BA1 CLASS READING - INTRODUCTION TO FASHION THEORY - CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION (THE REGULATION OF FASHION) GROUP SEMINAR PRESENTATION (THE HISTORICAL ONE) - this reading is extracts (...) from the set text.
FASHION THEORY - CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION
Conspicuous Consumption
A phrase coined by Theodore Veblen in 1899 to describe the tendency to mark social status through the competitive display of possessions. (Craik, 2009, p.323).
The expanding universe of fashion coincided with the rise of mercantilism and consumerism as the acquisition and trade of material goods expanded, and thus the possibility of literally fashioning an identity and way of life out of consumer objects. In turn, these material possessions became symbols of well-being and of social status. In an effort to control the multiplication of material culture, political regimes enacted laws known as sumptuary laws across Europe to regulate the ownership and display of material goods, for example, luxury items, certain colours, garments, and accessories ... (Craik, 2009, p.28).
THE REGULATION OF FASHION
Of particular importance in European society was the existence of sumptuary laws, which regulated civil conduct concerning, among other things, who could wear what under what circumstances. Sumptuary laws were legislated rules designed to limit conspicuous consumption, in particular, that of clothing and modes of dress. They were passed in a number of European countries between the twelfth and eighteenth centuries - and were flirted with in North America in the eighteenth century.
Restrictions might be placed on the type of garment that certain groups or people could and could not wear. Gold and silver fabric, jewellery, and ornamentations were often restricted, and expensive fabrics (e.g. silk, lace, velvet) might be restricted ... sumptuary laws also existed in antiquity - for example, in ancient Greece (600BC) and ancient Rome (300 BC - AD 300), and during the T'ang period in China (AD 618 - 906) and the Tokugawa period in Japan (1600 - 1868) ...
European sumptuary laws existed in numerous places ... Rather than waning, sumptuary laws and dress codes were fundamentally tied up with the mercantile revolution that fanned conspicuous consumption and the consequent need to preserve social hierarchies. As a result, sumptuary laws proliferated at this time. They became increasingly concerned with dress codes, ... the preservation of class distinctions, ...
Sumptuary laws were therefore of two types: on the one hand, the imposition of expenditure limits and, on the other, the reservation of particular kinds of cloth or styles for certain groups - either as a privilege or as a negative prohibition. Yet the nature of these laws suggests that they were a response to challenges to existing hierarchies, that is, to the elite's social anxieties about changing social realities ...
Sumptuary laws were not just about the arbitrary imposition of idiosyncratic laws from above, but a contested response to wider social changes and political challenges from below ... This involved two related issues. As wage labour grew, workers were exercising their right to behave as they pleased. Furthermore, they had the capacity to purchase goods and the leisure time to enjoy them. Previously, the ability to buy luxuries were restricted to the elite ...
Yet there is little evidence that such legislation worked. Prescriptions and proscriptions fuelled a desire for the prohibited or illicit items, leading to waves of panic as prohibited items became fashionable and imitated by the lower classes. Instead of removing status differences, sumptuary laws provoked competition and imitations and put a high price on evidence of symbolic distinction ...
Modern fashion systems have created similar informal mechanisms of instilling conformity ... In contemporary culture, brand names epitomise this process. Known brands create a specialist clientele and knowledge of their deemed attributes and associated status. Those in the know are prepared to pay more ... (Craik, 2009, pp.49-50).
KEY TERMS
sumptuary laws
conspicuous consumption
mercantile
sumptuary laws
conspicuous consumption
mercantile
KEY POINTS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Sumptuary laws as dress regulation by controlling expenditure, style and material...
2. Dress regulation as a means of preserving class distinction and social order...
3. The growth of spending power and leisure time amongst the working classes...
4. The failure of dress regulation and the desire for prohibited items...
5. Contemporary examples of dress regulation i.e. uniform, brand names...
1. Sumptuary laws as dress regulation by controlling expenditure, style and material...
2. Dress regulation as a means of preserving class distinction and social order...
3. The growth of spending power and leisure time amongst the working classes...
4. The failure of dress regulation and the desire for prohibited items...
5. Contemporary examples of dress regulation i.e. uniform, brand names...
