DTEM 2443 Fashion & Digital Media Full Midterm Study Guide and Notes
Fashion as Communication & Tech
Simmel, “On Fashion”
o Union vs Differentiation
The need to be a part of the groups versus the need to be an
individual
Fashion allows us to “fit in” and to also be a part of the group
o There was no fashion world until modern society
There wasn’t a need for fashions until they moved into cities
Before, your fashion was shaped by your family and your
socioeconomic class
class system was influenced by American ideology → the
idea of the social mobility
o Argument: The elite wanted to stand out and separate themselves
from the rest of society
The fashion system is motivated by the elite trying to separate
themselves from the middle and lower classes and the middle and
lower classes are always trying to do what the elite are doing.
“People with social power do not need to use fashion” Mark
Zuckerberg
o Gender Announcement
Women: participated more in fashion because they didn’t have
the same social power → became a way to differentiate themselves
fashion gave them a voice
Simmel in general believes that those who don’t have a lot
of social power participate more in fashion
Men: wore a suit regardless of job status
o Those who choose not to participate in fashion are still taking a stance
Pham: High Cost of High Fashion
Her argument is that the so often heard criticism of fast fashion is a classist narrative
Shames consumers
Positions consumers as the one who can be the savior of all the problems associated with
fast fashion
It is putting the focus in the wrong place
Gives a pass to those who can afford high end clothing
Since these fast fashion companies got so much backlash their working conditions tend to
be more regulated
Veblen Effect
Central myth of anti-fashion discourse: low prices represent low standards of production
and low quality, high prices indicate high standards of production and high quality
Fiske, “Jeaning of America”
, Argues that: popular culture is bottom-up; different to Simmel’s argument
Jeans (material vs cultural function)
material function: warm, comfortable, easy to wear, last long, sturdy
cultural function: casual, physical labor, adventure
All popular culture comes from the subordinate classes, from the bottom-up (opposite of
Simmel)
Example: Hip hop, rap. It was made from people using record players, and turntables,
and doing something new with them. EXCORPORATION. Reworking the practice of
something to show individuality. For Fiske, popular culture is the art of making do
what’s available
Example : People ripping up their jeahans
High class folks used tailored, fancy jeans, and the public then ripped their jeans; it became a
trend.
Ex. jeans started off as rugged and then got sexualized overtime in relation to the female
body
Subordinate classes make something new that expresses resistance, individuality, and THEN the
upper classes imitate them, this is called INCORPORATION
Taking something that exists to profit off of it.
Hip hop moved from being “urban” to a major industry with famous record labels
producing new artists.
Once incorporation happens, excorporation loses its meaning (jeans losing
resistance to the status quo). It is a cycle.
Rabkin, “How Luxury was Reduced to Logomania”
o There is a shift in luxury fashion of who is buying which leads to a change
in what is being produced and sold
o Luxury fashion being more inclusive in it is being reduced to cheap, mass
produced products that are sold based on the logo/brand
o Before luxury was exclusive and limited but now luxury is a belt or slides
Most luxury brands now sell the most of their “premium
mediocre” products, ie plastic slides that are made of cheap
material, so younger demographic has an easier way to buy into
the brand
Previously, more traditional luxury customers were interested in
these brands but now seen as passe if they were to flaunt their
wealth with logos → “stealth wealth”
o Brand dilution was not an issue when brands catered to the rich but now
with the growth of the middle class luxury brands are selling premium
mediocre items
o Shift of the upper class toward athleisure- no logos, while middle class is
“following” upper class into logo extreme
o Streetwear- limited drops and exclusiveness but not elists
Fashion as Communication & Tech
Simmel, “On Fashion”
o Union vs Differentiation
The need to be a part of the groups versus the need to be an
individual
Fashion allows us to “fit in” and to also be a part of the group
o There was no fashion world until modern society
There wasn’t a need for fashions until they moved into cities
Before, your fashion was shaped by your family and your
socioeconomic class
class system was influenced by American ideology → the
idea of the social mobility
o Argument: The elite wanted to stand out and separate themselves
from the rest of society
The fashion system is motivated by the elite trying to separate
themselves from the middle and lower classes and the middle and
lower classes are always trying to do what the elite are doing.
“People with social power do not need to use fashion” Mark
Zuckerberg
o Gender Announcement
Women: participated more in fashion because they didn’t have
the same social power → became a way to differentiate themselves
fashion gave them a voice
Simmel in general believes that those who don’t have a lot
of social power participate more in fashion
Men: wore a suit regardless of job status
o Those who choose not to participate in fashion are still taking a stance
Pham: High Cost of High Fashion
Her argument is that the so often heard criticism of fast fashion is a classist narrative
Shames consumers
Positions consumers as the one who can be the savior of all the problems associated with
fast fashion
It is putting the focus in the wrong place
Gives a pass to those who can afford high end clothing
Since these fast fashion companies got so much backlash their working conditions tend to
be more regulated
Veblen Effect
Central myth of anti-fashion discourse: low prices represent low standards of production
and low quality, high prices indicate high standards of production and high quality
Fiske, “Jeaning of America”
, Argues that: popular culture is bottom-up; different to Simmel’s argument
Jeans (material vs cultural function)
material function: warm, comfortable, easy to wear, last long, sturdy
cultural function: casual, physical labor, adventure
All popular culture comes from the subordinate classes, from the bottom-up (opposite of
Simmel)
Example: Hip hop, rap. It was made from people using record players, and turntables,
and doing something new with them. EXCORPORATION. Reworking the practice of
something to show individuality. For Fiske, popular culture is the art of making do
what’s available
Example : People ripping up their jeahans
High class folks used tailored, fancy jeans, and the public then ripped their jeans; it became a
trend.
Ex. jeans started off as rugged and then got sexualized overtime in relation to the female
body
Subordinate classes make something new that expresses resistance, individuality, and THEN the
upper classes imitate them, this is called INCORPORATION
Taking something that exists to profit off of it.
Hip hop moved from being “urban” to a major industry with famous record labels
producing new artists.
Once incorporation happens, excorporation loses its meaning (jeans losing
resistance to the status quo). It is a cycle.
Rabkin, “How Luxury was Reduced to Logomania”
o There is a shift in luxury fashion of who is buying which leads to a change
in what is being produced and sold
o Luxury fashion being more inclusive in it is being reduced to cheap, mass
produced products that are sold based on the logo/brand
o Before luxury was exclusive and limited but now luxury is a belt or slides
Most luxury brands now sell the most of their “premium
mediocre” products, ie plastic slides that are made of cheap
material, so younger demographic has an easier way to buy into
the brand
Previously, more traditional luxury customers were interested in
these brands but now seen as passe if they were to flaunt their
wealth with logos → “stealth wealth”
o Brand dilution was not an issue when brands catered to the rich but now
with the growth of the middle class luxury brands are selling premium
mediocre items
o Shift of the upper class toward athleisure- no logos, while middle class is
“following” upper class into logo extreme
o Streetwear- limited drops and exclusiveness but not elists
