Fashion takes on many different facets and affects many subsets: a model walking the catwalk in a dress studded with real gems, Lady Gaga's infamous dress made of raw cuts of beef , a teenager obsessing over the season's latest styles: it's all an expression of our mind and who we are or want to be, made tangible. It's a medium like any other, because while artists wield brushes and paints, designers use thread and fabric to illustrate their vision. Artistry is no more evident than in the exclusive world of high fashion, a world of extravagance that caters to aesthetics, producing one-of-a-kind wearable masterpieces, made to be admired rather than worn. It is undoubtedly high fashion and its design is an art. Clothing has been around for thousands of years; almost as much as modern man. At first it served the practical purpose of protection from the elements; but, when life for early humans stopped being a constant struggle to survive, they began to notice their appearance and the concept of fashion began to take shape. These early garments were typically dyed draped fabrics that were pinned at the shoulder and/or waist. This has been seen in many ancient civilizations around the world, Greek and Roman the most notable. Over time, clothing began to become more and more complex and adapt to the shape of the body, eventually resulting in the tailored style we have today. But the sophisticated world of Haute Couture; or haute couture, can distinctly trace its roots to Paris during the mid-19th century. Clothes from there were thought to be superior to those from anywhere else, and women began coming from all over Europe just to buy clothes. This is probably due in part to a striking dress... half of the paper.......com, June 2013. Web. November 26, 2013. .Viegas, Jennifer. “Humans first wore clothes 170,000 years ago.” DNews. Discovery Communications, LLC., January 6, 2011. Web. November 28, 2013. “What is High Fashion.” HauteCoutureNews.com. High Fashion News, 2012. Web. December 03, 2013. .Fletcher, Ben C. “What Your Clothes Might Say About You.” Psychology today. Sussex Directories, Inc., April 20, 2013. Web. December 3, 2013. .Thomas, Pauline Weston, and Guy Thomas. "High fashion." Fashion-Era.com. Np, nd Web. 05 December. 2013. .