BA1 CLASS READING - INTRODUCTION TO FASHION THEORY - SEMIOTICS (TIES) GROUP SEMINAR PRESENTATION (THE DIFFICULT ONE) - this reading is extracts (...) from the set text.

FASHION THEORY - SEMIOTICS

Semiology of fashion

The meaning of the formal properties and signs of garment decorations. (Craik, 2009, p.335).

... fashion is not just a covering for the body but a means of communicating about the body and can thus be considered a symbolic system where clothes and the rules that govern how they can be worn can be seen as a type of language or set of signs.

The theorist most strongly associated with this approach is Roland Barthes, who wrote the now-classic book 'The Fashion System' (1984). Barthes was influenced by the theory of structuralism in postwar French anthropology and linguistics, which examined social phenomena as a set of interrelated components making up a complex whole. In the case of fashion, this meant examining the garments and elements of an outfit or a look that composed a vocabulary and a grammar ...

Fashion, he argues, is the product of the social relations and activities that are involved in putting an outfit together. Fashion is actualised through the way the garments are worn. Barthes makes a distinction between three kinds of garments -  the real garment, the represented garment, and the used garment - corresponding to the processes of production, distribution, and consumption. (Craik, 2009, pp.109-10).

THE MEANING OF MEN'S TIES

'A man and his tie are one and the same,' claimed Beau Brummell. So what do ties signify - and what can we discern about different kinds of ties? How do we read the meaning of the choice of necktie, cravat, or bow tie? What do striped ties convey? Who wears monochromatic ties (e.g., in red, blue, yellow, or lavender), and why? Who wears ties with coloured hibiscus flowers? Why does one man chose a tie with embroidered horseshoes, another a tie with polka dots, and another a tie with polka dots, and another a tie featuring designer logos? ... Is the tie the only male garment that allows a man to express a softer expressive essence or harsh collective identity?

In the eighteenth century, the decline of aristocratic influence was reflected in changing fashions in neckwear, which were now established by the military, which preferred a black cravat, a fashion emulated by the rising bourgeoisie ...

In post-revolutionary France there was almost a mania for the cravat, which spread across the English Channel and was epitomised by Beau Brummell's elaboration of the cravat and his invention of his own knot. Nineteenth-century neckwear was very complex, with a multitude of rules concerning the many kinds of fabric, knots, and colours that could be used. In the mid-nineteenth century, however, the tie began to become more uniform in appearance and size. Thereafter, neckties came with a pre made knot, until Edward VII invented the 'free knot', which is still used today. A variant of this knot is the Windsor Knot, invented be Edward VIII before his abdication.


Twentieth-century ties were largely fads that only superficially altered the classic tie. Permitted changes in tie fashions included fads in fabric design (e.g., regimental stripes, plain, floral, or patterned). Ties can also vary in width and length. Despite this limited range of possibilities, ties have become a staple of most designers' collections and of licensing arrangements, as they offer an affordable trophy that signifies the qualities attributed to the designer and aspired to be the wearer of the tie.

From this history, it becomes clear that there is a clear symbolic register attached to the tie; it can be a sign of normative masculinity, authority and discipline, and sexual prowess and proclivities. For example, traditionally, so-called confirmed bachelors (code for homosexuals) and men of 'artistic persuasion' wore bow ties or cravats rather than a tie, which connoted heterosexuality ...


Freud regarded ties as a symbol of the phallus, and Flugel regarded all items of clothing as mechanisms for denoting sexuality. Joanne Finkelstein (1994:2204) suggests that the tie links the two symbols of male virility - namely, the male larynx and the male genitalia - thus turning a seemingly innocent and conventional habit of dress into a neon advertisement of male sexual prowess. In this sense the tie is the male equivalent of stiletto heels as the vestmental sign par excellence of sexuality ... (Craik and Peoples, 2009, pp.122-23).

KEY TERMS


None. 


This is 'the difficult one in terms of semiotics' but is otherwise easy to understand..?

KEY POINTS FOR DISCUSSION

1. The tie as the only male garment allowing personal expression...

2. Beau Brummell...

3. Ties in 20 (21) C designers' collections...

4. Ties as a code (signifier) for male sexuality...

5. Ties as a symbol for male sexual organs... 

REFERENCE

Craik and Peoples in Craik, J. (2009) Fashion - the key concepts. Oxford: Berg.