Showing papers in "Fashion Theory in 2007"
TL;DR: The authors studied how marketers in Turkey construct and represent tesetturlu consumers in advertising and other commercial imagery, and how these representations are shaped and transformed by the local and global dynamics of consumerism, capitalism, and politics.
Abstract: This study looks at how marketers in Turkey construct and represent tesetturlu consumers (women wearing Islamically inspired forms of covered dress) in advertising and other commercial imagery, and how these representations are shaped and transformed by the local and global dynamics of consumerism, capitalism, and politics. We believe that the emergence of tesetturlu women as a distinct consumer segment and their evolving representation in the marketing imagery are revealing of the processes of identity formation and negotiation as well as the social changes that have been occurring in Turkey since the 1980s. By attending to the discourses and practices of market actors, namely companies and designers that manufacture and sell clothing and related products to tesetturlu women in Turkey, we show how the Islamic fashion industry operates through a play on cultural difference and similarity, and fabricate the ideal of a “modern” tesetturlu woman which is attainable through consumption.
122 citations
TL;DR: This article argued that the commodification of Islamic fashion in urban Indonesia has not been a straightforward process, but rather is an arena for Indonesian Muslims to think about the relationship among faith, gender, and materiality.
Abstract: In the past fifteen years, urban Indonesian women have increasingly chosen to adopt a form of Islamic dress called busana Muslim. This shift could be read as an index of two apparently contradictory or mutually exclusive phenomena, a rise in Islamic piety and a rise in consumerism. This article suggests that rather than reducing the popularity of Islamic fashion in contemporary Indonesia to either religion or consumerism, the rise of Islamic fashion should be understood within a context of national debates about modernity and piety. Through a consideration of Islamic fashion as commodity fetish, I argue that the commodification of Islamic dress in urban Indonesia has not been a straightforward process, but rather is an arena for Indonesian Muslims to think about the relationship among faith, gender, and materiality.
80 citations
TL;DR: The authors analyzed the presence of veiled assistants in London fashion shops as examples of spatial relations that are socializing and ethnicizing, linking veils to fashion (and Islam to modernity) and connecting recent international Muslim lifestyle consumer cultures to gendered consumption in the development of Middle Eastern modernities.
Abstract: Linking veils to fashion (and Islam to modernity), this article analyzes the presence of veiled assistants in London fashion shops as examples of spatial relations that are socializing and ethnicizing. In the anxious days after the 2005 bombs, the veiled body working in West End fashion retail moved through the postcolonial city in a series of fluid dress acts whose meanings were only partially legible to her different audiences. Connecting recent international Muslim lifestyle consumer cultures to gendered consumption in the development of Middle Eastern modernities, this article evaluates new British legislation protecting expressions of faith at work in relation to the role of veiled shop girls in postcolonial shopping geographies.
68 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the concepts of "ethnic dress" and "world fashion" along with the common perception that there is only one world fashion system dominated by the West are challenged.
Abstract: This article critiques the concepts of “ethnic dress” and “world fashion” along with the common perception that there is only one world fashion system dominated by the West. A new framework—based on microcultures, cultures, and macrocultures—can allow us to recognize non-Western fashion systems that have a global reach. For example, Asian, African, and Islamic dress appeal to consumers in multiple nations and should not simply be considered “ethnic dress.” This article then goes on to analyze similarities between Islamic fashion websites as an example of a non-Western world fashion system. These sites, geared primarily toward Muslim women living outside of the Islamic world (in areas such as Canada and the United States), give consumers several advantages over going to the local mall: the styles and names of garments are similar if not identical to what Muslims wear in countries like Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan; the clothing is always modest; and the businesses offer a shopping experience in tune wi...
53 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that fashion is part and parcel of women's outdoor dressing styles in Sana, and that women who wear covered dress and face-veils in order to conform to what is common in their social circles are also affected by the globalization of dress and attach much importance to being fashionable.
Abstract: Most Sanani women appear in public completely covered in black, often including a face-veil. At first sight, this locates Sana, the capital of Yemen, outside the world of fashion. This article, however, argues that fashion is part and parcel of women's outdoor dressing styles in Sana. While some women link their dressing styles to authentic Sanani customs and traditions and others highlight ideological and religious convictions, all refer in one way or another to matters of style and aesthetics. Not only modernist women are engaged in wearing fashionable outerwear, but also women protagonists of an Islamist position, who may be critical of fashion as an institution, find it hard to avoid fashion altogether. Young women who wear covered dress and face-veils in order to conform to what is common in their social circles are also affected by the globalization of dress and attach much importance to being fashionable. Such sartorial practices are not simply a form of Islamic fashion, but rather are a st...
52 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated reasons for keeping clothes that do not fit the current body and women's feelings about these clothes and found that there may be other connections that prevent their discard.
Abstract: A wardrobe is the sum of clothing, both worn and unworn, that women consider each day to construct their visual self. While there is little practical reason to keep clothes that are physically impossible to wear, there may be other connections that prevent their discard. This study investigated reasons for keeping clothes that do not fit the current body and women's feelings about these clothes. Responses from forty-six women, 35 to 65 years in age, were collected using a web-based questionnaire. The women were clients of image consultants and contacted because of their interest in clothing and appearance. Participants described up to four garments in their closets that no longer fit, the reasons they did not fit, and their reasons for keeping them. Open coding was used to examine the responses, and generated four themes for keeping clothing that do not fit: Weight Management, Investment Value, Sentimental Value, and Aesthetic Object. The results suggest a process for separating the self from the ...
48 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the sartorial biographies of three prominent Muslim women who have made a significant mark in British public life: the textile artist Rezia Wahid, the stand-up comedienne Shazia Mirza, and the councilor and advisor on Muslim affairs Humera Khan.
Abstract: This article focuses on the dress of three prominent Muslim women who have made a significant mark in British public life: the textile artist Rezia Wahid, the stand-up comedienne Shazia Mirza, and the councilor and advisor on Muslim affairs Humera Khan. It focuses, in particular, on their sartorial biographies, tracing the processes, experiences, and reasoning behind their clothing choices. Whilst the wearing of dress that is visibly identifiable as Islamic is often interpreted as a sign of narrow conservatism or political activism, the biographies of these three women suggest something very different. Their sartorial choices and stylistic innovations are the creative products of cosmopolitan lifestyles and attitudes in which concerns about fashion, religion, politics, and aesthetics are interwoven in interesting ways. The article suggests that a focus on sartorial biography enables a shift away from a whole series of conventional dichotomies: religious/secular, traditional/modern, Eastern/Western, Islam/West, towards a broader understanding of the wide range of experiences and concerns that inform the clothing choices of contemporary British Muslim women. Finally, it is suggested that the proliferation of religiously oriented fashions amongst Muslims in Western metropolitan cities is not necessarily a sign of narrow conservatism. It may also signal the emergence of new forms of Islamic cosmopolitanism.
48 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a map of the formation of taste in Iran and the circulation of desire across class and geographic borders is sketched, focusing on haute couture production in Tehran.
Abstract: This article sketches a map of the formation of taste in Iran and the circulation of desire across class and geographic borders. Focusing on haute couture production in Tehran, it focuses on the careers of two designers. Discussing their sources of inspiration and the expectations of their clients, it illustrates different understandings of fashion in the city. Ideas about modernity, tradition, and the West are reworked according to the aesthetic approaches of each designer. Modernity and mobility are linked in fashion design practices, as they negotiate the tensions between state restrictions and consumer desires for fashion, modernity and bodily mobility. The ways in which designers rework or reinterpret Iranian traditional aesthetics brings to the fore the connections between Western sensibilities and those of the upper classes in Tehran. With Western taste and desires rather than Western dress informing highclass subjectivities in Tehran, dress inspired by traditional clothing is held in high ...
44 citations
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TL;DR: Wilson is the author of a number of books, including Adorned in Dreams: Fashion and Modernity (second edition, 2003) and Bohemians: The Glamorous Outcasts (2000).
Abstract: Elizabeth Wilson is Visiting Professor of Cultural Studies at the London College of Fashion, University of the Arts, London, and Professor Emeritus at London Metropolitan University. She is the author of a number of books, including Adorned in Dreams: Fashion and Modernity (second edition, 2003) and Bohemians: The Glamorous Outcasts (2000). Her novel, The Twilight Hour was published in July 2006. mail@elizabethwilson.net Elizabeth Wilson A Note on Glamour
42 citations
TL;DR: The question whether fashion can be regarded as a form of art begs the question of what kinds of things can legitimately be thus regarded as mentioned in this paper, and it would be difficult to contest the artistic quality of clothes throughout the centuries, fashion-like architecture-fulfills primarily a functional dimension.
Abstract: The question whether fashion can be regarded as a form of art begs the question of what kinds of things can legitimately be thus regarded. In the first section, some of the most recent contributions to dealing with this issue are critically analyzed. The conclusion that emerges is that—like art—clothes can provide the subject of historical research. The second section deals with the aesthetics of clothes. If sartorial fashion can be a form of art then we need an aesthetics of fashion. Whilst it would be difficult to contest the artistic quality of clothes throughout the centuries, fashion—like architecture—fulfills primarily a functional dimension. Some of the key concepts pertaining to classical aesthetics, such as taste in the writings of Edmund Burke, the Third Earl of Shaftesbury, and Immanuel Kant with special reference to Kant's less well-known writings on anthropology under which he classified fashion, are discussed. Some of the more recent contributions such as Curt J. Ducasse's brilli...
40 citations
TL;DR: In this article, various emerging trends in the Egyptian fashion industry in relation to changing lifestyles in Egypt are discussed. And they focus on the emergence and coexistence of different local fashion genres, namely Islamic chic, locally produced Western "chic", and so-called "ethnic chic", all of which have come into existence next to imported Western fashions.
Abstract: This article traces various emerging trends in the Egyptian fashion industry in relation to changing lifestyles in Egypt. It focuses in particular on the emergence and coexistence of different local fashion genres, namely “Islamic chic,” locally produced Western “chic,” and so-called “ethnic chic,” all of which have come into existence next to imported Western fashions, which have a long tradition in Egypt. These new trends can be interpreted as part of the interactive processes of globalization. It is argued that both the ethnic look and Islamic chic are promoting new strategies of “distinction” and refined taste. Intricately connected with identity formation and closely associated with “folklorizing” culture, “traditional” clothes along with local handicrafts and ethnic items have become fashionable amongst the well-to-do and tourists. Meanwhile, Islamic attire has transformed from being an austere marker of resistance to Westernization and upper-class pretensions to a new form of “embourgeoisem...
TL;DR: Kumar et al. as mentioned in this paper present ethnographic material from contemporary Kerala, where recent shifts in Muslim women's dress styles (shift from sari towards salwaar kameez; adoption of pardah; use of Arabic abaya) have come under critique.
Abstract: This article presents ethnographic material from contemporary Kerala, where recent shifts in Muslim women's dress styles (shift from sari towards salwaar kameez; adoption of pardah; use of Arabic abaya) have come under critique. We show that commentators fail to take into account the degree to which all Indian women—not simply Muslims—are heavily constrained in dress by issues of modesty and “decency.” Dress codes for all communities and both sexes have been continually reworked since the nineteenth century. Muslims' recent changes are prompted by a shift away from Hindu idioms and towards more Islamic idioms of modesty; changes index Indian Muslims’ growing realization (also apparent in other spheres) that much of India's putatively common culture is actually rooted in Hindu practice. We also show that while popular and ethnographic focus alike falls upon women, men are also deeply caught up in respecting dress codes. But concerns with decency are always negotiated within desires for fashion. Ker...
TL;DR: This article examined the relationship between luxury brands and the arts through an analysis of Prada's patronage of avant-garde artists such as Tom Sachs, Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, Carsten Holler and architects such as Rem Koolhaas.
Abstract: This chapter is an updated and revised version of an article initially published in the journal Fashion Theory.
The chapter examines the relationship between luxury brands and the arts through an analysis of Prada’s patronage of avant-garde artists such as Tom Sachs, Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, Carsten Holler and architects such as Rem Koolhaas. The proposition that global corporate identity has increasingly become linked with artistic creativity is tested in relation to Pierre Bourdieu’s writings about social distinction (1984) and his analysis of the ‘field’ of cultural production (1993).
The above is part of a body of work including conference papers and articles analysing the shifting boundaries of the art world where the interrelationship between private collections, public museums, commercial galleries and auction houses has become increasingly complex. The focus is on patronage as constituting an elaborate network of alliances linking cultural, commercial and political interests across a range of industry sectors.
Related articles published from April 2008 onwards include:
Ryan, N. (2012) ‘The New Medici: Mediating Luxury through Art’, Writing Visual Culture, University of Hertfordshire (forthcoming).
Ryan, N. (2010) ‘From New York to the Congo via Marfa: Branded Occupation’, OCCUPATION: Negotiations with Constructed Space, publication of conference proceedings. Brighton University, 2nd-4th July. http://artsresearch.brighton.ac.uk/research/centre/office-for-spatial-research/projects/project-and-conference-archive/occupation/conference-papers/39_Nicky%20Ryan_From%20New%20York%20to%20the%20Congo%20via%
Ryan, N. (2009) ‘Patronising Prada’, in Monika Parrinder and Colin Davies (eds.) Limited language: Rewriting Design, Basel: Birkhauser, pp. 33-40.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors make a comparison between the play in women's dress between revealing and concealing their skin with the tendency in men's dress to mime layers of uncoverings while never finally exposing more than face and hands.
Abstract: The article discusses the way in which, for several centuries in the West, both men and women, in antithetical ways, have used the clothes they wear simultaneously to show and to hide their bodies. To a degree both erotic and ethical boundaries, and the conflicted boundary between the sexes, are marked by contrasted forms of equivocal display. Particular comparison is made between the play in women's dress between revealing and concealing their skin with the tendency in men's dress to mime layers of uncoverings while never finally exposing more than face and hands. The article discusses symmetries and asymmetries of dress, and the differing kinds of body that clothes construct—the smart body, the exaggerated body. It considers too the way in which display has been shared out, with women and men willing to show distinctly different parts of their bodies. In closing, the article reviews the role of teasing in human culture more broadly, and recapitulates the run of the sacred coverings and uncoverin...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored the significance of a new Muslim lifestyle doll called Razanne who is being marketed over the internet as a role model for Muslim girls living in the West.
Abstract: This article explores the significance of a new Muslim lifestyle doll called Razanne who is being marketed over the internet as a role model for Muslim girls living in the West. While the doll is presented as an alternative to hedonistic Barbie, it bears a striking resemblance to her and participates in the same consumer culture. In contrast to Barbie, Razanne's sexuality is downplayed and she has a headscarf (hijab) and full-length coat (jilbab) for outdoor use, which are designed to encourage modesty and emphasize her Muslim identity whilst at the same time allowing space for following the latest fashions for indoor wear. The doll participates in the creation of a normative visual stereotype of the Muslim, which has emerged both out of Western stereotypes of Muslims, and the self-stereotyping that occurs amongst Muslims living in Western contexts. In minority contexts, Muslims feel obliged to perform their Muslimness through dress and other actions. Razanne, it is argued is a stereotype of a ste...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore conflicting notions of morality, religion, virtue, and authenticity through an analysis of dress and identity politics in Mali and expose how these different groups of women debate the significance of particular dress items.
Abstract: This article explores conflicting notions of morality, religion, virtue, and authenticity through an analysis of dress and identity politics in Mali. While many women in urban Mali claim that being a Muslim believer does not preclude one from cultivating a fashionable, modern look, they are challenged by other women who emphasize the representational function of dress. To the latter, the choice of a dress forms part of their public enactment of a pious disposition and their understanding of religious virtue that revolves around notions of female modesty, submissiveness, and patience. These divergent views of proper female dress are further complicated by many women's ambivalent positioning vis-a-vis the government's promotion of “traditional dress” as an emblem of an authentic African identity. By exposing how these different groups of women debate the significance of particular dress items, this article draws attention to the complex and paradoxical nature of the practices through which women int...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focused on the manner in which Elizabeth Hurley's career is now centrally located within the world of fashion; not merely as a model advertising the wares of other producers, but as a designer creating and advertising her own look.
Abstract: This article is focused on the manner in which Elizabeth Hurley's career is now centrally located within the world of fashion; not merely as a model advertising the wares of other producers, but as a designer creating and advertising her own “look.” The article explores the ways in which she represents a potent contemporary purveyor of a specific “habitus” via her own clothing range and accessories: Elizabeth Hurley Beach, launched in 2005. The article argues that with the establishment of Elizabeth Hurley Beach, Elizabeth Hurley has created a marketable and identifiable “brand” that is built entirely on her persona, image, and upon the centrality of her body within the promotion of the range. Thus, Elizabeth Hurley illustrates the potency of a fashion habitus of which she is both transmitter and subject, having herself to engage in a disciplined regime required to attain and maintain her “fashionable body.” The article argues that Elizabeth Hurley Beach not only represents a range of glamorous cl...
TL;DR: The Body and Media Theory by Bernadette Wegenstein this article is a popular body and media theory text for women's fashion and is used extensively in fashion theory literature, e.g.
Abstract: (2007). Getting under the Skin: The Body and Media Theory by Bernadette Wegenstein. Fashion Theory: Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 507-510.
TL;DR: In this paper, the representation of fashion in a selection of women's writings as instances of how women writers communicate with their readership, if not constitute an implied readership with those who share an understanding of the complexities of fashion and its various meanings in everyday life.
Abstract: In this article I read the representation of fashion in a selection of women's writings as instances of how women writers communicate with their readership, if not constitute an implied readership with those who share an understanding of the complexities of fashion and its various meanings in everyday life. This process of communication constitutes a mode of “transactional reading,” a way of reading objects in everyday life in order to negotiate their meanings and values for subjective and aesthetic experience. Such negotiations are intended to both elucidate as well transform the alienation effect of commodities in the advanced capitalist territories of North America and elsewhere. Specifically, I consider Toni Morrison's novel The Bluest Eye, Carolyn Steedman's materialist autobiography Landscape for a Good Woman, Jamaica Kincaid's materialist biography Biography of a Dress, Anna Lee Walters's short story “Apparitions,” and Linda Hogan's “New Shoes.” These writers demonstrate that transactional ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an exhibition review of fashion in colors, which is called Fashion in Colors: Fashion Theory: Vol. 11, No. 2-3, pp. 369-376.
Abstract: (2007). Exhibition Review: Fashion in Colors. Fashion Theory: Vol. 11, No. 2-3, pp. 369-376.
TL;DR: An extended illustrated book review of Marjane Satrape's comic-strip book, Persepolis, which focuses on growing up in Iran in the 1970's and 1980's is given in this paper.
Abstract: An extended illustrated book review of Marjane Satrape's comic-strip book, Persepolis, which focuses on growing up in Iran in the 1970's and 1980's.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors apply the principles of fashion theory to the analysis of social violence as manifested in the accessorization, display, and contextualized use of weapons, and conclude that fashion principles are used to delimit actual violence by indexing relative status and power relationships between individuals.
Abstract: While much data on arms and armor in the context of historic costume is available, analysis of weapons with regard to fashion has not been previously attempted. This article makes preliminary contributions to this effort by applying the principles of fashion theory to the analysis of social violence as manifested in the accessorization, display, and contextualized use of weapons. Three topics are addressed: how fashion principles are used to delimit actual violence by indexing relative status and power relationships between individuals; how these principles can be both generalized across cultures and correlated to levels of social complexity; and how the fashion of arms and armor has endured and even flourished in modern times despite the eradication of weapons from contemporary civilian fashion. The conclusions offered are intended to stimulate discussion and further research into the role of fashion as a primary medium for the discursive construction of social forces.
TL;DR: Lynge et al. as mentioned in this paper investigated the position of niche fashion magazines within the wider system of fashion by integrating the encoding of fashion at the level of production, the textual components of the fashion magazine, and the decoding processes involved in reading fashion magazines.
Abstract: Ane Lynge is a PhD student at the London College of Fashion. Her project “Reading Niche Fashion Magazines” investigates the position of niche fashion magazines within the wider system of fashion. It methodologically integrates the encoding of fashion at the level of production, the textual components of the fashion magazine, and the decoding processes involved in reading fashion magazines. a.lynge1@fashion.arts.ac.uk Reviewed by Ane Lynge Exhibition Review: In Fashion: New Swedish Clothing Design
TL;DR: The Fresh Lipstick: Redressing Fashion and Feminism by Linda M. Scott as mentioned in this paper is a collection of essays about fashion and women's empowerment. But it does not address women's role in fashion.
Abstract: (2007). Fresh Lipstick: Redressing Fashion and Feminism by Linda M. Scott. Fashion Theory: Vol. 11, No. 2-3, pp. 365-367.
TL;DR: Wilson as discussed by the authors is the author of a number of books, including Adorned in Dreams: Fashion and Modernity (second edition, 2003) and Bohemians: The Glamorous Outcasts (2000).
Abstract: Elizabeth Wilson is Visiting Professor of Cultural Studies at the London College of Fashion, University of the Arts, London, and Professor Emeritus at London Metropolitan University. She is the author of a number of books, including Adorned in Dreams: Fashion and Modernity (second edition, 2003) and Bohemians: The Glamorous Outcasts (2000). Her novel, The Twilight Hour was published in 2006. www.elizabethwilson.net Reviewed by Elizabeth Wilson Book Review
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an exhibition review of Form Follows Fashion: Fashion Theory: Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 109-114, with a focus on form-follows-fashion.
Abstract: (2007). Exhibition Review: Form Follows Fashion. Fashion Theory: Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 109-114.