Fashion and Architecture

I've been noticing fashion a lot more lately, perhaps because I have more time to notice it and spend a lot of time on public transit. While designers have spoken on fashion and its connection with architecture in the past, I see some interesting parallels currently that are worth noting.
The trends of the past century have been ones of stripping away. In fashion, women have gone from wearing corsets and full-length dresses to barely appropriate skin-tight and revealing clothes. Where there was once a standard of class which was assumed by all, there is now a hodgepodge of confusion where imitation is the only thing left to rely on but is masked by other means.
There are two extremes in people: those who have stopped caring about fashion altogether, and those who are completely obsessed with appearance. Similarly, in the history of architecture, when the accepted standards of Historicism were broken, people either stopped caring and did what they already knew how to do, or contrived something that was trying to be original. Now, in order to try not to copy anymore, both fashionistas and architects use the shock and awe path to be different. Copying is condescended upon by intellectuals and artists, but is the bread and butter of the masses. Strip malls and grocery stores, non-brand name and discount kitsch; most of us live in it. "Designers", while they claim that they are doing something new, have revolutionized their fields of expertise as much as an ant hill revolutionized someone's back yard. The aim is no longer quality or class, but by shocking an audience into thinking that they are somehow different because they are wearing the latest Louis Vuitton bag, or visited the newest Gehry museum.
Whether we realize it or not, we have only been copying ourselves since Post-Modernism. The only way to change this is to completely renovate our thoughts and products. We can no longer rely upon traditional means of construction, design and decorating in both fashion and architecture (and any other artistic field for that matter). We must remember when concrete was rediscovered, when steel was first used. If we want to be truly revolutionary, everything must change. Most of all, we must care.
Once, our societal standards permeated all levels of class and creed; now, there is an elite caste of people who think they are original while the rest don't have time to worry about originality. We must find a happy medium where everyone can access good design. This design will be logical and practical, but beautiful and becoming. The systems and thought processes supporting this design must first change, and our contemporaries must do it.