The main lights go out, the track lights come on, and the crowd gets excited. The models backstage become nervous as the audience begins to applaud. Models are about to show off a new clothing line from a designer that will become the latest fashion trend. But what is fashion? Many people think of models, runway shows, New York, and expensive clothes when they hear the word fashion. But fashion is much more than that. Fashion is clothing that defines who a person is, their likes and dislikes, their personality and most importantly their culture. The clothing dates back to around 100,000 to 500,000 years ago. Early clothing was made from animal skin and fur, vegetation, and bones. This type of clothing was usually draped over people or tied up. It wasn't until about 30,000 years ago that people realized they could use animal bones as needles to sew their clothes (The History of Clothing). Fashion evolves over time due to economic and social changes. The most dramatic changes took place in the 8th and 11th centuries, as it was at this time that sophisticated clothing appeared. As textiles became more impressive, so did clothing. Clothing became more sophisticated and stylish as materials became more specialized over the years (cite). Cultural clothing did not appear as fashion progressed, which is why fashion was born. When clothing began to appear, much could be learned about consumer culture. At first, it could be assumed that people were hunters and gatherers because they made their clothing from animal skins, furs, and bones. Fashion is very important to people because it defines the cultures they come from. You can tell a lot about a person and where they are in the middle of the paper when they paint their face white, put chopsticks in their hair, and wrap themselves in a colorful kimono. Sandra Bernhard, filmmaker, represents this idea very well in her film Without you, I am nothing. The film opens with her dressed in African clothing and pretending to be black. This means that cultural identity can be easily constructed and carried by someone who is not of that culture (Eating the Other 436). The author of Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance, bell hooks suggests that people "put on an identity" because "one desires 'a bit of the Other' to enhance the empty landscape of whiteness" (430). . Consumers believe their lives are a blank landscape of whiteness until they adopt fashion from other cultures. Fashion from other cultures adds color and excitement to consumers' lives, so it is not a blank landscape of whiteness..