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Lesson Plan Image

Global Fashion

Students will explore fashions around the world, learn about the cultural history, then create art that portrays a fashion style.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Container of Water
  • Craft Materials
  • Heavy Paper
  • Paper

Steps

  • Step 1

    Most global fashions arise from centuries of tradition and represent cultural identity. In Scotland, for example, tartan (a checked cloth used in kilts) became a symbol of Scottish identity, and different patterns were associated with different clans. The Massai adorn themselves with elaborate beadwork, with different designs and colors symbolizing different attributes. Have students research and look at images of styles around the world. 

  • Step 2

    Ask students to choose a region and create a piece of art representing its traditional fashion. To give the work the authentic look of fabric, they can moisten and crumple a piece of paper, then smooth it out and let it dry. They can then cut the dried paper into the shape of a garment or accessory and adorn it using markers, watercolors, glitter glue, other paper cut-outs, or craft items.

  • Step 3

    Have students present their art and discuss the region in the world where the fashion worn, what the item might symbolize, and any other history they learned about it.

Standards

SS: Culture: Create, learn, share, and adapt to culture. 

SS: Individual Development and Identity: Describe factors important to the development of personal identity and the context of identity within families, peer or affinity groups, schools, communities, and nationalities. 

Adaptations

Upcycling is the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, or unwanted items into new products perceived to be of greater artistic or environmental value. Upcycled fashion involves making clothes from unwanted materials (garments, scraps, etc.) that would otherwise go to landfills. Have students look at images of some upcycled fashions and challenge them to create a new product out of clothing they may have outgrown. 

Research has found that clothes influence a wearer's psychological processes. Putting on somber clothing to go to a funeral or yoga pants to go to the gym primes our brains to act in a manner consistent with our dress. Clothes can also influence others' perception of the wearer. Have students discuss various situations. Imagine two people of equal experience and credentials showing up for a job interview, but one is wearing pajama bottoms and flip-flops. Would their appearance influence the students' impression of them? How about if a student was going to a party where they didn't know many people. Would they feel more confident wearing clothes that they felt were complimentary and reflected their personality?