Communicating Fashion : Clothing, Culture, and Media

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 Cover page 1 Halftitle page 2 Title page 4 Copyright page 5 Contents 6 List of Figures 8 Acknowledgments 9 Preface 10 1 Communicating Fashion 14 What is Communication? 16 Modeling Communication 20 Other Factors in Communication 24 Communication and/as Rhetoric 25 Verbal and Nonverbal Communication 26 Clothing and Fashion 27 Clothing in Modernity and Postmodernity 30 Communicating Clothing 32 2 Clothing as Intra- and Interpersonal Communication 38 Why Do We Wear Clothing? 40 Clothing, Our “Self” and Our Subjective Positions 41 Getting to Know Ourselves 44 Performances, Identity and Ambivalence 46 Intra- and Interpersonal Communication 49 Meaningful and Meaningless Clothing 52 Power, Conformity and Individuality 54 3 Clothing Dynamics in Groups and Cultures 60 Groups, Clothing and Perspectives 61 Uniforms among Cultures and Groups 63 Grouping Groups 66 Theories of Groups and Clothing 68 Clothing Within a Culture 71 Subcultural and Style Tribes 81 4 Fashion: Systems, Meaning, and Time 86 Fashion as a System 87 Simmel’s Trickle-down Fashion 89 Alternative Understandings of Fashion 90 Meaning, Clothing and the Fashion System 96 Now Trending . . . 100 About Time 102 The End of Fashion? 103 5 Clothing, News, and Tastemaking 110 A (Very) Brief History of Journalism, Fashion and Clothing 111 Community Building Through the Media 113 Media’s Influence: Theories of Agenda-Setting and Framing 114 Tastemakers in the Media 120 Fragmentation and Contemporary Tastemakers 124 A Bit on Fashion Photography 125 6 Clothing on Film and Television 132 Culture and Mediums 133 A Brief History of Film and Television 136 Film, Television; Fashion, Costume 139 Cultural Studies and Reading the Media 141 Representation Issues 144 “Reading” Texts and Costumes 146 Fashion and Celebrity Culture 147 Fashion News, Criticism and “Reality” Television 149 Digital Fashion Films and Documentaries 153 Cultivation Theory 155 7 Ads, Brands, and Retail Considerations 160 A Brief History of Fashion Brands 161 Brands as a Social Construct 164 Tangible Brand Communications 165 Intangible Brand Communication 169 Financial and Market Creations 176 The Use (and Abuse) of History 178 8 Digital Communication, Social Media, and Mediatization 184 Some History and Theory of the Web 185 Updating Ourselves 189 Updating the Media 191 So You Want to be an Influencer? 193 Changes in Retail and Shopping 196 Mediatization, Algorithms and Apps 201 9 Fashion, Clothing and/as Art 208 What is Art? 211 Clothing, Art Worlds and Artification 213 Clothing, Fashion and the Museum 217 Museums and Curation as Cultural Intermediation 220 Influence of Art and Museums 222 Fashion and Music 224 Fashion, Art and Promotional Culture 226 Notes 230 References 248 Index 278 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 "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 from the crowd - 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 array of 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 people use clothing to express themselves 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"-- Provided by publisher "Entertainingly written with examples from popular culture, Communicating Fashion draws together theories from communication, media and fashion studies to explain how we all use clothing to express ourselves and how the media shapes our understanding of fashion and style"-- Provided by publisher