Communicating Fashion

Clothing, Culture, and Media

Myles Ethan Lascity

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781350112254
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Commerce
• Subtopic: Industrie de la mode et du textile

Winner of the John G. Cawelti Award for Best Textbook / Primer How did you decide what to wear today? Did you base your selection on comfort or style? Did you want to blend in or stand out - or was it just the cleanest outfit available? We each make these decisions every day, reflecting how we view ourselves and impacting how others see us. Our choices matter - not just to us personally, but also to the magazine editors, brand ambassadors and trend forecasters who make a living by selling to us. Communicating Fashion introduces key concepts from the intersecting worlds of fashion and communication studies to connect how we all use clothing to express ourselves and how media systems support that process. In doing so, Myles Ethan Lascity explores social, cultural and ethical issues through the work of fashion journalism, brand promotions and the growing role of online influencers as well as the impact of film, television and art on self-image and expression. Key topics:
- Advertising, Branding and Fashion Retail
- Clothing, Art and Cultural Significance
- Clothing as Group and Cultural Norms
- Clothing, Identity and Interpersonal Communication
- Fashion News and Tastemaking
- Fashion, Social Media and Influencers
- Meaning within the Fashion System
- On-screen Clothing

1

Communicating Fashion

“Oh. Okay. I see,” Runway magazine editor Miranda Priestly begins pointedly in reprimanding her assistant, Andy Sachs, after Andy scoffed at the magazine’s editors debating between two similar belts.

You think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select … I don’t know … that lumpy blue sweater for instance because you’re trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don’t know is that, that sweater is not just blue, it’s not turquoise. It’s not lapis. It’s actually cerulean. And you’re also blithely unaware of that fact that in 2002 Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent … wasn’t it who showed cerulean military jackets? … And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collection of eight different designers. And then it, uh, filtered down through the department stores and then trickled down into some tragic casual corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and its sort of comical how you think that you’ve made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you’re wearing a sweater that was selected for you by people in this room … from a pile of stuff.

The scene is one of the most memorable from The Devil Wears Prada (2006). Based on the book of the same name, the film follows Andy, played by Anne Hathaway, as she navigates the ins and out of the fictional Runway magazine and its demanding editor, Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep. (The film and book are largely understood to be references to Vogue and its long-time editor, Anna Wintour.) While fictional, the scene manages to capture a few obvious truths regarding our clothing.

1We communicate through our clothing, even when we try not to.

2We communicate about clothing, whether in conversation with each other or on the pages of a magazine.

3These processes of communication take place in an elaborate and complex system with many different participants located around the globe.

While these statements may seem commonplace or border on being trite, the truth is that popular cultural assumptions still dismiss what we put on our bodies, and those who talk about it, as superficial, frivolous or unserious. Even those who do take it seriously often emphasize the processes and practices rather than how or what it communicates and instead focus on the structures and activities that go into it. This book squarely focuses on the intersection of clothing and personal adornment—and relatedly fashion, style and beauty—and communication, in all of its forms.

In order to do that, we first need to set some foundational terms. The next several pages will define and explain ideas behind both the study of communication and clothing. You’ll notice that I did not use the term fashion here, because, as will be explained, I’ll be using “fashion” to describe the wider cultural system, which includes clothing, but also includes things like hairstyles, furniture and even food. First, we’ll explore how we understand and model communication and the various levels at which we communicate. Then, we’ll take a brief inventory of terminology used when discussing personal adornment and delineate key terms including clothing, fashion and style.

From there, the rest of the book will largely be structured around how clothing and personal adornment works within various communicative processes; the first chapters of the book will explore how we use clothing on an individual level. Chapter 2 will explore how clothing works intrapersonally to help us develop our sense of self and interpersonally to communicate with each other through our appearance and how we make sense of others. Chapter 3 will extend these discussions toward how clothing, appearance and personal adornment works on a group level, helping people fit in with particular social groups and/or identifying various traits from gender to religious affiliation.

The book then turns its attention to the fashion system and how clothing is given meaning on a cultural level. Chapter 4 explores several of the conceptualizations of fashion and discusses how researchers have attempted to make sense of the meaning of clothing. The chapters that follow will each explore a particular medium which together constitutes the fashion system and provides meaning for clothing and trends. Chapter 5 focuses on print media and journalism, paying particular attention to fashion magazines and the idea of taste. Film and television are discussed in Chapter 6 and the importance of representation within visual mediums will be addressed. In Chapter 7, we turn our attention toward advertising to explore how branding efforts help give meaning to particular goods. How all of these systems—print media, film and television production, and branding—have been upended with the rise of the internet, especially social media, will be addressed in Chapter 8. We’ll explore digital communication broadly to see how influencers, customization and social media promotions have all reshaped the way we talk about fashion and even produce clothing. Finally, Chapter 9 will look at a critical debate about clothing and asks: Is it art? Addressing this topic, we’ll better understand how we can see clothing and fashion interact with art, music and cultural insitutitons and the processes that help us decide and bestow importance on particular objects and designers.

Ultimately, this is a lot of ground to cover, so each chapter will come with a reading list that will further explain some of the key research concepts within both communication and fashion studies. Moreover, we’ll make several stops along the way to practically apply these ideas. By the time we’re done, we’ll have a solid understanding of how we both express ourselves via clothing and how clothing receives its meaning, and will be ready to continue to explore these intersections moving forward.

What is Communication?

Like many terms and concepts, the idea of “communication” has been much debated and defined in various different ways.¹ At its most basic level, communication can be understood as “the process of acting on information”² and this is often done with the purpose of creating joint meaning, helping to construct our social reality.³ However, at times, communication can take place without human involvement—think about two computers transferring information. Because communication is so vital and is involved in so many different aspects of life, we often discuss communication within various contexts or levels⁴—the largest and most persistent division is between interpersonal communication and the mass media.⁵

Communication and the Self

The most basic level of communication is that which we do with ourselves, usually referred to as intrapersonal communication. Have you ever watched a movie or television show where a character shares their thoughts in a voice over? This would be an example of intrapersonal communication; the character is making sense of what is going on around them. Moreover, if you ever thought to yourself, “I really like that guy’s shoes! I wonder where he got them?” then you’ve engaged intrapersonal communication. It is important because it helps us to make sense of the world around us. In fact, it is largely understood that our ability to think reflexively about ourselves is a key difference between us and other living things.

Interpersonal Communication

Now, let’s for a minute go back to the guy’s shoes. Let’s imagine you walked up to him—we’ll call him Kyle—and struck up a conversation about his shoes. Perhaps, the conversation goes something like this:

You Hi, I couldn’t help but notice your shoes—I love them! Can I ask where you got them?

Kyle Hey … thanks! I don’t remember the name, but I got them from this independent shop downtown … not far from the Broadway metro stop.

You Is that the one along Broadway and like, Seventh Street?

Kyle Yeah—that one! They always have such great finds.

You I know exactly what you mean; I love that store!

In such an exchange, both participants in the exchange are communicating verbally (e.g. through talking) and doing so in real time. Together, you’re helping to create joint meaning. While Kyle wasn’t sure of the store, together you put the pieces together to figure out which store he meant. Interpersonal communication often has varying influences. For example, this exchange was started by you admiring Kyle’s shoes, but things like context (Are you standing in line at a coffee shop? Or walking down the street?) and what you and Kyle are both wearing (if Kyle’s shoes were old and dilapidated, he might take offense at your compliment) all play into the exchange. These are things that might not factor into the exchange if the two of you were not interacting in person.

Group Communication

Often times, teams and small groups are understood as a distinct form of communication because of their size. Largely, we assume that teams and small groups—formations of people that have specific purposes—range between three and fifteen people since it’s difficult for everyone to participate in the exchange with more participants than that. However, groups also help us form social bonds and connect with one another. This also happens through shared experience and communication—and can present itself through wearing similar clothing or participating in similar activites. For instance, take two football teams. All players will wear similar clothing and protective gear to help them run and score, and we can distinguis...