This extract is from Miller, S (2013) Fashion Media Past and Present, Bloomsbury. I think this extract is trying to say that the concept of taste depends on who is looking at the object – not everyone has the same taste. Fashion, taste and art are interchangeable because both fashion and art depend on taste. Meaning you could ask various people whether they like the same garment and you would get mixed reviews. This is where the saying “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder” comes from. I think this is right because we are all born different and from different places, which mean that, we are all brought up differently adjusting to different environments in different ways. For example, women will have interests that alter from those of men just from their bringing up and school environment. Children at young ages will be very influenced by their environment. “Aesthetic appreciation may be directed at a variety of natural and man made objects, perceived by any of the five senses” Sheppard, A (1987) Aesthetics An introduction to the philosophy of art”, Opus. This backs up my argument as aesthetic appreciation is looking at an object which sparks different emotions and feelings, art is a man made object and evokes different feelings from various people. I agree with the idea that fashion magazines are snapshots of cultural, social and a fashion of the time in which it was published as looking back now on magazines published these days compared to past ones as advertising is different and you can clearly see the main fashions of the time for example in the sixties they would always push bell bottoms saying they were current and up-to-date. I found this extract from Miller quite difficult to understand, as it was the first piece of academic writing I had read. However, once I looked over it a few times I understood it and began to process what I needed to think about in regard for my writing and thinking about finding a book that goes with the ideas I had gathered – fashion magazines showing that taste is a man made concept and has many depending factors such as where you were brought up and who you interact with at a young age. I also agree with the idea that fashion magazines brought about the idea of taste and how it differs between households, social class and location. This is because sociology would argue that at a young age, children are influenced by who they socialise with and their immediate family’s views so their taste could be influenced by this, therefore when these children grow up in all different locations they may have similar views and tastes but if they were to compare their views to someone who lives much further away it may be completely different. This may differ as the child grows up and move away from these people – forming their own opinions and making up their own minds. Overall, fashion magazines are very useful source of information to show the difference between the past and present in various ways such as fashion, culture, historical influences in fashion and the arts.