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?