Fashion, Culture and Identity - Essay Example

Introduction For most people, the first question they ask themselves in the morning is what they feel like wearing today; while it is a simple question often taken for granted, the underlying implications and influences are substantial. What to wear on a day to day basis for people often depends on their mood and the intentions they have as far as making an impression is concerned, when one is feeling skinny, bloated, happy or upset they tend to wear clothes that either consciously or sub-consciously reflect their mood (Sika, 2014). In addition to climate issues whose influence on fashion choice is axiomatic, clothes give the wearer the power to present themselves as confident, sexy laid back and numerous other identity tags they would like to put on whether real or artificial. It is for this reason that the phrase fashion choice implies more than just the articles of clothing that one chose to adorn themselves with. The human identity is a highly complex and often ambiguous concept, basically it can be understood as the various identities and individual is defined through in the context of the society in which they exist. The objective of this paper is to critically discuss fashion in terms of its underlying impact on the societal and individual construction of identity. Fashion choice is inclusive of the identity one choses to adopt for the duration they will be wearing certain items of clothing. The blouse or shirt one decides to wear can make them feel confident and elegant throughout the day or weak and vulnerable and whatever one feels is bound to mediate in some way their interaction with the outside world. Furthermore almost as important as how one perceives themselves is how the society perceives them and to a large extent this is determined by fashion choice, at least as far as first impressions are concerned. Clothes, a popular cliché has it, maketh a man, or in this case a person, when one attends and interview, the perspective employer can glean a great deal about them from their dressing and jobs are sometimes lost or won based on this. Even when one is interacting with strangers in any social setting, their first judgment which likely sets the pace for future relations is based on fashion choice. In the fashion and communication theory, Malcolm Barnard enquires on what fashion communicates to the wider society about its consumers and the society itself; he suggests that given the shared symbolic e interpretation people have of various dress in the cultural context fashion acts as a medium of communication expressing different social, cultural economic and political positions(Evans 1997, p.231). The theory assume the notion that garments are meaningful and significant as they bear diverse meanings and the production, generation and perception of these meanings all bear a special social significance which is expressed as fashion communication. Scholars on the subject appear to be mostly in agreement that each person carries within them multiple identities. It has been postulated that in general the three basic roles of identity are based on the social setting, the roles one plays and their inherent personal identity, the overall identity is a blend of all these three. Although these identities are unique for each individual, it is worth noting that one’s personal identity is inextricably tied to the society since the roles played within it are indicative of identity which is in turn responsible for feelings and by extension behaviour and character. As Weber puts it in the theory of symbolic interaction, an individual cannot be understood without the society since its perception ultimately influence and dictate his. Ultimately, fashion is a social process of discrimination based on the reproduction of a hierarchy position as well as representation of different levels of prestige in the highly unequal contemporarily society. Social information is imprinted on and communicated through the human body; this information is incorporated and reiterated through ceremonial movement which acts as s physical experience through which an individual’s cultural knowledge is expresses (Kaiser 1998, p.76). During fashion shows, model engage in intricate and ritualistic movements in imitation of a given social role, the costumes they wear serve to transform the body and thereby manipulating and controlling its perceived role within the cultural web. The fact that in the body and clothes are simultaneously visible to different extents during social interaction is considered a major determinant in the optical identity negotiations also referred to as the social skin. This skin which consists of the garments, attitudes and the configuration of gestures serves to integrate an individual into larger groups because one’s fashion choice is a part of the social fabric which unites or divided groups because of shared similarities in their identities which could be gender, cultural or professional. Clothes act as a visible but detachable material that conveys the aspirations, intentions dreams and fantasies of the wearer all which contribute to the formation of their identity, however it is not possible for anyone to be in full control of their appearance (Crane & Bovone 2006, p.321). On the contrary it is dictated by the fashion industry, and other social movements and phenomenal that control it, the human identity is formed through their clothes, accessories and even make up if any all which serve as an indicator or the sexual identity and positioning in the social ladder. This is because garments are a consumable aspect of the social functional benefits and identify a person’s identity preferences and sense of style among other things. According to Davis in the book fashion, culture and personal identity, much of what people wear is a reflection of the deeper social and cultural forces in an ambivalent world where tensions on matters of gender roles society status and the embodiment of sexuality through dress is common(Davis 1994, p.42). Davis brushes aside most of what people assume are individual differences and posit that these are actually determined by cultural and social forces which ultimately mediate the link between the personal and public self. Take an example of two high school students, one likes to dress in bright “fashionable” and trendy clothes while the other is almost always in black and shows little inclination towards the fashion world. To an observer, these different individuals dress is indicative of their different personalities each uses their clothes to select and identity for themselves as they would like the world to see them. While this could be true, it is not necessarily the case, the fact that people assume the bright fashionable student is outgoing and the other introverted could be dictated by their clothes rather than their actual characteristics. Ergo, in some ways fashion can determine and individual’s identity since people will make assumptions based on the fashion choice and treat one accordingly. The symbolic interaction theory posits that labelling is often influential in an individual’s character, in the fashion sense the identity society imposes on someone based on their dressing could actually be imprinted in them through this. The importance of fashion in the individual and cultural identities is underscored in the social restrictions and norms on clothing that govern to some extent ones fashion choices and are associated with legal and disciplinary consequences. Given the ability if dressing to transform social identities, it has been used as means through which they are recorded by laws that limit the cost, marketing and utilization of certain items of clothing. As a result various groups use clothing as a means through which to make political or social statements as they acquired remarkable power in this sense given the impact of deviation from the social group to form deviant subgroups (Bruzzi 2000, p.18). In the 60’s for example, dressing was very influential in the fight for civil and gender equality rights, this was particularly prominent in the movement that advocated for burning of bras to symbolise the emancipation of women from the chauvinistic gender roles prescribed on them by society. In this regard, clothing can be seen as a major actor in the process of socialization, social control or freedom from various cultural characteristic, the fact that there are uniforms in the education and religious organisations while other societal groups appear to be more liberal in their choices bespeaks the role of fashion as an instrument for political and social cultural identity expression and transformation. Barnard describes the frequently changing character of fashion from a postmodern point of view citing the fact that it often signifies two sometimes contradictory ideas at the same time which at times renders it un-decidable (Barnard 1996, p. 161). The fashions world, in a strict and literal sense is represented in the fashion industry which is characterised by designers, dressmakers, models and ultimately the audiences who comprise the target customer base. From a feminist point of view, the industry, especially the female model has been criticised on numerous occasions since they are viewed as a vehicle for manipulation and gender stereotyping. The skinny tall women are in a general sense viewed by society as perfect and in an attempt to acquire a similar identity (Bower 2001, p.52); many women especially young ones have been known to go out of their way to acquire a perfect shape and figure. Some of the methods are healthy such as exercise but others such as starvation and dieting pills have been found to have adverse effect on the mental and physical health of those using them (Turner et al., 1997, p.604). The lengths to which especially women will go to in the attempt to be fashionable have often put to question the morality of a fashion industry that appears to dictated uniform standards of body shape in a world where there are diverse and sometimes inflexible figures. Nevertheless, fashion models can also be viewed as role models and symbolic representation of a feminine fantasy which can positively be used by women to undermine the restrictive scripts that have been put in place by a traditionally patriarchal society. Probably more than any other industry fashion has proven capable of bending social norms and encouraging what could be considered abnormal by turning it to trendy and fashionable and consequently compelling or manipulating the public into accepting traditionally controversial trends. Beauty, many claim cannot be separated from strangeness; the industry has been known to push social limits and transcend social barriers in sometimes shocking ways. How else could one explain Andrej Pejic, who in 2011 was ranked among the top 50 male models and top 100 female models in the world? He is a male model who however also model and actually prefers female clothing, the fact that he is a famous model today bespeaks the industry’s power to render the unusual into something acceptable and normal. Through fashion, he is able to transcend the sexual divide that has for ages being imposed by clothing and while this may not mean a great deal to most people, there is a society of transgender and sexually different people out there who stand to get a chance to redefine and create their versatile and different identities through fashion. Conclusion At the moment of interaction with other people, everyone choses clothing that represent their persona and the person they would like to be perceived as in that particular context, this implies that fashion allows one to choose one out of different social designations. Through fashion, one can communicate in a controllable way their values to the public and the fact that someone’s dressing is instantly visible means dressing is an ideal study for consumer based values. At the end of the day, an individual’s dressing is influenced highly by dominant social values attitudes and economic status and given that the fashion choice represents both personal expression and social rules and norms. Clothing according to the above paper is symbolically representative of the identity one desires to embody as well as the way they wish to present themselves in the eyes of the society. Ultimately fashion is without doubt an important agent of communication and social expressionism and given that at any one time while involved in social discourse people are invariably dressed, its influence cannot be overstated. References Barnard, M. 1996. Fashion as Communication. Second edition. London: Routledge. Bower, A.B., 2001. Highly attractive models in advertising and the women who loathe them: The implications of negative affect for spokesperson effectiveness. Journal of Advertising, 30(3), pp. 51-63. Bruzzi, S. 2000. Fashion Cultures: Theories, Explorations and Analysis. London: Routledge Press. Crane, D, & Bovone, L. 2006. Approaches to Material Culture: The Sociology of Fashion and Clothing. Poetics, 34, 319 – 333. Davis, F. 1992. Fashion, Culture and Identity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Evans, C. Fashion as Communication by Malcolm Barnard. Journal of Design History , Vol. 10, No. 2, Design, Stalin and the Thaw (1997) , pp. 231-233 Kaiser, S.B., 1998. Fashion as Communication / Dress Codes: Meanings and Messages in American Culture. Contemporary Sociology, 27(1), pp. 76-77. Sika, V. 2014. Fashion for Feminists: How fashion and dress shape women’s identities. Open society Initiative for South Africa. Available at: http://www.osisa.org/buwa/regional/fashion-feminists-how-fashion-and-dress-shape-women%E2%80%99s-identities Turner, S.L., Hamilton, H., Jacobs, M., Angood, L.M. And Deanne, H.D., 1997. The influence of fashion magazines on the body image satisfaction of college women: An exploratory analysis. Adolescence, 32(127), pp. 603-14. Read More