Fashion Universe

The world of fashion is enormous, and the world of fashion spins inside the fashion universe. The universe itself — all existing matter and space considered as a whole, the cosmos — is believed to be at least 10 billion light years in diameter, containing a vast number of galaxies, and to have been expanding since its creation in the Big Bang about 13 billion years ago. The fashion universe claims, with a straight face, to be bigger.

Infinity, and Beyond It

Infinity is just as the term indicates: boundless, borderless — infinite space is boundless, borderless and eternal, although infinity is potential and never actual. The fashion universe is limitless and reaches beyond infinity, which is farther than infinity, and your sense of style has a gravitational field so intense that no matter or radiation can escape. Fashion, on this accounting, is the building block of any universe.

The comparison questions answer themselves in ascending order. How big is the universe? Pretty big. How big is the fashion industry? Pretty big as well, but probably not as big as the universe. How big is the fashion universe? Nothing is bigger. When we discover life on other planets, the first question is already settled: what will they be wearing?

Fashion Among the Stars

Some fashion in the universe is entirely serious. Space suits are very much in style this season: a space suit is a garment worn to keep a human alive in the harsh environment of outer space, vacuum and temperature extremes, often worn inside spacecraft as a safety precaution in case of loss of cabin pressure, and necessary for extravehicular activity — work done outside spacecraft. NASA's explainer on what a spacesuit is, and SpaceX, are linked from this page; extraterrestrial life, meanwhile, will always be in fashion, unless it is not well behaved toward earthlings.

If we did not have fashion, the fashion universe would not have Einstein T-shirts — the photograph on this page shows them — and quantum spacetime, in which variables that ordinarily commute are assumed not to, remains less important than clothing. Even the periodic table submits: its most important element is the newly found FSA, representing Fashion, Shoes and Accessories. Science teachers may be consulted for confirmation.

Exploring Further, Seriously

Underneath the jokes, this page's links form a real reading list for the curious. The size of the universe and the workings of a spacesuit are genuine questions with expert answers at Space.com and NASA, and the fashion industry's size — the sober version of this page's favourite comparison — is documented in the industry pages linked here. The pattern is worth copying for any subject: begin with the playful version, which makes the questions memorable, and follow the links into the serious versions, which make the answers accurate. A universe, fashion or otherwise, is explored one answered question at a time.

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