CLOTH AND FASHION

Cloth and Fashion

Cloth and Fashion

Introduction

Fashion is a tangential concern to most academic disciplines; outside of historical costume studies there has been little sustained attention to the topic. When approached within a traditional discipline, fashion is usually slotted into a broader theoretical framework rather than addressed with any conceptual specificity. The relative paucity of research on fashion can be easily attributed to its association with femininity and trivial consumerism, but it is also a tremendously difficult object to define and analyze. Cultural studies of fashion have brought new life to the topic by looking beyond familiar notions that fashion is a manifestation of the marketplace, social stratification, erotic drives, or cultural zeitgeists. Cultural studies have begun to articulate the variety of questions one can ask about fashion: is it a set of social protocols, aesthetic discourses, or a nexus of culture industries? Is it a distinctively modern phenomenon or similar to traditionial uses of dress? I would argue that it is all of the above, but that each of these areas needs exploring in order to understand the complexity of the topic. This chapter offers a brief overview of some disciplinary approaches to fashion and an introduction to new insights offered by interdisciplinary cultural studies.

Evolution of Cloth and Fashion

The evolution of textiles had a tremendous effect on cultures worldwide. As the textile industry grew, so did the significance of clothing. Clothing is believed to be a means of expressing a people's identity, or at least fragments of their lives. Clothing has different meanings to different cultures. It is impossible to fully understand a culture through clothing, but it is possible to get a glimpse into certain aspects of people's lives through the textiles they used and the clothing they wore. Some believe that by examining the changes in clothing worn by a culture, one can understand the culture's social transformations.

Clothing is defined as items or substances that cover the body from head to toe for decoration or protection from the elements. It is apparent that clothing has a unique function in each society, as evidenced by the particular outfits and dress that are worn for different events during a person's life. Most societies have specific clothing that is worn during special ceremonies, such as initiations, or spiritual and religious events, such as marriage and burial ceremonies.

There are several theories concerning why societies wear certain clothing and how clothing originated. Ruth Benedict explains that there is not any one reason why clothing becomes a part of a culture's practice; in fact, there are probably several acceptable explanations. Explanations are bound to differ depending on the location and the characteristics of the culture and geographic conditions. She does, however, discard the theory that cultures began to wear clothes due to their modesty. Benedict stresses her belief that covering up revealing areas alone, or areas of a sexual nature, would in fact bring more attention to them, therefore the theory seems to be inaccurate.

Some speculate that clothing originated out of superstition and ideas ...