Unit 1: Fashion and Forms

1. Fashion as an Art Form

This section explores the ontological debate regarding fashion’s status as art, examining the boundaries between utility and aesthetics, and the role of the designer as a creative visionary.

A. The Debate: Utility vs. Aesthetics

• The Utility Argument: Historically, clothing was viewed primarily as a utilitarian necessity for protection, modesty, and warmth. Critics argued that because fashion has a functional purpose (it must be worn), it cannot be "pure" art.
• The Aesthetic Argument: Fashion shares the same core elements as traditional fine arts: color, texture, line, shape, form, and composition. It expresses emotion, cultural commentary, and abstract concepts.
• The "Applied Art" Classification: Fashion is often categorized as an applied art (like architecture or industrial design), where aesthetic principles are applied to functional objects.

B. Haute Couture as High Art

Haute Couture (High Sewing) serves as the primary vessel for fashion as art.

• Characteristics:
  • Made-to-measure for specific clients.
  • Hand-executed techniques (embroidery, beading).
  • High cost and exclusivity.
  • Freedom from commercial mass-market constraints.
• Concept over Function: Runway shows often feature "showpieces" meant to convey a narrative or atmosphere rather than distinct wearability.

C. The Museumification of Fashion

The acceptance of fashion as art is evidenced by its presence in major museums (The Met, V&A, The Louvre).

• Key Exhibition: Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty (2011) at the Met. This exhibition proved that fashion evokes the same "sublime" emotional response as sculpture or painting.
• Fashion Curation: Treating garments as artifacts that tell the history of civilization, technology, and artistic movements.

D. Key Designers as Artists

• Elsa Schiaparelli: Collaborated with Surrealist artists like Salvador Dalí (e.g., The Lobster Dress). She viewed dressmaking as a profession of plastic arts.
• Rei Kawakubo (Comme des Garçons): Known for "anti-fashion." She deconstructs the human form, creating lumps and bumps that challenge the silhouette, treating the body as a canvas for sculpture rather than sexualization.
• Iris van Herpen: Merges fashion with technology (3D printing) and biology, creating kinetic sculptures that drape the body.

2. Fashion and Identity

This section analyzes how clothing is used to construct, perform, and communicate the self to the external world.

A. The "Second Skin"

• Signifier and Signified: Based on Semiotics (Ferdinand de Saussure).
  • The Signifier: The garment itself (e.g., a leather jacket).
  • The Signified: The concept associated with it (e.g., rebellion, toughness).
• First Impression: Clothing provides immediate visual data about an individual’s class, profession, taste, and mood before verbal communication occurs.

B. Collective vs. Individual Identity

Fashion operates on a paradox termed by Simmel (Trickle-Down Theory):

1. Imitation (Fitting In): The desire to belong to a group, adhere to social norms, and feel secure (Uniformity).
2. Differentiation (Standing Out): The desire to express uniqueness and separate oneself from the masses (Individuality).

C. Subcultures and Style Tribes

Identity is heavily linked to group affiliation.

• Punks (1970s): Used safety pins, ripped clothes, and bondage gear to signal anarchy and dissatisfaction with the status quo.
• Goths: Use Victorian mourning dress and dark aesthetics to signal romanticism, melancholy, and separation from mainstream "prep" culture.
• Hypebeasts: Identity constructed around consumerism, brand loyalty (Supreme, Yeezy), and exclusivity/scarcity.

D. Socio-Economic Identity

• Conspicuous Consumption (Thorstein Veblen): Wearing items specifically to signal wealth and leisure (e.g., luxury logos, fabrics that are difficult to clean/maintain).
• Inconspicuous Consumption: The modern shift among the ultra-wealthy toward "Quiet Luxury" (unbranded but expensive cashmere), signaling identity to insiders while remaining invisible to the masses.

E. Cultural and Religious Identity

• Traditional Dress: Kimonos, Saris, Kilts. Wearing these preserves heritage in a globalized world.
• Religious Markers: The Hijab, the Turban, the Cross. These items integrate spiritual belief into physical presentation, often becoming flashpoints for political discourse regarding identity.

3. Fashion and Gender

This section investigates how fashion reinforces, blurs, or deconstructs gender roles throughout history and in contemporary society.

A. The Social Construction of Gender

• Performativity (Judith Butler): Gender is not something one is, but something one does. Fashion is the primary tool for this performance.
• Bifurcation: The historical division of clothing into "Menswear" and "Womenswear" (skirts for women, trousers for men).

B. Historical Context: The Great Masculine Renunciation

• Late 18th Century: Before this period, men wore heels, wigs, makeup, and ornate fabrics (peacocks).
• The Shift: Following the French Revolution and the rise of industrial capitalism, men abandoned ornamentation for the drab, dark, three-piece suit to signal seriousness, rationality, and work. Women were left with the burden of being "decorative."

C. Fashion and Feminism

Fashion has been both a tool of oppression and liberation for women.

• The Corset: Historically viewed as a tool of restriction (limiting breath and movement).
• Rational Dress Movement: Victorian era push for healthier clothing.
• Coco Chanel: Popularized jersey fabric and trousers for women, prioritizing movement and comfort over the "gilded cage" of 19th-century fashion.
• The Mini Skirt (Mary Quant, 1960s): Symbolized sexual liberation and the rejection of conservative values.
• Power Dressing (1980s): Women entering the corporate workforce adopted shoulder pads to mimic the male silhouette and command authority.

D. The Peacock Revolution and Androgyny

• The 1960s: Men began reclaiming color and pattern (Mick Jagger, The Beatles).
• Androgyny:
  • David Bowie/Prince: Blended masculine and feminine codes (makeup, heels, blouses).
  • Yves Saint Laurent (Le Smoking, 1966): The first tuxedo for women, challenging the ban on women wearing pants in formal settings.

E. Contemporary Gender Fluidity

Modern fashion is moving toward post-gender or gender-neutral concepts.

• Agender Collections: Brands releasing "Unisex" lines that are not just oversized t-shirts but complex garments designed for any anatomy.
• Breaking Binaries: Male celebrities (e.g., Harry Styles, Billy Porter) appearing on magazine covers in dresses.
• The "Pink Tax" & Color Coding: Deconstructing the arbitrary assignment of pink to girls and blue to boys (a standard only solidified in the mid-20th century; previously, pink was considered a "strong" red derivative for boys).

Summary of Key Terms