Essay Draft

Walking out in public there are many different styles and colors of clothing that people are wearing. Project Runway is a T.V show that highlights this by making a competition that have its competitors have to crate new fashionable clothing that follows a theme or must come from a certain inspiration like a butterfly. The show started airing on 2004 and it is still being watched today by many. Project Runway can be a pastime for some but many cultural values are being displayed by the models walking down the runway and by the competitors sewing their looks. The show highlights the cultural values that one should wear nice and fashionable clothing in America.

Project Runway is hosted by Heidi Klum and also Tim Gun serves as a mentor for the designers. The show is based on the designers being able to impress the judges with their custom made clothing. Many of the challenges have a certain theme such as fitness wear or unconventional challenges that forces the sewers to create clothing out of interesting materials like newspaper. Inspiration challenges are another part of the show, basing a style out of a certain object like a butterfly, or based on an camping experience. The targeted audience are people who enjoy a competitive show and also value clothing. The majority of the audience are going to be women ranging from eight to forty and beyond,  but men will also be a part of the audience ranging from the same ages.

This show gives a clear value for fashion and clothing. The whole show is based on clothing which shows that American culture values clothing and fashion as a way to display personality. Fashion can be used also to display wealth and power which comes up in the show by the style of clothing that the show members design. Many of the styles of clothing are made by expensive fabric that the ordinary American cannot afford to wear and buy. Project Runway displays a value that fashion is always changing and the buzz word always used in the show is chic which means style or smart. Using the high end materials such as silk and linen create a world that in order to be happy and chic that one must purchase this kind of clothing or otherwise be dull and unhappy.

The value of body shape and facial beauty is shown by the models. The designers create clothing and on the last day for the challenge models come in to get fitted and measured so they can fit perfectly on them. Before slipping in the small dresses the models get pampered by professional make-up artists and hair stylist will create a look based on the designers requests. Walking along the runway the models enforce an ideal in American culture that women must have this small thin shape and size in order to look good in the clothing. That they must be beautiful by being covered in L'Oreal products and having their hair professionally wearing clothing designed just for them.

Well this show is interesting to watch there are a mixture of good and bad values in it. The value of wearing nice clothing is not a harmful one except to those who cannot afford it. Those who cannot afford this style of clothing will not be considered chic. The notion of wearing nice clothes is not a bad one but not everyone can. The biggest negative value is the model bodies and beauty. This creates harmful sterotypes to women in America that if their body shape is not thin and tall like the models then they are not beautiful and cannot look good in clothing. This makes the majority of women unhappy with their body and overall beauty. This show is both good and harmful to the American public.