Cultural Studies in relation to Fashion - Essay Example

CULTURAL STUDIES IN RELATION TO FASHION by [Unit of the degree] ID number] March 13, Introduction: This remains a globally acclaimed reality that fashion holds huge importance in an individual’s life and to the point that it helps people in expressing their individual identities. Fashion helps people in distinguishing people belonging from different groups and many also use fashion as a tool to get themselves distinguished in the society. People all over the world are seen obsessive about fashion because it plays a phenomenal role in expressing both culture and identity. It can be judged from one’s apparel that which specific group one belongs from, what is the nature of one’s personality, and how one prefers to be distinguished among peers. Even the type of clothes one prefers to adorn is also known to provide an expression of the nature or state of one’s mood. However, fashion is a hugely diverse subject and does not constitute of clothes alone. Rather, the way in which one likes to converse with others, the style in which one likes to do hair, and the way in which one interacts with the society at large, everything reflects how one would like to associate oneself with fashion. Actually, this paper is an effort to discuss the relation shared by fashion with culture and identity in reference to this statement, “fashion provides one of the most ready means through which individuals can make expressive visual statements about their identities” (Bennett, 2005, p. 96). Subcultures in UK promote different types of fashion: People arm themselves with fashion to form specific visual statements which would readily express their identities and tell others about who they are, which culture they follow, and what is their ideology. Different subcultures are seen in different parts of UK and all promote different fashions among all age groups, though teenagers are mostly affected by innovative fashion measures and hasten to promote such new and different styles to get in the click and be considered cool. There are many mainstream teenage subcultures which are massively prevalent in UK among which Goths or Gothics, Bohimes or Bohemians, Rastas, Scallies, and Moshers are pretty popular. British teenage population can be seen following different sorts of fashions by getting themselves committed to different subcultures and in this way, they attempt to express visual statements regarding their individual identities and cultures. Each of the subculture mentioned above promotes different types of values and ideologies and also struggle to be distinguished from each other by keeping alive at least one element which could not be found or seen in another subculture. That is why Bennett (2005, p. 96) is absolutely right when saying that fashion is used by people so that they can follow whatever culture they like to follow, wear whatsoever they think is comfortable, and look just the way they desire as long as such desires go in harmony with their ideologies, underline the main concept of their subculture, and immediately make the surrounding people acknowledge their identity. Fashion helps people express who they do not want to be and who they want to mimic for getting themselves acknowledged in the society in a particular light. The relation between fashion and identity is indispensable. Expressing who one is and want to be is a challenge made phenomenally easier by fashion and style. Different fashion choices express different cultures and shape identities. When people start dressing up in a particular way, they start getting noticed in their surroundings when socializing. It also makes others acknowledge the specific culture they belong from and the values they hold close to heart. The Gothic subculture: A large proportion of British people feel inspired from the Gothic subculture and considers it a bright lifestyle choice. The Goth scene is a consequence of the post-Punk movement and rapidly inspired many teenagers stimulating them to give old lifestyle choice. The principal features of this subculture by which the Goths distinguish themselves are black eye makeup, black lipstick, black and white wardrobe, metal chains worn as necklaces and bracelets, and fake long nails. The Goths consider themselves cool and heroic beyond all comprehension. They dress in black and white, wear metal chains and black lipsticks just to distinguish themselves in the society and express their identity to others. When they decide to socialize by adopting a different culture, they use fashion to help them in this regard. Using fashion as a frontman, they dress up in a particular manner and arrange such visual statements which could define them in the light of their culture. These people take this Goth subculture as a genuine lifestyle which they follow very passionately so that their identities would remain explicit and not misunderstood by others when socializing. They also dress so ardently in Goth fashion so that they can dissociate themselves with fake over-ardent followers who dress up as Goths not to express identity but just for rebellious shock value (Smith, 2009). People dressed up in Goth fashion stand out among the ordinary people and are often judged to talk in a very discouraging fashion when discussing worldly affairs which shows that fashion is not limited to dressing alone. Fashion is not solely about drawing ‘visual’ statements though they play a bigger role in expressing identity. “A style is not about what is worn but rather the way in which garments and accessories are organized to express identity” (McNeil and Karaminas, 2009, p. 348). The Bohemian subculture: People who feel inspired from the Bohemian culture and adopt it as a lifestyle choice are non-conformists and give up the socially accepted lifestyle for what appeals to them no matter what. They like to dress up in unique styles and also act in a way that stands quite in contrast with the normal standard practiced in society. Late Amy Winehouse, who was a British jazz singer, became an open bohemian after becoming a global star and used to wear her hair in a very strange way which helped in making her highly distinct and also earned her much fame. Russel Brand, who is also British and a comedian, is another living example of a person who has chosen the bohemian subculture as a lifestyle choice and follows this subculture passionately by dressing up in a bohemian signature style with long hair also worn in bohemian fashion, colored eyebrows made to look darker and bigger, thick black eyeliner, and tight black skinny jeans. These two globally recognized persons are real examples of genuine bohemians who used fashion to shape their identities and express the type of culture they chose to adopt through visual statements. Bohemian is also considered to be an artists’ subculture because many artists gave up their cultures and original lifestyles for this. Bohemians are markedly unorthodox and anti-social when it comes to fashion and for them also, fashion plays a big role in helping them in expressing their identities which again confirms what Bennett (2005, p. 96) said about fashion. The identity is not directly connected to a person’s physiologic appearance but “appearance is decisively important for the formation and development of identity” (Loschek, 2009, p. 159). The Rasta or Rastafarian subculture: From Punk and Goth to Bohemian, Rastafarianism is another movement or subculture popular in UK and chosen as a lifestyle choice by many British people. This is basically a black youth subculture and has its roots in the ghettos of Jamaica. Though it is a minority subculture and popular among youth only, still it has many followers and the males adopt the Rastafarian fashion by wearing hair in long and thick locks, smoking marijuana, and listening to reggae music. The Rastafarian subculture shares many similar characteristics with the hippie lifestyle and bases its distinctiveness on the ethnic background of it members and a particular music genre which is highly popular among them. Bob Marley was a popular reggae artist who also introduced this music genre to the world. Accompanying his music was his long uncut and often unwashed braid-like hair and a very strong scent of burning marijuana. The trio of dreadlocks, reggae, and marijuana form an integral part of the real picture of Rastafarianism (Williams, 2007). Lil Wayne is a globally acknowledged living example of Rastafarianism who is an American rapper, is always seen in dreadlocks and reports of his casual marijuana use are nothing new. These people are not born Rastafarians, Punks, Goths or Moshers etc., rather they choose this such subcultures abandoning their real culture after they grow up and their choice also depends on their surrounding culture a lot. Many youngsters start smoking pot and dressing in an anti-social way while in high school just to get in the click and be accepted in hippie or punk groups just for rebellious shock value many times. So, they dress and behave in a fashion that highlights their identity very explicitly. People see and copy and this mimetic behavior propels fashion forward (Lynch and Strauss, 2007). The Scallie subculture: The term Scallie has its roots in the Irish language and Scallies or Scallywags can always be seen in Liverpool mainly hanging out in groups. These people fervently adopt street fashion, wear baseball caps and sweatshirts with hoodies, and smoke pot for entertainment purpose. Marijuana is a feature shared with many different subcultures and in this case too, it is popular among Scallywags. Street fashion is used by these people to get it associated with their culture and express their identity. Riuven is a British rapper and also a living and practicing example of the Scallywag subculture. He is well known for his lyrics which acutely portray the Scallywag lifestyle popular in Liverpool Irish communities which also earned him much fame in Liverpool. This is also considered to be a subculture of the working class youth who use sportswear fashion for dressing up and make it their signature style too. Pot smoking forms an important and essential feature of their Scallywag lifestyle which has also earned Scallywags a societal antagonism. Scallyism is essentially a British subculture and mainly seen in Liverpool and Scallies swear excessively, abuse alcohol, and smoke marijuana often. Their way of living, dressing, and socializing, all highlight their identity and express their culture. The Moshers: Mosherism is also a teenage subculture and has characteristics both solely exclusive to it and shared with other cultures. Music means more to moshers than clothing and that is also because they find it easier to relate with music than with people. They listen to punk, rock, or metal and dress up in a townie fashion, wearing adidas tracksuit bottoms, cheap trainers, and unmatching tops. Female moshers can be seen with eyes caked with eyeliner and mascara though male moshers do not care much to wear makeup. Moshers wear in harmony, hang out in harmony, and also socialize together. Mostly, they wear such jogging tops which happen to be white with blue sleeves. They use such particular style of clothing and wear heavy makeup to show who they are and what identity that have adopted for themselves. Fashioning in a Mosher style helps them gain that status in the society they would like to earn. Though most people following such teenage subculture are observed to lag behind in intellectual terms and do not conform to society in any possible way, still they are aware enough in terms of fashion and style and know very well how to use fashion for expressing their personalities and cultures. Fashion not only reflects cultural changes but also “expresses modernity and symbolizes the spirit of the times” (Lehmann, cited in Steele, 2010, p. 324). Conclusion: Summing up, this much becomes clear from the above discussion that the importance of fashion in everyday life cannot be denied in any way since it is deeply implicated in the life of a person. Fashion is reflected through body, mind, heart, and soul. Dressing in a specific style alone helps immensely in acknowledging different and diverse cultures. Fashion is also used to express pride which one has for one’s culture and maintain values associated with it for promoting certain fashion sense connected with a particular culture. References: Bennett, A 2005, Culture and Everyday Life, London: Sage. Loschek, I 2009, When Clothes Become Fashion: Design and Innovation Systems, UK: Berg. Lynch, A and Strauss, M 2007, Changing Fashion: A Critical Introduction to Trend Analysis and Meaning, UK: Berg. McNeil, P and Karaminas, V 2009, The Mens Fashion Reader, UK: Berg. Smith, AP 2009, History of the Gothic Subculture, viewed 13 March, 2012, Steele, V 2012, The Berg Companion to Fashion, UK: Berg. Williams, DA 2007, Dreadlocks, Ganja and Reggae: What is Rastafarianism?, viewed 13 March, 2012, Read More