Cut-out notes from :
Hatfield, E., & Rapson, R. L. (2011). History, psychology, and
fashion: The bizarre, weird, wacky—and cool. Critical Studies in Fashion
and Beauty, 1,
http://www.elainehatfield.com/124.pdf
Whole article is worth reading!
The
APA Dictionary of Psychology (VandenBos,
2007) defines fashion as:
.
. . the styles of artistic and cultural expression, garments,
manners, and customs prevalent in a particular time and place.
Fashion may be transient or irrational but often reflects the
zeitgeist or mood of society (p. 368).
“dress,”
“clothing,” “costume,” “style,” and “decoration” as
synonyms.
The
bizarre is defined as: “odd, strange, or unexpected” (p. 123).
Motives
of fashion:
-
traditional 3: modesty, a desire for protection, and ornamentation -
Flügel’s (1930)
Hatfield,
E., Rapson, R. L. (2011):
-
a desire for self-esteem and status;
-
a desire to conform to society’s standards;
-
a desire to appear masculine or feminine
-
wishes to please parents, lovers, and friends;
-
to make oneself beautiful/handsome, sexy;
-
to conceal unattractive features;
-
to save the World (boycotting sweatshopmanufactured garb);
-
to protest political or social injustice;
-
to protect oneself from the Evil Eye or Islamic authorities;
-
a desire for conquest /power;
-
the seeking of vengeance (a desire to conquer, degrade, and punish);
-
a desire for security (a security blanket);
-
a yearning to make a mate/date/friend jealous;
-
curiosity;
-
for comfort and relaxation.
Collectivism
vs. Individualism
Collectivism:
A.
Gender
B.
Social class
C.
Occupation
Individualism
-> bizarre clothing
A.
Assertion of Individuality
B.
Attention Seeking
C.
Rebelling Against Society or Oppressors
D.
Play
E.
Other Motives
-love
of novelty (Darwin, 1872),
-
a desire to act out
-
repressed desires and fears
(of cruelty, deathliness, trauma, disconnection, and dereliction
(Evans,
2003),
-
a yearning to dissent, protest, ridicule, and outrage (Davis, 1992).
Davis
(1992)
mentions several motivations for anti-fashion: utilitarian outrage,
health and
fitness,
naturalism, feminist protest, conservative skepticism, minority group
disidentification,
and countercultural insult.
Contemporary
men and women are often torn between a desire to be
accepted
by the community (as signaled by conventional dress) and a desire to
rebel,
to
assert their individuality, get attention, and to play with
fashion—as
signaled by
bizarre
dress. As a consequence, people often switch from one to the
other—never
feeling
perfectly comfortable with any single mode of existence. We may be
entering
an era of multiple identities, expressed by the multiple costumes we
put on.
What
we wear may increasingly depend upon our mood and our sense of whom
we
