Much of demand is merely idiosyncratic to the individual – some people like plaids, some like solid colors. People like what they like. Often people are influenced by others – tattoos are increasingly common not because the price has fallen but because of an increased acceptance of body art. Popular clothing styles change, not because of income and prices but for other reasons. While there has been a modest attempt to link clothing style popularity to economic factors,4 by and large there is no coherent theory determining fads and fashions beyond the observation that change is.
