c.1300, "shape, manner, mode," from O.Fr.
façon, from L.
factionem (nom.
factio) "group of people acting together," lit. "a making or doing," from
facere "to make" (see
factitious). Sense of "prevailing custom" is from c.1489; that of "style of attire" is from 1529. The verb is first recorded 1413.
Fashionable in the sense of "stylish" is from 1608.
"To call a fashion wearable is the kiss of death. No new fashion worth its salt is wearable." [Eugenia Sheppard, "New York Herald Tribune," Jan. 13, 1960]
Fashion plate (1851) originally was "full-page picture in a popular magazine showing the prevailing or latest style of dress," in ref. to the "plate" from which it was printed. Transf. sense of "well-dressed person" had emerged by 1920s.
[fash-uh
n] 