Fashion observation experiment

Since reading the book Zero History by William Gibson I've been paying more attention to fashion. Previously I had totally ignored it. Now I realize that:

• It's an important part of our culture.
• It limits our means of self-expression severely - at certain times you can only buy certain types of clothes - or only certain colors. Especially if you don't have the money or time to get more specialized clothes.
• It might be an interesting subject to observe and analyze - because you see it in huge amounts all around you.

Recently I've started observing fashion actively. I'm only a beginner without knowledge and without a frame of reference. So the easiest way to start was to observe outliers. Establish a subjective baseline by looking at the crowd and then record anything that is different.

Now this is my first result:

Boring baseline	Interesting outliers
Dark colors - black or dark blue Artificial materials Stuffing and isolation - balloon style Informal - generic	Bright or light colors Attention to detail - caps - shawls Formal, classic or idiosyncratic Too cold for this season

Further observation may yield more useful criteria. And may answer some obvious questions:

• Relation between age, income, gender, race and fashion choice?
• Relation beween what is worn actively and what is being sold in the shops right now?
• Relation between temperature, humidity and wind speed and fashion choices?
• Relation between part of the city and fashion preferences?
• Relation between weekday and time of day and fashion preferences?
• How to quantify  and analyze the data?

Interesting questions that I would never have thought about before reading Gibson's book.