fashion

Until recently, beautiful clothes were made by hand. They were usually elaborate and always expensive. Fashion was for the royal, the rich and the famous. Now mass production has made stylish clothes available to almost everyone. The modern fashion business - from the design room to the store window - is one of the busiest, most imaginative and most glamorous activity in the world.

In designing a dress the fashion designer works with three things : silhouette, fabric and color.

IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Southeast Asia is home to many different peoples and cultures. The peoples represent various races, speak different languages and follow their individual customs and ways of life. All together, Southeast Asia has a population of more than 510 million and is growing at about 1.6 percent each year.

Some of the earliest peoples to dwell in the region were Negritos and Malays. Over time they were joined by migrants from what is today South China. These later peoples became the ancestors of the Laotians, the Thais (Siamese), the Burmese, and the Vietnamese. The long-time inhabitants of the region are often divided into two categories: mainland and island peoples.

Communities of ethnic Chinese have long lived throughout Southeast Asia. In Singapore more than 75 percent of the population is of Chinese origin. About one third of Malaysia's people are of Chinese ancestry. Ethnic Chinese make up less than 5 percent of the population in Vietnam and Indonesia. People from India and Europe are also found in many countries throughout the region.

FASHION IS

The first clothes were probably made just to protect people from the cold. But men and women soon wanted their clothes to be more than practical : they wanted them to be beautiful too. The more advanced society became, the more attention was paid to the manner of dress. By the time the Egyptians had built the great pyramids, grooming was as important as today.