Anthropology of Fashion
Teachers in charge
Prof. Katarina Nina Simončič, Ph.D.
Study, Module
Textile and Fashion Design - graduate, Module Theory and Culture of Fashion
Course summary
3 (1+0+2)
ECTS
6
Knowledge verification
oral exam
Lecture type
lectures, seminars
Learning outcomes:
The students can:
● recognize the central phenomena of clothing and fashion in different cultures and societies;
● critically reflect on the previous examination of clothing in various scientific disciplines;
● critically reflect on the value of scientific concepts in relation to the phenomenon of clothing and fashion;
● evaluate the contribution of anthropology to the overall picture of the history of dress in different types of societies - from homogeneous small communities to large, culturally heterogeneous societies;
● recognize the importance of polysystemic theory and its potential application in the study of contemporary dress and fashion;
● recognize the basic features of how modern fashion systems function (in the areas of production, institutional mediation, trade and consumption) on a local and global level;
Subject content
The Anthropology of Fashion course is based on the observation and analysis of garments as elements of material culture. In this sense, the biography of garments and their role in the cultural, social and economic context as well as the life cycle of garments will be considered (Stallybrass and Kopitoff). Special emphasis is placed on discussions of the clothing of the Other, the representation and visual construction of the Other within the fashion system, and examples of cultural appropriation in fashion (Craik, Kawlara, and Kondo). The course emphasizes awareness of the relationship between culture, the individual and collective body, and clothing and jewelry through specific case study analyzes (Cheddie, Kawlra, Craik). The course has also been expanded to include contemporary issues related to fashion and human (mostly female) labor, the phenomenon of sweatshops, ethics in fashion production, and sustainable fashion design.
Aim of course
The aim of the course is to familiarize students with an anthropological comparative approach to the phenomenon of clothing in different cultures. Students will critically examine the different definitions of the terms «clothing" and «fashion» in the various academic disciplines and learn about the problem of the non-simultaneity of the terms due to the relatively sudden development of the study of clothing and fashion as a cultural phenomenon. Students are then familiarized with the basic characteristics and historical dynamics of clothing in different types of society (homogeneous, heterogeneous/homogeneous and heterogeneous/heterogeneous). In addition, students will learn about the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary theoretical approaches in clothing and fashion research, including anthropological approaches. Particular attention will be paid to the socio-semiotic theoretical model, polysystems theory, which views the study of all cultural activities (including dress) as dynamic processes in the making. Through oral seminar papers and discussions, students are encouraged to think critically about the literature given and to present their own ideas in discussions and written essays.
Literature necessary for course
1. Eicher, Joanne B. (2000). Anthropology of Dress. Maney Publishing;Costume Society of America. Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy, http://hdl.handle.net/11299/162782.
2.Kaiser, Susan B. (2012). Fashion and cultural studies. Berg Publishers.
3. Riegels Melchior, M & Skov, L 2010, 'Research Approaches to the Study of Dress and Fashion'. in Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion. vol. 10, Oxford.
4. Kopitoff, Igor (1988). The Cultural Biography of Thnigs. U The Social Life of Things Com-modities in Cultural Perspective (ed. Arjun Appadurai). Cambridge University Press.
5. Cheddie, Janice (2002). 'The Politics ofthe First: The Emergence of the Black Model in the Civil Rights Era' U Fashion Theory. Vol 6, issue 1. Berg Pubishers.
6. Craik, Jennifer (1993). 'Exotic Impluses in techniques of fashion'. Routledge.
7. Kawlra, Aarti (2002). ' The Kimono Body'. U Fashion Theory. Vol 6, issue 3. Berg Publish-ers.
8. Kondo, Dorinne (2003). 'Dorinne Kondo in Interview with Nirmal Puwar'. U Fashion The-ory. Vol 7, issue 3/4. Berg Pubishers.
9. Stallybrass, Peter (1993).'Worn Worlds: Clothes, Mourning, and the Life of Things'. Yale Review 81(2)
10. Jennifer Craik (2003): 'The cultural politics of uniform'. Vol 7 issue 2. Berg Publishers.