Function of Clothing

1. Function of Clothing

2. Clothing isn’t just fabric! • Clothing provides utility – protection, modesty, attractiveness, etc. • Clothing is a form of non-verbal communication • Plays a role in society – signals the wearer’s personality, religion, comfort, gender, status, belonging, and/or conformity

3. Non-Verbal Communication • Clothing serves to convey a message from it’s wearer to its viewer • Even if one doesn’t intend on it, the viewer may ‘read’ into the wearer’s personality, identity, gender, etc. • First impressions – are influenced by what one wears …see “Style by Jury” video clip

4. “It enables us to make ourselves understood with rapid comprehension by the onlooker.” http://www.fashion-era.com/sociology_semiotics.htm#Fashion As A Sign System

5. Culture and Beauty • “How we perceive the beauty or ugliness of our bodies is dependant on cultural attitudes. • Today an inability to refashion and reshape our bodies while constantly monitoring the cultural ideal leaves us failing the fashion test. • Many people spend their lives absorbed in a circle of diet, exercise, cosmetic surgery and other regimes.” http://www.fashion-era.com/sociology_semiotics.htm#Fashion As A Sign System

6. The Need for Belonging • “Group affiliation is our prime concern with regard to fashion • It is the sense of belonging marked by how we fashion ourselves that gives us the tribal connection. http://www.fashion-era.com/sociology_semiotics.htm#Fashion As A Sign System

7. A Look Back…. • History shows that clothing acted as a symbol of one’s status, class, or social role • Fashion through the ages acts as visual history.