Download - Clothes Make The Person - AS COMMS
Clothes make the person
Coursework site A
overview
• Clothing serves many functions from the purely practical such as protection and modesty to the more abstract expression of individuality.
Protection
Modesty
CommunicationAttraction
Individualistic expression
Social worth or status
Social role
Social ritual
Recreation
· Protection· Modesty· Attraction· Communication· Individualistic expression· Social worth or status· Social role· Social ritual (e.g weddings, funerals etc)· Recreation
Using the list of functions above, try to identify items or types of clothing that you use to fulfil each of the functions above
Fashion, in terms of clothing, is largely a western concept based on ideas of…
• Consumption• Status• Identity
Conflicting needs of people to both be part of a social group and to be individuals
Negotiated through clothing
• Fixed – places where clothing tends to be national costume, clothing changes slowly
• Primitive societies will have little if no fashion.
• Modish - rapidly changing styles, western.
• Fixed clothing styles are associated with a particular place and time and becomes anti-fashion
World Views
Clothing as ideological
• Marxists would see fashion as something perpetuated by industry
• consumerism - to support capitalism – we don’t need new fashion – (we just need to be warm and practical)
• Class is displayed in choice and availability of clothing
• Sub cultural clothing such as Punk are examples of clothing used as a rejection of class and authority
Post colonial clothing
• Western cultures would look at the clothing of other countries and regard it as national costume rather than fashion
• To what extent does non western clothing have a place in the UK?