of doing things all over Europe. During this period, powerful nations determined the fashion to be adopted by the nations they dominate.1 Europe and Paris in particular produced decorative, colorful, pretentious and stylish clothes that marked the Baroque era. From this time Paris has never lost its title of the world’s best producer of fashionable and high quality clothes. In the late 18th century, political, economic and cultural desire of Paris came to a standstill due to the French Revolution. The French culture was replaced by England’s simple and unfashionable styles. English tailors occupied some parts in London where they started making men’s wear and women outfit.2 England became the best producers of high quality men’s outfits. Today, fashion design and art is being practiced all over the world. Some of the leading countries in the fashion industry are United States, Italy, china, Japan, UK among others. The Second World War The impact of Second World War had a big influence in many fashion industries in the world. Paris as the world center for haute couture fashion was not in exception. ... Fashion industries in Paris faced hardships due to rationing of non-essential clothes and the occupation of Germans in France.4 Textile industries experienced shortages of fabrics as ordinary materials and dyes were on restriction while expensive materials like silk and lace were totally unavailable. Fashion houses which continued with their operations produced attractive designs of full skirts, hats, high-heeled shoes and marabou coats. The production of extravagant fashions by couture traders in Paris attracted critiques from Americans. Due to resentment, Germans carried out stiff campaigns with intentions to influence women to abandon Paris outfits which were termed as â€Å"whore-led† fashion. Women were advised to wear ascetic clothes that will maintain their dignity and do away with French design.5 Women were against this campaign and they continued to be fashionable with Paris products. These conflicting ideologies during the war marked the difference between the minori ty fashion influential of Paris and the aspiring fashionable group. The majority aspiring group could not afford Paris fashionable cloths due to different reasons. America took this advantage and sold their products to them as they did not face many restrictions and rationing like France. From 1939 to 1945, it was a period full of restrictions, manacles and common sens.6 Paris lost huge revenue from overseas customers as German’s could not allow them to continue with their fabric and fashion trade. These customers started using United States products as they were not involved in the war. After Second World War, Japan was able to access information relating to fashion and design from Europe and United States. This information could not be accessible

Resolving democratic deficiencies in British parliament Essay

Resolving democratic deficiencies in British parliament - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that undeniably, many countries have adopted the British parliamentary system of government and modified it over time to suit their needs. British parliament system is a supreme legislative body with crown dependencies and located in Westminster in London. Queen Elizabeth, the British monarch is the sovereign head and the chief of state of the United Kingdom. The parliament has legislative supremacy and hence ultimate power over all political bodies in the UK. In addition, the parliament has two divisions including the upper house or the house of lords and the lower house or the house of the Commons. The House of Commons includes government ministers, elected to the chambers every five years in accordance with the constitution. The Monarch chooses the prime minister who works together with the government through accounting to the parliament and public on the usage of public finances. British parliament suffers from serious democratic defici encies partly because of its organization. In normal circumstances, a parliament as an institution of democracy needs to embrace a government that works towards fulfilling people’s expectations and solving problems they encounter in their daily lives. In this regard, it is important that the people they represent from diverse communities elect members of the parliament. Failure to this causes bias since parliamentary members will act in favor of a small group with personal interests.... What is Democracy? In 2005, UN World Summit declared democracy as a universal value, which does not belong to any region or country. In fact, it is based on freely expressed will of people to determine their own political, economic, social, and cultural systems (UN, 2005, p.31). Different democracies share different features in that the government puts people’s interests as a first priority but there is no single model of democracy. Every parliament should be a democratic institution because it is an elected body. Therefore, parliamentarians should endeavor to represents the society and its interests as much as possible. Democracy calls parliamentarians to reconcile conflicting interests of different groups in the diverse communities they represent through dialogue and compromise. In addition, they have the task of adapting society laws to changing needs and circumstances, accounting their actions in full to the public (Beetham, 2006, p. 2). Democracy also entails an inclusion of women, disabled and other minority groups interests that the parliament represents. The fact that only a certain percentage of the British Parliament members are elected in office by the public lessens democracy. Ways of Solving Democratic problems in the UK Change the Electoral Process Elections are held every five years after parliament is dissolved through Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. Elections vote in 650 members of the House of Commons who oversee the actions of the government. â€Å"First past the post† used to vote in the House of Common members denies citizens the basic democratic rights of votes of equal value. In this system, votes do not carry the same value (â€Å"UK Parliament,† N.d,