Fashion, Postmodernity and Personal Appearance: A Symbolic Interactionist Formulation

Abstract

A theoretical explanation of fashion change is offered, drawing upon symbolic‐interactionist insights on fashion and appearance, and developing macro‐micro connections between cultural ambivalence and the negotiation of meaning as inspired by symbolic ambiguity in appearances. The postmodern condition, connected with advanced capitalism, spawns cultural ambivalence and a plethora of clothing styles that emerge, in part, to clarify and lend expression to ambivalence. A broad variety of clothing styles, however, coupled with tendencies toward production of self, contribute to a high degree of ambiguity in individually constructed appearances, the meaning of which must then be collectively negotiated in social interaction. Failure of clothing styles to resolve cultural ambivalence results in fashion change in an ongoing dialectic.

Fashion and the signification of social order

“…Back 1985;Davis 1985;Kaiser et al 1991) needs to be qualified. Postmodernist interpretation of fashion follows two different routes.…”

Youth Style: Articulating cultural anxiety

“…She has collaborated with colleagues in developing the symbolic interactionist theory of fashion, which suggests that cultural ambivalence (mixed and unresolvable cultural sentiments, including anxieties) and capitalism fuel ongoing fashion change, in which youth play an important identity-experimenting role. Articulating cultural ambivalence, the theory indicates, involves creating ambiguous appearance styles that require negotiation in everyday contexts to become meaningful (Kaiser, Nagasawa, andHutton 1991, 1995).…”

Exploring dress, identity and performance in contemporary dance music culture

“…Identity is central to perceptions of self and others, to the constitution and functioning of social groups, it is fuelled by ideologies of individualism and autonomy central to contemporary consumer societies, whereby their constituents strive for individuality, whilst seeking acceptance within the various social spheres with which they engage (Hall, 1997). These social spheres and their etiquette require the construction of multiple identities to fulfil individual needs for social acceptance and credibility, whilst maintaining a sense of autonomy over presentation of self (Kaiser, 1990;Kaiser, Nagasawa, & Hutton, 1991). Issues of identity and identification have emerged from earlier work on dance culture, as Thornton (1995, p. 91) states "fantasies of identity are a key pleasure" of participation in club cultures, whilst Jackson (2004, p. 158) considers that "the construction of identity becomes an ongoing creative project aimed towards the creation of a sense of personal and social authenticity".…”