Fashion and Jazz

Dress, Identity and Subcultural Improvisation

Alphonso McClendon

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9780857851277
• eBook ISBN: 9780857851284
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Design
• Subtopic: Fashion Design

Born in the late 19th century, jazz gained mainstream popularity during a volatile period of racial segregation and gender inequality. It was in these adverse conditions that jazz performers discovered the power of dress as a visual tool used to defy mainstream societal constructs, shaping a new fashion and style aesthetic. Fashion and Jazz is the first study to identify the behaviours, signs and meanings that defined this newly evolving subculture. Drawing on fashion studies and cultural theory, the book provides an in-depth analysis of the social and political entanglements of jazz and dress, with individual chapters exploring key themes such as race, class and gender. Including a wide variety of case studies, ranging from Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald to Louis Armstrong and Chet Baker, it presents a critical and cultural analysis of jazz performers as modern icons of fashion and popular style. Addressing a number of previously underexplored areas of jazz culture, such as modern dandyism and the link between drug use and glamorous dress, Fashion and Jazz provides a fascinating history of fashion's dialogue with African-American art and style. It is essential reading for students of fashion, cultural studies, African-American studies and history.

1

DRESS THEORY, FASHION AND A JAZZ AESTHETIC

Pattern of influence between fashion and jazz

Fashion and jazz are disciplines that have significantly influenced one another in the first half of the twentieth century. Aesthetics, defined as “the identification of the beautiful” (Weiner 2012: 8), were generated, shared and communicated through a merger of visual, behavioral and acoustic qualities among performers. In Cultural Passions, Elizabeth Wilson related the wearing of clothes with the appeal to pleasure and beauty, emphasizing that the practices are “universal human, cultural activities” (Wilson 2013: 52). Strategically, jazz musicians and singers utilized garments and accessories to articulate their individual style and secure an affirmative response. For instance, trumpeter Oran “Hot Lips” Page projects cool style with polished hair, finely tailored suit and formal posture during a 1942 jam session (Figure 1.1).

These individual and group ways of accentuating the beautiful drew upon their cultural and social definitions of attractiveness. In effect, the clothing became coded with “a particular meaning of the body, of the person” (Barthes 2006: 96). It is apparent in the fashion system that designers incorporate meanings into their artifacts through choices of inspiration, color, textiles, silhouette and make that influence society. When performers appropriate clothing for the stage, the initial design codes are merged with their personal style and intellect to bolster the music, demonstrate technical rank and stir the audience. The art and aesthetics of fashion and music occur simultaneously with explorations and expressions of cultural heritage, struggle and transformation allowing performers to break down social borders.

For jazz artists, dress was deliberate, valued and situated inside of performance obligations as demonstrated by pianist Mary Lou Williams, who retained extensive receipts of clothing purchases and garment maintenance from 1930 to 1980. These documents archived at the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University revealed invoices for dresses, shoes, blouses, hosiery and furs with classifications such as “work,” “concert,” “interview,” and “job.” Williams conducted business with stores across the country including Kline’s, O’Connor & Goldberg, Lord & Taylor, I. Miller, Gimbles, I. Magnin, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Such interest in fashion did not exceed the musical technique or her authority as a woman in the male dominated field. “You’ve got to play, that’s all … you automatically become strong, though this doesn’t mean you’re not feminine,” stated Williams in an interview (McPartland 1957). Hence, she entered the cycle of fashion as an African American leader, adopting and dispersing cultural meaning through clothing. Fred Davis, in considering the sociological importance of fashion, affirmed that “through clothing people communicate some things about their persons, and at the collective level this results typically in locating them symbolically in some structured universe” (Davis 1994: 4). This happening establishes a pattern of influence when one discipline— jazz—intensifies the art of another—fashion—through the exhibition of expressive articles.

Figure 1.1 Oran “Hot Lips” Page, trumpeter, personifies the jazz aesthetic at a jam session, New York, 1942. Photo by Charles Peterson. Courtesy of Don Peterson

Freedom of expression in fashion and jazz

A measurable display of style was promoted among jazz artists to obtain greater freedom, gain financial success, and achieve creative recognition. Such efforts have the function of a road map, relaying aesthetic features associated with a given point in time. The path of jazz, both in dominant and marginal forms, has spanned over a century in America. This history contained dress, appearance and behavioral representations that gave vital context to fashion and cultural development. American philosopher John Dewey, in Freedom and Culture, positioned that the production of culture in society is determined by “the arts of expression and communication” (Dewey 1989: 25). As the pioneer to rhythm and blues and rock-n-roll, the narrative of fashion’s role in jazz informs related associations with style in subsequent generations of music.

Especially among African American musicians, the aspiration to express their existence was palpable in song. This is prominently displayed on Louis Armstrong’s arrangement of “West End Blues” (1928), where his trumpet playing with stylish charm and raw melancholic emotion gave voice to African American culture. The composition with New Orleans brass band style and a distinct religious moan imparted equally the pride and hardship of southern living. In a 1956 interview, Billie Holiday, legendary jazz singer, described Armstrong’s arrangement that inspired her technique. “He doesn’t say any words you know … and I liked the feeling he got from it so I wanted Louis Armstrong’s feeling” (Connover 1956). Holiday co-penned the iconic song “Lady Sings the Blues” in the year of the interview. The title is direct testimony to a performer’s ability to convey feeling through spoken word. Armstrong and Holiday’s employment of the blues demonstrates the artist’s desire to communicate cultural aesthetics, and equally signify the social environment in music. As Paul Gilroy notes, black musical expression amplifies political engagement by “communicating information, organizing consciousness and testing out … forms of subjectivity” (Gilroy 2011: 497).

Within fashion, Madeleine Vionnet, proponent of the 1920s bias cut, sought the liberation of the dressed female body through simplicity. “Unrestricting, easy to slip on and off and often free of all fastenings, so clever was the cut, they had everything to commend them” (Ewing 1986: 102). Also, the modernist approach of Gabrielle Chanel to women’s clothing design through the incorporation of nautical, equestrian and menswear details showed a process of communication. Richard Martin and Harold Koda suggested that Chanel’s spirit of design was not only an exploration of haute couture, but also a “compelling picture of society” (Martin and Koda 1995: 16). Confirming the social meaning, Elizabeth Ewing proclaimed: “the Chanel suit is more a way of life than just a fashion” (Ewing 1986: 100). Therefore, an idiom of style, mood and expression was conceived in fashion that paralleled its exercise in jazz. Calefato argued that “fashion and music are two intimately connected forms of worldliness, two social practices that go hand in hand” (Calefato 2004: 117). These creative forms impacted history through their influence on economic and political development. As a product of human creation, fashion and jazz represent voices of agreement, opposition, rebellion and transformation in society. This authority was enhanced by technological ingenuity that allowed for the proliferation of fashion and music beyond the privileged classes. As the sewing machine and sized paper patterns aided the momentum of fashion production, the phonograph and recording disc revolutionized music distribution. These nineteenth-century innovations were critical for fashion and jazz to gain mass-market persuasion and authority.

Beyond the technological improvements that supported a creative union, fashion and jazz had multicultural influences that spawned a new modernity. Milbank, in support of this fashion amalgamation, defined the “appetite for European imports” and “American taste for simplicity” (Milbank 1989: 19) that was emerging in the late 1800s. France, Germany and England inspired novelty fashion, while African, Creole and European traditions nourished jazz improvisation. Here, Duke Ellington’s declaration concerning the liberating aspect of the music:

Jazz is like the automobile and airplane. It is modern and it is American. I don’t like the word jazz but it is the one that is usually used. Jazz is freedom. Jazz is the freedom to play anything, whether it has been done before or not. It gives you freedom.

(PM 1945: 4)

Ellington’s quote mirrored fashion shifts including removal of the corset and bustle that initiated a dress revolt among women of the early 1900s. Reformers of dress like the early musicians of jazz navigated tradition seeking liberty from garment constraint. Designers were challenged to increase or decrease mobility with the inclusion of seams, darts, pleats and shirring. These construction techniques engineer textiles to conform, expand, enclose and gather on the body. From earliest times to modern day, the design process has rational perspective, steeped in “theoretical considerations and calculations” for body contour (De Castro 2009: 9). Welters and Cunningham’s case of the free expression of 1920s “shapeless dresses” noted: “the styles allowed for freedom of movement that the dress reformers of the past only dreamed of” (Welters and Cunningham 2005: 57). Comparisons can be drawn between challenges to dress standards and pursuits of original forms of music, solidifying a common strategy of unbound expression among fashion and jazz. Dewey reasoned that culture is inclusive of “ideas used by men to justify and to criticize the fundamental conditions under which they live, their social philosophy” (Dewey 1989: 25). The predicament of freedom is a fundamental aspect of American existence questioned by the authors of the United States Constitution and diverse cultural groups having inequity in the country’s development.

The role of fashion

The meaning and process of fashion supports the understanding of its role in the field of jazz. Case in point, it would be difficult to overlook the crisp houndstooth blazer worn by Duke Ellington in numerous publicity images of the 1940s. The textile weave of Scottish origin along with Ellington’s pose promoted the high quality of structured music to be produced. Once joined, artifact and performer, and expressed in public, the appearance contains added meaning, taking on cultural substance inscribed in the origins of jazz and fashion. Most important is the acknowledgment of influence and understanding of attached meanings. This example reveals a chief motive of dress posited by scholars in the field of dress psychology. Flügel described “decoration” as a purpose of clothing (Flügel 1950: 16). The act of adorning the body with materials that display, attract, entice and define status can be attributed to Ellington’s houndstooth blazer. Ellington, a key player of the swing era, was highly shrewd with image, reputation and performance venue, hence the use of specific textiles and formal garments aided in the goal of attraction. Since the late 1800s, an astute practice of dressing is found in numerous performers of jazz. Analysing the artifacts and motives fueled this scholarship that frames identities and societal implications.

Understandably, the narration of jazz is incomplete without scrutiny of the clothing of performers. By the same token, the history of costume that overlooks the contributions of jazz artists and spectators would be inadequate. Duke Ellington, interviewed by PM, accentuated the presence of style in music. “Our music grew out of the personalities in the band. We see an old man walking along the street. We play a song that goes with the man” (PM 1945). This succinct quote captured the fundamental association between two art forms. It proposes that human style is intrinsic and can be given imitable form by designers and musicians. Fashion provides the visual representation of the enthusiasm, while music signifies it through performance and recorded sound. Regarding the path and genuine meaning of fashion, Edward Sapir indicated the importance of group compulsion rather than individual taste and the power of symbolism in dress and exhibition (Sapir 2007: 45). The creation of music and fashion are similar in their extension of ideas into commodities that frame a social impulse.

To appreciate the dynamic relationship between fashion and jazz, a working definition of fashion is essential. Wilson’s contemporary evaluation asserts that fashion is change, reaction, aesthetic representation and the expression of ideas through distinct preferences (Wilson 2003: 3–8). As with Hurlock’s psychological approach to dress, Wilson maintains that the exhibition of fashion can ultimately signify “hidden desires and dreams” (Wilson 2013: 52). For example, jazz singer Anita O’Day’s adoption of the male band member’s jacket in the 1940s challenged tradition, altered the group aesthetic, declared risk taking and contributed to a fashion movement that thrived during the war years. O’Day’s practice led to imitation, which Anne Hollander, dress historian, describes as fashion’s mode of originating from a capricious act of an individual desiring autonomy followed by admiration (Hollander 1993: 353).

Thus, the discussion of jazz style will connote the influencer (fashion) and the act of producing (dressing). In defining fashion, Hurlock provides support with her quote of Edward Ross. “Fashion is marked by rhythmic imitation and innovation, by alternate uniformity and change, but neither of these phases obeys the principle of utility” (Hurlock 1929: 4). This statement establishes two critical realities that fashion is not stagnant nor is it restricted to practical purpose. The continual movements of trends bear witness to shifts in clothing tastes and needs. Often, economic and political events influence the direction. During the 1960s, the jazz scene adopted a noticeably casual and rugged style that aesthetically represented the music’s disjointed status among more youthful sounds, as well as an edgier approach to technique that mirrored struggles for freedom. “I think the music has grown up so much that today it’s outgrown the word,” stressed Ellington in questioning the label of jazz for modern music development (Greuenberg 1961). As it mushroomed, “the avant-garde refused to be pinned down to any one style or idiom” (Giddins and DeVeaux 2009: 449). Unkempt facial hair, utility shirts with epaulets, turtlenecks, knit caps and short sleeves suggested a fragmented independence among the male performers that was absent during the unified dress of the swing era. The technique and compositional traits of a particular period are often mirrored in the style choices of musicians, and so, with a reading of appearance and historical import, an insight into fashion within the jazz genres is initiated.

A language of dress in jazz

Within this dialogue of fashion, the language of “dress” and “dressing” aids in describing the conduct of individuals. The established work of scholars in the fields of fashion theory, costume history, psychology and sociology has provided a common platform. Barthes, in The Language of Fashion, defined “dress” as the object and “dressing” as the method of wearers displaying group-influenced clothing (Barthes 2006: 9). This structure is critical for differentiating between the artifact and the action. Artifacts represent the clothing, accessories and ornamentation, while dressing stipulated the psychological motivation to apply these articles to the body. Hence, the fact that Billie Holiday frequently had a white gardenia affixed to the side of her head not only communicated a striking feature, but questioned the utility and associated stimulus to wear it. Holiday alternated between real and artificial flowers as accessories. In later years without acknowledgment of fashion, she explained in interview that the gardenia practice was a childish habit. Wilson alludes to another likely reason for the dress that being its link to aesthetics, pleasure and beauty (Wilson 2013: 52).

Highly influenced by their celebrity, musicians and singers had great sensitivity to appearance, being in front of audiences and industry critics. In broader terms, the performance costume had a secondary role of return on investment that followed attraction. Managers, agents and recording co...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• About the Series
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1 Dress Theory, Fashion and a Jazz Aesthetic
• 2 A Stylish History of Jazz: 1900–1960
• 3 A Narrative of Jazz Modernity
• 4 Assessing Elitism and Branding in Jazz
• 5 Gendered Identities, Ideologies and Cultural Difference
• 6 Subversive Representation: Vernacular, Dress and Morality
• 7 Narcotics and Jazz: a Fashionable Addiction
• 8 Beyond the Gardenia: Billie Holiday
• 9 Aesthetics of the Jazz Dandy
• 10 Philadelphia Nightlife, Nostalgia and Popular Culture
• Coda
• Appendix I: Recommended Listening
• Appendix II: Recommended Viewing
• Bibliography
• Index
• Copyright