Contents
acknowledgements ix
illustrations xi
introduction: why study fashion? 1
i. the purpose of this book 1
ii. defi ning key terms 2
iii. key approaches to studying fashion 5
iv. how is this book organized? 14
1 the fashion impulse 19
i. investigating the fashion impulse 19
ii. color and fashion through time 34
iii. the color black in fashion 42
iv. conclusion 47
case study 1 : the regulation of fashion 49
case study 2 : black mourning dress 51
case study 3 : fashions in new guinea headdresses 54
case study 4 : the sailor suit: from function to fashion 59
2 the eurocentric fashion system 63
i. consumer culture and fashion 63
ii. paris fashion 68
iii. the paris legacy 75
iv. new fashion capitals 82
v. conclusion 91
case study 5: beau brummell 93
case study 6: the infl uence of coco chanel 96
case study 7: yves saint laurent as style muse 99
case study 8: daslu luxury retailing 102
3 fashion cycles, symbols, and fl ows 105
i. fashion cycles and structures 105
ii. fashion symbols and codes 109
iii. interdisciplinary fashion theory 115
iv. fashion fl ows 117
v. conclusion 120
case study 9: the meaning of men’s ties 122
case study 10: jeans as über fashion 124
case study 11: sexuality and stilettos 127
case study 12: the magic of cosmetics 130
4 fashion, body techniques, and identity 135
i. fashion as a body technique 136
ii. fashioning gender: femininity and masculinity 139
iii. fashioning consumers 147
iv. uniforms of identity 148
v. conclusion 156
case study 13: fashion and identity in harajuku 159
case study 14: acquiring the techniques of royalty 162
case study 15: the metrosexual man 166
case study 16: the cult of thinness 168
5 fashion, aesthetics, and art 171
i. aesthetics and fashion 171
ii. spatial aesthetics and fashion 174
iii. fashion as aesthetic regime 177
iv. artistic fashion and cultural shifts 180
v. from aesthetic innovation to museum curation 183
vi. conclusion 189
case study 17: fashion photography and heroin chic 191
case study 18: exhibiting vivienne westwood 194
case study 19: wearable art 196
case study 20: fashion and the wristwatch 198
6 fashion as a business and cultural industry 205
i. the structure of the fashion industry 206
ii. fashion forecasting, marketing, and the fashion
consumer 212
iii. the changing role of the fashion designer 220
iv. luxury brands and global marketing 225
v. conclusion 231
case study 21: celebrity models 233
case study 22: louis vuitton as luxury accessory 237
case study 23: the gap as global fashion 240
case study 24: secondhand clothing 242
7 popular culture and fashion 245
i. fashion and the rise of popular culture 246
ii. representing fashion 248
iii. fashion subcultures and popular music 254
iv. fashion journalism, public relations, and stylists 264
v. conclusion 270
case study 25: sports clothing for everyman 272
case study 26: australian bush wear as urban chic 275
case study 27: retailing erotic lingerie 278
case study 28: oliviero toscani’s advertisements
for benetton 281
8 the politics of fashion 283
i. what are the politics of fashion? 284
ii. endogenous and exogenous factors 285
iii. fashion and colonialism 296
iv. fashion and postcolonialism 301
v. conclusion: global fashion futures? 302
case study 29: the politics of veiling 306
case study 30: renegotiating chinese fashion 310
case study 31: indian fashion: from diasporas
to designers 314
case study 32: burberry’s brand of britishness 316
glossary 319
fashion milestones 341
questions for essays and class discussion 349
annotated guide for further reading 353
bibliography 357
Why study fashion?
i. the purpose of this book
This book explores the phenomenon of fashion and how we can study it in accessible yet comprehensive ways. The topic of fashion raises ambivalent responses. People tend to be for it or against it.
Those who like it and are followers of fashion see the way we style ourselves as a key aspect of our identity and how we appear to others. Those who decry fashion regard it as ephemeral, trivial, and a sign of an emphasis on style over substance.
Fashionistas (slang for fashion devotees or patrons) are often regarded as airheads, as frivolous and easily infl uenced by fads and media hype. Even so, fashion and how it works are becoming an increasingly signifi cant part of the study of culture. While we might be ambivalent about it, we are still fascinated with it—hooked perhaps on the polarizing effect of fashion itself.
Fashion: The Key Concepts introduces students to the key terms, issues, debates, and milestones in fashion theory and research. Because it is introductory, topics will be dealt with schematically, with suggestions for further reading listed at the end of the book. Fashion concepts appear in bold typeface when fi rst used in the text and are defi ned in the glossary . Readers are also directed to fashion dictionaries such as Guido Vergani’s Fashion Dictionary (2006) and Gavin Ambrose and Paul Harris’s The Visual Dictionary of Fashion Design (2007). Throughout each chapter are boxes that illustrate points in the text, while longer case studies conclude each chapter. A list of fashion milestones is appended to give readers a quick overview of major moments in fashion history. Where fashion designers are mentioned in the text, brief biographical details are provided; however, no appendix of designer biographies is included because numerous other sources provide this information (Buxbaum 2005). For readers who are studying fashion, an indicative list of questions for essays and class discussion plus an annotated guide to further reading are included.
The bibliography includes many sources of academic fashion scholarship as well as material from fashion magazines, advertisements, diverse Web sites, and other popular sources. Most fashion theory and research emanates from Europe and North America, so it is high time that fashion be recognized as a phenomenon that occurs everywhere and touches the lives of everyone. This book is intended in part to redress this imbalance.
The literature, illustrations, and case studies draw on many different sites of fashion, fashion cultures, and examples of fashion-in-action. Readers of this book and students of fashion should consider these refl ections in relation to their own fashion context. Accordingly, I encourage students of fashion to draw on the popular resources on fashion that surround them, for fashion is not just confi ned to the catwalks, collections, and curators but exists everywhere, in multiple forms and experiences. Immerse yourself in your fashion universe as you read this book!