Art 233 Exam

Ethnic minority

"a group of people different from the rest of the community by racial origins or cultural background, and usually claiming or enjoying official recognition of their group identity" •Stuart Hall, cultural studies scholar—Ethnicities involve becoming as well as being -they have histories but are also undergoing constant transformation

Post WWI

"new rich"—bankers, industrialists, railroad barons and wives took over fashion leadership ◦i.e. the rise of socialites

Raymond Williams (cultural studies scholar):

-Everyone consumes clothing -"You do not only buy an object; you buy social respect, discrimination, health, beauty, success, power to control your environment."

Achieved Status

position gained through accomplishment. Range depends on system—can change throughout the course of life—this status can be determined by status'—like our birth circumstances, economic situations, health care/edu access, etc.

What is dress?

A product and process that distinguishes humans from other animals

Artifacts are:

Actual items of dress From archaeological digs Personal connections Museums Provide archaeological evidence or info about dress of people from past From actual items or fragments From ancient bodies discovered

Sewing Machine

All garments sewn by hand before the sewing machine ◦People didn't own much apparel ◦Wore it out—until frayed Elias Howe invented sewing machine in 1846 Wealthy owned multiple garments Museums only have wealthy clothing ◦These were the well-made clothing that remained in tact ◦"Everyday" clothing has too much wear

World Fashion

specific style of dress that is worn in the exact same style in many parts of the world at the same time

Body modifications

temporary or permanent alterations made to the body

The Challenge

Assessing evidence with accuracy or bias

Study of actual dress is somewhat limited when textiles prone to disintegration

Few garments date earlier than 17th century ◦Jewelry ◦Armor both preserve if non-reactive metals

The goal for using classification of dress

to talk and write about dress without making unfair or biased judgements

Ethic dress

way group members dress to ID as any ethnic group

We Assess People by their dress

we usually sum up their social status, age, gender, job or occupation just by what they are wearing

19th Century

The Delineator Godey's Ladies book ◦Their fashion plates colored by hand until late in the century-then moved to color printing

•18th century=race was biological concept tied to physical features like skin color, hair texture, facial features (aka Phenotypic)—visible properties that can be traced in large part to genetics •Cultural studies shifts from race as a thing to racial formation as a social process that categorizes people and creates social differences. •Categories first emerged have to do with color:

whiteness

Fabrics & their Origins

• •Calico: Calicut or Calcutta •Cotton muslin: Mosul •Chintz: Hindu chint or chete •Satin: Zantoun (China) •Damask: Damascus (Syria) •

Production became Industrialized

• In 18th and 19th centuries with mechanization •But even invention of sewing machine didn't make clothing production any less labor intensive •Early 20th century people were more aware of labor abuses and sweatshops in NYC and around the world

Belonging-in-Difference

•"Individuals continually navigate and negotiate between processes of belonging and differentiating" •Individuals identify with and differentiatefrom one another on an ongoing basis •The place or space from which people articulate their identities and communities •Implies self-awareness or self-reflexivity about a group's own cultural uniqueness

Whiteness

•"Whiteness" has been re-articulated at different times in U.S. history: not a fixed racial category (Susan Koshy 2001) . •Initial boundaries of whiteness expanded to include groups like Irish, Italian, Eastern European, Jews that were initially seen as racially distinct.

Style-Fashion-Dress Circuit

•1-Production •2-Consumption •3-Distribution •4-Subject formation •5-Regulation

What is Society?

•A group of individuals who interact with one another based on sharing of beliefs and ways of behavior. •People who live together and share ideas about structural patterns, the system of organizing families, political, economic and religious structures

Modifications: Color

Hair & skin(dyed dark or lightened) skin can be lightened or darkened through tattooing, powdering, painting, staining, sun-tanning, bleaching... •Ex: Sun-tanning in the more recent years has become known to be dangerous to the skin and it is no longer a firmly held idea that it makes one more beautiful. Now, there is UV protection in the form of lotions, sprays, oils that are included in our process of dress. And as an alternative to sun-tanning, there are sunless tanning lotions also applied to the skin and included in our process of dress.

Visual Records

How we find out about dress: ◦Actual items ◦Paintings/drawings ◦Sculptures ◦Written descriptions ◦Costume history ◦Electronic material ◦ALL show representations

Photography

Introduced in 19th century Foreshadowed 20th century Western fashion promotion via photographers

Taste Example

Kalabari women in West Africa often taste the cloth to determine if it has the rice starch and indigo dye taste that indicates it was really made by hand in India and not in a factory

Advantages of Electronic Sources

Like dress history, is a combination of visual and written documentation

Fashion Dolls

Mini representations of newest ideas in women's fashions from Paris ◦Thought to date back to 14th century ◦Primary way to transfer info on French fashion (in 17th and 18th centuries)

Bias

Natural distortion occurring in written descriptions as a result of personal perspectives and purpose ◦Perspectives differ by age, gender, ethnicity, class, experience...

Disadvantages of Electronic Sources

No filtering process to assess validity/significance of information or ideas Electronic manipulation makes it easier to create false content Written documentation often missing—finding sources for images, etc.

Dress History Books

Offspring of costume plates ◦Now use photos, not drawings ◦Book of Costume (Davenport) uses photos of artwork

Costume Plates

Portrayed info after the fact of established modes of dress Provide info that predates fashion photography

Preservation

Preservation of perishable materials such as leather, woolens, cottons, linens, silks, furs Happens in extreme cold or dryness—or other environmental conditions that stall effects of oxygen, light

Fashion Plates

Promoted and publicized new fashions—more similar in use to fashion dolls

Novels

Provide info from another time period or culture Can describe dress in time they're written and give information on social dress codes—alluding information on psychological experiences

Written Records:

Provide valuable information that is not available visually Tells us what we can't see ◦like how crinolines maintained shape, or why Amish use straight pins instead of button closures

Evidence

Ranges from textile fragments to whole garments ◦Beads ◦Jewelry ◦Makeup residue ◦Dyes ◦Perfumes

Otzi the Iceman

Researchers found from melting glacial ice in Italian Alps Boots insulated with straw, legs had 61tattoos

Travelers/Explorers

Their intrigue has provided valuable commentary and descriptions with unparalleled details Marco Polo: 13th century travel experiences to Asia ◦Included descriptions of customs, as well as dress—referenced fabrics Captain Cook: ◦South Pacific—tattooing practices in Tahiti Mrs.Trollope ◦Book: Domestic Manners of Americans 1832 ◦Details of grooming, dress, appearance

Advantages & Disadvantages of Visual Representations

Then and now ◦Provide an example of another limitation of visual representations of dress Allow observation of changing practices over time within a culture Can be posed, don't always reflect realit

Early Prints

Theodore DeBry 1590/91—ex of dress from the New World ◦Depicted American Indians in Florida/Virginia and their dress ◦Taken from paintings done by Jacques LeMoyneDemorgues—from travels to Florida 1564/65 Also made prints from adaptations of watercolors by John White—artist who resided with Roanoke settlers ◦White's regarded as earliest authentic pictorial records of aboriginal life (now US)

Records of Dress are Important

They're sources of info Help us learn about types of dress in any society or culture Indicate possible human behavior

Process

actions taken to modify and supplement the body to address physical needs and meet social/cultural expectations about how we (individuals) should look Regardless of society/culture the process of dress always involves all 5 senses

Dress .....

anchors an individual socially and culturally

Social role

behavior that accompanies social status. Status' and roles can change for people over time. We carve our own place in the social structure---through marriage, occupation choices, money, politics, religion...all those decisions

Tradition

cultural heritage, and practices that come from the past

Social Status

defines individual's position in society and within various social groups

Ethnicity

idea of tradition because ethnicity refers to heritage of a group of people with common cultural backgrounds

Categories of Body Modifications

include aspects of the body that are perceived visually such as: -color -volume/proportion -shape/structure -surface design

Product

items used as a result of creativity and technology among humans

Ethnic group

merged cultural or microcultures within one nation formed in the place they migrated

Ascribed status

"a given" like age, gender, ethnicity, class, caste

Subject Formation

•A process that prioritizes "becoming" over "being" as a priority •Subjection through cultural discourses is part of subject formation—especially in context of fashion because discourses change. -Subjection refers to process of power relations being imposed in some way •Power relations embedded in cultural discourses, or ongoing, systematic cultural conversations that aren't on a level playing field

Racial Re-articulation

•A way of re-thinking, revising, reclaiming race away from hegemonic (dominant in a political or social context) representation •How meanings of race--boundaries, and practices--are continually revised -from the bottom up (everyday self-fashioning) and from the top down—(media and legal categories) through cultural discourse

Microcultures

•AKA subcultures or cultures composed of smaller groups •Those who belong to one group within a society & don't necessarily agree with those in other groups about non-material culture—like values, or meanings

Modifications (shape) Cont.

•Also, shoes change height. In China until the 20th century, middle and upper class women had their feet permanently shorted through foot breaking and binding. •This would make the feet 3-5 inches long, which in Chinese culture was a (small feet) component of beauty. Often women with bound feet were unable to walk on their own. •

Bloomers

•Amelia Bloomer -who the bloomers style of pant is named after •Bloomer: 1850's dress reform -Wore bloomer pants to resist corsets and hoopskirts -didn't catch on but did for children's wear and women's active wear/phys edu uniforms •Western fashion experimented with head coverings and bifurcated pants Inspired by Turkish styles.

Nutrition/Disease

•Amount and type of food can account for differences in body development •Climate can limit what food can be grown -Arctic region=severe cold and seal was major source of food for Inuit (needed high calorie diet to make up for heat loss) -SE Asia=rice flourishes in water soaked ground •Diseases may also cause changes to body form, and in turn affect dress •Ideals of beauty may have to do with preferred body shape -endomorphism means obesity may be encouraged

Body Supplements: Enclosures

•Any supplement that surrounds a portion of the body, whether it covers it or not. •i.e. Necklace and scarf: necklace encloses neck, scarf encloses and covers. •Enclosures include anything wrapped, suspended, or pre-shaped

60's/70's Women's Movements:

•Raised questions about extent to which fashion and beauty systems entrap women in traditional feminine roles •Many women reacted by opposing symbols/practices associated with femininity -like wearing bras, skirts, shaving legs, or wearing makeup •Argued that fashion itself is a process of experimentation and that feminism not just about gender relations but also interplay with vectors of power -such as class, race, ethnicity, sexuality

Portable Ethnicity

•Consumer experience involving target marketing to specific ethnicities -i.e. Hispanic or Latina/o consumers often represented as "family oriented, traditional" which marketers play to •Relates to ideas of globalization and multiculturalism •Can be negative because ethic articulations are easily appropriated by capitalism

Cultural Appropriation

•Cultural appropriation when articulating ethnicity •Imagined communities: Japanese kimono or Scottish kilt & the stereotypes •Highland Scotland tartan kilt example>p 88

Culture & Society

•Culture and Society are two concepts needed in order to comprehend the meaning of dress in a place and time in order to analyze dress as a system of nonverbal communication

Modifications: Shape/Structure

•Cutting hair is most common way of changing shape of hair and beards. Brushing, rolling, binding in nets, solutions all help the body of hair hold particular shapes. •EX: 1960's women's beehives or 19thcentury men's mustaches.

Dress and Cultural Meanings/Appropriateness

•Definitions of appropriate dress differs from one culture to another •EX: Coverage of the body with supplements can range from a finger ring (min) to an encompassing robe (max) •Depending on the society, people may be appropriately dressed even if they are mostly bare and exposed, whereas other cultures/societies may be appropriately dressed by being fully covered -like Middle Eastern women.

Race & Ethnicity

•Difficult to disentangle race from ethnicity because of the discourses that have historically linked them (lisa lowe 2000) •Compared to race, ethnicity more open and inclusive concept---allows people to think through how they experience a sense of identity and belonging •Ethnicity tends to connote a higher degree of agency

Distribution

•Distribution: the physical movement, and marketing of goods •Sits between production and consumption •Inherently contradictory -Divides and disperses -The bridge and part of solution to disconnect between production and consumption •Can also be site of rupture between the two processes, like when image making (i.e. branding, advertising) overrides material practice •Ties together economy and culture through network of humans (workers, consumers) and non humans (fabrics, sewing machines)

Ethnicity often a political symbol

•Dress plays important role •1960s/1970s civil rights: -Afro hairstyles=symbol of ethnic pride •

Handheld Objects

•EX: Purses, briefcases; backpacks; fans by Chinese and Japanese cultures; walking sticks or canes; bouquet of flowers carried by brides.

Orientalism

•Edward Said: "biased and distorted outsider interpretations of the East." •Shaped by Imperialist attitudes in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

EYES

•Epicanthic fold=fold of skin that covers part or all of the edge of the upper eyelid -Common in Asian populations, Central American, and !Kung of Africa

Ethnicity

•Ethnic group=change indicating the decreased importance of biological categories and other great importance of culture •If humans must be categorized... -Ethnicity more useful than race because it reflects shared culture and history rather than physical appearance •

Sociocultural Systems

•Everyday life norms very different from one another •3 systems include: -Tribal -Imperial -Commercial

Both/And, Either/Or

•Ex: Change AND continuity vs. change OR continuity -Change AND continuity suggests the two exist together -Change OR continuity suggests they exist separately as one or the other •Fashion and culture undergo processes of change and continuity. Fashion: change within continuity; culture: continuity within change

Fashion & Culture Studies

•Fashion and Culture interrelated: •Fashion: "a prevailing custom, a current usage; esp. one characteristic of a particular place or period of time" and "the mode of dress, etiquette, furniture, style of speech, etc. adopted in society for the time being" •Culture: "the distinctive ideas, customs, social behavior, products, or way of life of a particular society, people, or period"

What is fashion?

•Fashion is a social process of negotiation and navigation through what is to come •Fashion involves becoming collectively with others •Who decides what constitutes fashion?

Production

•Fashion is material. The circuit of style-fashion-dress helps materialize culture's circuits. •Materials of fashion (fibers, fabrics, garments) are produced by and for bodies •Humans have been fashioning their bodies with textiles and other materials (or forms of dress) for more than 20,000 years

Ethnocentrism/Ethnocentric

•Misunderstanding or misinterpretation—i.e. the expression in actions or judgments of a particular cultural viewpoint as superior to another. •We focus on what is important in ourculture and ignore important aspects of other cultures, believing our own practices to be better than others'. •

Binary points of view are common in Western thought

•Modern dress vs. traditional dress •Western dress vs. "the rest" •Masculinity vs. femininity •White vs. black •Straight vs. gay •Belonging vs. differentiating •Mainstream vs. alternative or underground •Production vs. consumption •Maximalism vs. minimalism

Regulation

•Regulation of subject formation may be formal (labor laws, dress codes) or informal (social pressures, cultural discourses) •Entails concept of bringing production, distribution, and consumption of clothing under control and reducing these processes according to some principle, standard, or norm. -Principles, standards, and norms themselves are embedded in cultural discourses

What is Culture?

•The human-made (material) items and patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior (non-material) shared by members of a group who regularly interact with one another. •Relates to the way humans behave, feel and think from the time they're born

Cultural Authentication

•The process by which members of a cultural group incorporate foreign cultural items and make them their own (more in chpt 9)

Sericulture:

•The production of raw silk by means of raising caterpillars (larvae) •Domesticated silkworm (Bombyx mori).

Fashion could be

•Though culture can be seen as a broader, more enduring concept than fashion, both use the idea of custom: "a habitual or usual practice; common way of acting; usage, fashion, habit" •Fashion could be "custom for a time" and culture could be "custom over time" •Fashion, like culture is both a social processand a material practice. -Both simultaneously undergo continual change and continuity.

Socialization

•To learn about one's society

Body Supplements: Combo

•Use more than one described features (previously mentioned). •Loose garments with a minimum of shaping to exact body dimensions are classified as combinations—like a blouse/shirt.

Physical Diversity

•Variations in physical characteristics have to do with: -Heredity -Environmental influences -Age -Individual development

"Tiger's Leap into the Past"

•Walter Benjamin •Means: inspiration derived from past and comes back in a fresh way •Everyday process of minding appearances includes articulation and re-articulationsthat meld nostalgia with newness

Culture ....

•We make material things because of our non material culture—what we make comes from our ideas, beliefs, values. •Significance of material and non material things comes from being shared by a group of people

Culture is:

•What people have •What people do •What people think

Modifications (Volume/Proportion) Cont.

•With hair: •Temporary=Teasing or thinning scissors; mud; hairpieces to change volume. •Permanent=hair implants

Body Supplements

•Worn at a particular moment in time (i.e. Halloween makeup) Special occasion •Items that are placed upon the body, most often thought of as garments by Euro-Americans, but this also includes jewelry and accessories •Characterized by the way they are made or applied to the body—like wrapped, suspended, inserted, clipped, adhered

Racial categories

•categories=result of human's attempts to ID biologically distinct groupings based upon physical appearance •Racial categories organized by anthropologists based on supposedly correlated physical traits—skin color in the forefront

Afrocentric

•coming from an African country or with African-American heritage and favoring own way of viewing the world over other ways.

Cultural adaptation

•creating material and nonmaterial culture to thrive in different environments

According to Michel Foucault.....

•cultural discourses have imposed and shaped certain understandings of subject positions—like family background, gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality... EX: fashion imagery of women perpetuates cultural discourse of thinness. This representation structures thinking of ideal fashionable bodies, and also shapes understandings of beauty and fashion.

Paradox:

•fitting in with your social world while also expressing individuality and uniqueness

Texile:

•from Latin texere, meaning "to weave" •Textile material culture has been global for centuries -Textiles major reason for Columbus and other explorers to find new routes -Encouraged trade among different countries and cultures, like Southern India with Portugal and France •Textiles told cultural stories around the world. -Textiles and other materials, record and represent culture.

Sociocultural factors:

•language, religion, and political differences may also act as barriers and slow mingling of genes between groups •Geography: -greater the geographic/cultural distance=greater the physical differences

Phenotypes

•physically apparent characteristics -ie skin color, body proportions

Becoming

•process of deciphering and expressing a sense of who we are, which happens alongside expressing when and where we are.

Attachments to Body

•Most often worn as accessories or jewelry, sometimes are primary type of dress in other parts of the world. •Inserted>> include things like hairpins, combs, barrettes, flowers in hair (see below for more). •Pressure fastened>> used to clip or hold attachments onto various parts of body. EX: Clip earrings (see below for more). •Adhered>>Some supplements affixed to body using glue. Like false mustaches, eyelashes, fingernails (see below)

style-fashion-dress

•Nation, race, ethnicity, religion are allinfluenced by style-fashion-dress •Nations are dynamic and have multipleracial and ethnic groups -inappropriate to define national identity with authoritative "checklists" that gloss over cultural struggles •Has 56 state recognized ethnic groups with overlapping forms of style-fashion-dressinfluenced by geography, natural resources, religion and other cultural factors

The Silk Road

•Network of trade routes •Central to connecting East and West (Asia to Europe) •Silk played major role in trade but so did other goods •Silk Road also spread diseases and plagues

Pre-shaped cont.

•Other pre-shaped items include hats, shoes, sandals, belts. Metal not only for jewelry, also used to make larger pre-shaped enclosures meant to cover large portions of body—such as chainmail and armor for protection in battle (historically) •Construction of pre-shaped enclosures usually accommodates contours of the wearer's body. i.e. a piece of metal molded into the encircling form of a ring.

Ethnic

•Pertaining to nations not Christian or Jewish from a European perspective •In 19th century ethnic became known as: "pertaining to race; peculiar to a race or nation; ethnological-common racial, cultural, religious, or linguistic characteristics" -In US, ethnic meant: foreign or exotic •Connotations of ethnicity changed in 1960's with civil rights movements and identity politics -Increased awareness of cultural representations of difference—racial, ethnic, national, religious

Body Supplements: Pre-Shaped

•Popular in societies such as China, Japan, Europe. •Pre-shaped garments of cloth became more closely fitted to body in European and British world. •EX: English and their tailoring traditions. Careful fitting is required to achieve the cultural region's ideal of appropriate formal dress.

Acculturation

•Process of learning a new culture

Globalization

•Process that integrates separate societies and cultural groups of the world into unified, socially interacting structure •Trade, travel, and technology are all drivers of globalization

Race again

•Race=social concept that didn't begin until Age of Exploration and widespread European ship travel (Alain Corcos) -"Europeans were struck by the fact that the people they encountered appeared to be physically different from themselves and they quickly began to devise systems of classification" •

World dress

•similar body modifications and supplements worn by people in various parts of the world no matter where the types of dress or the people themselves originated. •EX: European men's shirts, introduced elsewhere as result of European colonization from 17-19th centuries. •OR garments from non-Western areas—like Japanese kimonos influenced Western robes (NOW especially!) or flip flops=Japanese origin; Cowboy boots=Argentinian origin

Tribal

•small groups of people, related to another by blood. Organized around domestic household and extended network.

Imperial

•societies with a central government organizing up to hundreds of thousands of members with clear hierarchy of political power, decision making for social organization, and use of resources.

commercial

•type of society people live in today in most of the world with commerce as the main activity of organization

Appropriateness

•varies depending on different societies and cultures—i.e. French and Saudi Arabian women...French women are more exposed •Dress is an example of material culture, but dress also communicates non-material culture. •How we are dressed may relate to our beliefs about standards of dress -like wearing white for funerals in Japan, but black in North America. OR a bride's covered shoulders in a church wedding for stricter or more formal religions.

Speciation

•when populations are totally separated by geographical or behavioral barriers and the separated populates adapt to different environments through process of natural selection -Human population has never been separated long enough from others to evolve into different species

4 Sociological Concepts

-Social Status -Ascribed Status -Achieved Status -Social Role

Body modifications vs. Body supplements

-We categorize modifications according to which parts of the body they affect -We categorize supplements according to how they relate to the human body -Modifications and supplements help communicate individuality -Either help a person establish a connection with others like them (their tribe) or separates them from others not like them

Dress includes clothing but also:

-cosmetics (paints/powders/etc) sight, touch -tatoos: sight, touch perfumes/aftershaves/lotions: scent dressing our bodies through bathing to eliminate body odors - using soaps, deodorants: scent jewelry and the sounds they make like bangles, charm bracelet, anklets, etc heels (clicking) sound (sound) of a particular fabrics, like taffeta, rain wear - coats and rubber boots

Dress and the Senses

-forms of dress affect the different senses -scent, sight, sound, touch, taste

The Classification System for dress

-helps us study products and processes of dress within and across cultures without bringing in our own cultural bias -the classification system uses culturally neutral concepts to ID specific dress around the world -we use to understand the power of dress within any society and culture to communicate information about individuals and groups -organizes our efforts to study dress around the world in a manner that discourages us from viewing the dress of others merely through our own cultural system of terminology and values -use terms such as "handheld supplement carried by men or women" when describing what you know to be as a "purse" or briefcase.

humans dress for:

-protection of body -extension of body's abilities -beautification -nonverbal communication about wearer -variety of reasons/meanings for dress from one society to another

•Dress is a tool humans use to interface with the physical environment, pursue beauty, and communicate with one another •

....

Fashion Plates vs. Fashion Photography

Both portray idealized images of female body/dress based on momentary beauty ideals ◦Fashion plates can be drawn to reflect ideal; Photos can be "photoshopped" to reflect ideal ◦We believe photographers present accuracy Both tend to promote an idea, rather than the reality of dress Men's dress not as publicized—esp. 19thcentury when it became more standardized ◦Men focused energy on making money Though, wives and daughters still participated in personal display

Flax

Common fiber in Egypt (linen) used for tunics, loincloths, skirts, robs King Tut=1920's (Howard Carter) ◦Able to replicate Tut's garments ◦Allowed them to determine functional reasons behind clothing construction

Shape & Structure EX:

Corsets drastically changed shape and structure to the body. The organs of women who wore corsets most of their lives would literally be shifted to unnatural areas of the body.

Costume vs. Fashion Plates

Costume plate: portrays past fashions (think fashion history) Fashion plate: portrays current fashions (think fashion magazine)

Curators

Curators collect designer, wedding, special occasion—NOT daily clothing Punk: Chaos to Couture exhibit (previously ignored types of dress)

Commercial Artists Representations of Dress

Dress incorporated in ads for mass media or TV Dress is usually up to date and accurate, which provides a historical record

1911 Triangle shirtwaist fire

On March 25th 1911, The Triangle Shirtwaist Company caught fire, killing 145 workers. It was located on the top 3 floors of the Asch building in New York City. It was a sweatshop that employed teenage immigrant women, most of whom did not speak much English. They worked 12 hour days and made $15 a week. There were 4 elevators in the building with only one being fully functional, and two stairways. One stairway only opened inward, and the second remained locked from the outside to prevent stealing. The fire escape itself was much too narrow for effective use. On the day of the fire, there were 600 in the building, and the elevator operator could only make 4 trips carrying a dozen women at a time before the fire made the elevator unusable. The women who used the stairways were found burned alive because they found a locked door at the bottom. The incident spurred a union protest march on April 5th with 80k in attendance. Despite other deadly incidents and protests of conditions since this happened more than a century ago, the conditions of sweatshops and apparel manufacturing haven't changed to the extent they should. If interested in learning more, I've included a PBS documentary as a link on the slide above.

Visual Representations

Paintings, drawings, engravings, sculptures, garments, photos, cave drawings... (early ex.) Videos, movies, TV, radio, digital (modern)

Actual Artifacts are:

Very beneficial Garment or fragments: examined for fiber composition or production method Materials/technologies that categorizes times and places Therefore learn about who wore them

Electronic Sources

Visual documentation and written information on the internet Many sites created by dress scholars Designers/manufacturers promote their goods online Trend forecasters post images of street-wear Bloggers post daily outfits Museums post images of collections Individuals use Facebook to record life events

Written Description/Commentaries

Visual representation should be cross checked with other data, like written descriptions Written descriptions: ◦Personal writings, letters/diaries, other published writing—fiction and non fiction Written commentaries: ◦Essays or longer nonfiction works (published or not) Analyze dress in time of essayist ◦focused on aspect observed in that era, place, occasion, social group Diaries, travel accounts, catalogs, biographies, novels, satires, essays, memoirs, history books, manuals ◦provide much information even if not primary intention

Dress History:

Where visual representations and written commentary come together Began with compilation of costume plate collections Descriptive texts added Books in first half of 19th century In 20th century dress history: emphasis on social, cultural, economic, political contexts Changes in dress studied in relation to societal changes

Body Supplements: Wrapped

•Are flat un-sewn garments. Like bandanas, togas, head scarves, ribbons, tied belts, sashes •Wrapped body enclosures also serve as primary garments associated with warm climates, such as countries in South/Southeast Asia and Africa. •EX: West Africans wear wrapped lower-body garments. In India, primary garment for women is wrapped Sari. Adult women also wear pre-shaped garments including pants called Salwara tunic called Kameezand wrapped cloth as a shawl known as a Dupatta. Men often wear a Lungi—a wrapped lower garment (2 yards long).

Headscarf

•Articulates multiple intersectional meanings of ethnicity, nation, and gender; along with religion. P 93— "French headscarf ban" •Contradictions and double standards: -Haute couture/high fashion=turban worn on the runway; Religion=a headscarf worn to school •Headscarves or veiling is believed to have originated in Assyrian, Persian, and Byzantine cultures well before the birth of the Islamic religion in 7 BCE. •First historical reference of veiling was from Assyrian legal text in 13 BCE: •Urban upper class women wore the veil to mark their prestige and privilege and also shield themselves from the impure gaze of commoners. •Illegal for lower class women to wear veils

Articulation & Dress

•Articulation can become metaphor for having a "voice" through everyday fashioning of the body •We mix and match different elements to form expressions about who we are or who we're becoming •Articulation is noticeable when something is out of context -Adds personalization •Gives us a better understanding of whosomeone may be, or insight into facets of their personality •EX: hat next slide •Articulation can be used as method to analyze culture •Articulation involves breaking down wholes and ID'ing differences, contradictions, fractures in the whole

Consumption

•Before industrialization, production and consumption more closely related. Industrialization changed dynamic. -Only wealthy had many garments •Binary way of thinking between the two: -Production: "orderly, mechanized, rational process of making good for purpose of profit" -Consumption: "the opposite of productivity" "using products or goods"

Essentialism:

•Belief that things are the way they are because that is "just the way they are" •Essentialist thinking fosters stereotypes because it suggests that a subject position predetermines a set of traits that apply to all i.e. "women shop because it's in their genes" •Both/and vs. either/or (binary or dualism)

Human body and physical characteristics

•Body build or body conformation (human form) •Facial features •Amount of hair •Hair texture/color •Skin texture/color -Individuals modify or supplement physical characteristics •Body=framework for dress •

Growth/Age

•Body changes with maturation/age •Young bodies change rapidly and constantly need different clothes to suit their evolving bodies •maternity wear; post partum body -rounder/curvier making her change choice of dress •body fat % change through life for both men and women •Changes in body cause change in taste or need to conform to social customs -U.S.: dye gray hair; cover varicose veins with pants •Adjustments to dress made in response to biological changes

Surface Design: Odor/Scent

•Body smell includes addition and subtraction in the process of dress. Usually relating to grooming. •Odor=unpleasant. Scent=pleasing. •Bathing, brushing the teeth with mint toothpaste or mouthwash. •Even chewing gum or spices in some parts of the world.

Racial/Ethnic concepts and their roots:

•Both constructed as mechanisms to classify human differences -Scientific classifications and hierarchies of the human species were used to justify slavery, conquest, and colonization •Meanings have shifted over time and for various reasons •16th century: race described a group of people who shared ancestors -"also classified as a tribe or nation of people of common stock" •18th/19th: race came to mean visible genetic markers -like skin color, hair texture, or facial features

Factory issues

•By 1990's, there was a "race to the bottom" by manufacturers who sought cheapest labor costs -This fostered increasing disconnect between production and consumption •Also the opposite effect with companies becoming more transparent in their practices—like Patagonia •but... •

Modifications: Surface Design

•Can be temporary or permanent. •EX: Temporary=pictures painted on nails; Henna patterns on brides of North Africa/India; Black smudges on football players under eyes. ; Can also be from subtraction—like shaving. •EX: Permanent=gold teeth; Tattoos. Tattoos meant to enhance personal or group identity.

Environments & Body Proportions

•Cold climate populations=shorter and stockier •Hot climates=linear bodies •Stockier person has less surface area per unit of mass and maintains heat better -keeps them warmer •Liner person has more surface area and loses heat more rapidly -keeps them cooler

Fashion and Culture are:

•Complex, interdisciplinary fields •Both blend humanities (like art, history, design, theatre/drama, literature) •and social sciences (like anthropology, geography, sociology, psychology)

Adam Clayton Powell Jr.

•Concluded that it was the way a person thinks that determines the race •No one knew whether he was black, white, or Italian -He was of African American and European ancestry •Example of how dress can play a role in racial confusion: -popular in the 1950s to transform hair texture in emulation of Euro-Americans •Powell's family identified as black for their participation in the African American community •"passed as black" for their behavior and self identification •

"Shades of Whiteness" Study

•Conducted by Pamela Perry •Went to two high schools to understand how students created boundaries between white and non-white •Examined the extent to which they use clothing, music, other cultural forms to make sense of shades of whiteness. •Found that to be white "meant you had no culture" •In one school: a white student wore hip-hop clothing and listened to rap withoutcritique from other students •At more diverse school: hip-hop styles marked racial and ethnic boundaries that were more difficult to cross •Her study shows how style-fashion-dressAND physical features are subject to racialized discourse •Discourses regarding race and ethnicity shift as ideologies become incorporated into dominant visual culture •Lancaster quote pg 82--- "...It all depends on the context"

Fashion Facts:

•Fashion is never finished! Crosses all boundaries •Fashion is ongoing—changes with an individuals' visual or material interpretations of who he or she is becoming and how it connects with others' interpretations (Think of life phases) •Fashion involves mixing, borrowing,belonging, changing -AS WELL AS matching, creating, differentiating, continuing... •Fashion produces clothes/appearances, -works through ideas, negotiates subject positions, and navigates through power relations •Is a complex process involving multiple perspectives and approaches •

Continued..

•Fashion studies and Cultural studies developed in latter half of 20th century but rooted much earlier (15-1600's) •Georg Simmel (German sociologist) studied interplay between social-psychological impulses of imitation (to be like others) and differentiation (distinguish oneself from others) •He argued that this interplay launched fashion change forward in modern societies

Genes

•Genes regulate growth and development of individuals -in correlation with environment and diet •Gene pool=total complement of genes shared by potential reproductive members of a population

Fashion Theories (Theorists)

•Georg Simmel •Thorstein Veblem •Elizabeth Wilson •Fred Davis •Susan B. Kaiser

Surface Design: Taste

•Grooming procedures like freshening the mouth. •In India, it is custom to rinse the mouth with water before and after eating a meal

Hair & Race

•Hair texture also been used to mark race •Hair can be altered: Straightened, curled, crimped, permed, dyed, cut, braided, teased... •Black hair: how subjects alternately internalizeand resist hegemonic norms •Historically—no neutral words to describe varying textures of black hair •Prior to 60s, hair was either good or bad -Good=straight -Bad=kinky/nappy •Ritual grooming for young girls involved a hot comb with pomade at age 7 or 8 •By 1950's •African American (especially women) adapted hair straightening practices •Changed with 1960's Black is Beautiful campaign -Gloria Andrews 1969 wrote to Seventeen magazine: "about 95 percent of the kids I know are wearing Afros, yet practically none of them know anything about the black movement...They should learn to respect their own black values and not be satisfied with just looking the part"

Body Supplements: Suspended

•Hang from a portion of the body. •Items such as ponchos/chausubles that are suspended from the shoulders. •Necklaces hang from the neck, bracelets hang from the wrist. Earrings hang from the earlobes. •Also EX: amulet pouches suspended around the neck in some American Indian groups.

Eurocentrism/Eurocentric:

•Having a European heritage with a belief that European ways of behaving are superior

The Social Process is a little complex:

•How to be individual in a GLOBAL economy •Simultaneously embodying—gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, class, age, position...

Dress Related to Culture & Society

•Humans don't exist in isolation, therefore we are influenced by culture in the way we dress and behave •Certain limitations always exist for appropriateness—even in the US where we are individually free.

Regulation in Relation to Production:

•Includes protections for and rights of garment workers •Legal agreements •Environmental protection policies •Consumer safety •Labeling

Attachments to Body Enclosures Part 2

•Inserted>>cufflinks, brooches, boutonnieres, military medals •Pressure fastened>>men's tie clasps, clip on bow ties. Elastic clips to attach mittens to sleeve cuffs of coats for kids (see below) •Adhered>>stick on name tags worn at conferences or functions used for ID.

Articulation

•Is a concept and method in cultural studies. •Articulate: to connect/join or to express •The body has multiple parts necessary to work together in order for articulation to happen... -EX: for speech articulation: the correlation of the mouth, tongue, lips, jaw are what allow us to speak

Enculturation

•Learning cultural ways taught to members of group in which raised

Technology

•Level of Technology affects food supply •Inedible can sometimes be made edible with suitable technology •Long time habits and religious beliefs may prohibit use of nutritious foods which may influence shape of body

Religion

•Linda Arthur (style-fashion-dress scholar) : dress becomes a symbol of social control. •EX: Mennonite women whose clothes display that one is on "right and true path" •Religion may also offer sense of freedom or context in which to articulate ethnicity... •Since end of 19th century, emerging elite in India and Pakistan promoted religion to garner support among masses •When migrated to other locations, religion became effective vehicle to foster community formation and identity re-composition •Functioned to maintain a sense of ethnic identity to curb complete Americanization or assimilation into the U.S. society

Madame C.J. Walker

•Madam C. Walker (1867-1919)=social activist, philanthropist, millionaire •Invented, produced and marketed conditioning hair products for African Americans •Walker was born to former slaves and orphaned at age 7 •Worked in cotton fields in the South then as a launderer and cook before building her business from ground up

Social Movements

•Many cultural studies look at social movements to understand how cultural processes (like fashion) shape everyday life •Movements react to or question cultural assumptions •EX: 60's and 70's feminist movements

Culture Includes:

•Material and non material culture—the two interrelate •Material culture= tools, furniture, dress (computers & technology, building and architecture) i.e. tangibles •Non-material culture= ideas, beliefs, values, religious beliefs, ideas, standards; expectations that are shared as the people of a society, symbolic meanings i.e. non-tangibles

Where does physical diversity come from?

•May be adaptations to environmental conditions -Skin color; body proportions •Skin color varies by latitude -populations closer to the equator have darker skin, while those farther away have lighter skin •General agreement that darker skin protects against kind of UV rays that cause melanoma •Skin color=genetic adaptation that produces more or less melanin in the skin. -Skin color is "ONLY SKIN DEEP"

Critical race theory: 1981 Rogers v. American Airlines

•Renee Rogers •Black female flight attendant challenging American Airlines policies that prohibited braided hairstyles. •Argued that the policy discriminated against her on the basis of race (blackness) and gender (female) •Stated the airline regulation affected her especially because she was black and a woman •Court dismissed the claim and gave 3 reasons: • 1—court didn't agree there was gender discrimination—their policy was applicable to both men and women • 2—airline's grooming policy didn't regulate or classify employees on the basis of an immutable gender characteristic • 3—policy did not have any bearing on the "exercise of a fundamental right" •Basically: The anti-braid policy applied to ALL races and genders

Regulation in Relation to Consumption:

•Restrictions (what not to wear) •Prescriptions (what has to be worn) •Ambiguous norms (about what to wear or not wear)

Classic Examples:

•Rome=Imperial •US & Japan=Commercial

Cultural Flow

•Second to globalization—makes national boundaries permeable and supports social networks that circle the globe

Hair

•Secondary sex characteristic that distinguishes men from women is amount of hair •Men=grow beards, have more hair on legs, chests, stomachs, backs, arms... •Women=no beards, no hair on chests, stomachs, or back, little growth on legs and arms •

Sex differentiation

•Sex differentiation=instead of fitting stereotype for man or woman, each individual falls somewhere on continuum running from almost all male to almost all female in physical characteristics. •Dress becomes more important -for people whose bodies fall in the middle of the graph, who are neither very female nor very male. •

Body conformation:

•Sheldon: classified women and men of different ethnic backgrounds according to degree to which they exhibited characteristics of three major body types:somatypes: -endomorphic=round, prominent abs -mesomorphic=large boned, muscular -ectomorphic=linear, slender

"The Black Church"

•Slaves articulated a blend of traditional African religions or belief systems with Christianity. •Church was social center of African American life and church dress came to articulate the expression of African American culture. •Tradition emerged with slavery when effort went into "Sunday" clothes as a way to distinguish from daily work clothes. •"Sunday" clothes became means for expressing cultural agency

Attachments to Body Enclosures

•Some items of dress may be attached to supplements that enclose body. Often play a decorative or informational role in dress.

Surface Design (Texture) Cont.

•Some permanent might be plastic surgery or face peels to remove wrinkles OR •Dental surgery with enamel filling or capping; Scarification practiced by the Tivpeople in Nigeria also changes texture of skin into pattern of scars.

Sex differentiation continued

•Sometimes society emphasizes or deemphasizessexual characteristics -EX: 1950s= tight waist, full bust, broad hips (hourglass) -1970s=disco men=shirt open with chest hair apparent -1990s=grunge/hip hop layers of loose clothing revealing little of body -21st century=women expose midriffs, low rise jeans and crop tops showing belly piercings or tattoos •

Surface Design: Sound

•Sounds of body can be temporary/permanent. Cultural ideals of physical movement (like posture/gestures) vary. -Permanent body modifications can affect sound—(See notes below slide). -We also train our bodies to restrict sounds—(See notes below slide).

Cultural adaptation advantage

•Speed •humans can invent new solutions to problems of different environments using dress -adapt to cold by wearing heavy coats •Culture is possible because humans have evolved with a complex brain and nervous system coupled with a capacity for speech -enables us to develop and manipulate visual and verbal symbols—the heart of culture •

Race

•Studied in context of certain visible features: -Skin color; hair texture; facial features, some of which can be easily fashioned and re-fashioned daily •Ethnic dress=clothes worn by individuals to express their belonging to a community with a common heritage -and to differentiate themselves from other communities

More information

•Style in context of fashion=social process in which style narratives are collectively "in flux with time" (zeitgeist) •Fashion as a social process involves more than just clothing -Also, food, furniture, pop culture, technology and science, politics... -Fashion matters in everyday life; it becomes embodied. •Dress begins with the body—Eicher (author of Visible Self): "body modifications and body supplements"

Properties of Body Supplements

•Supplements can affect the way a dressed person is perceived. •Surface design and texture in textiles often primary characteristics by which people choose their clothing. i.e. soft, silky or patterned cloth for sleepwear.

Body Supplements Cont.

•Supplements can enclose the body, be directly attached, held by the wearer, and can be temporary or permanent. •Create illusions about characteristics of the body—obscure body or enhance it by allowing body to be openly visible or highlighting some feature.

: Linnaeus

•Swedish naturalist: Linnaeus=four races of humans in classification system of all known animals -American/red -European/white -Asiatic/yellow -African/ black

Style-Fashion-Dress

•System of concepts—recognizes the parts and the wholes •Fashion theorist (Tulloch, 2010): -Style=agency in the construction of self through assemblage of garments, accessories, beauty regimes that may or may not be in fashion at the time of use. Part of the process of self-telling—an autobiography of oneself through clothing choices

Modifications: Volume/Proportion

•Temporary =body slimmers/minimizers or bras/bustles/shoulder pads •Permanent =plastic surgery—i.e. nose jobs, breast implants or reductions/weight loss or bodybuilding

Surface Design: Texture

•Temporary EX: •Textural change—like straightening curled hair or curling straight hair. •Lotion or oils to the skin give it a softer feel and appearance. •Nail polish or buffing give shine/color to fingernails.