5.2: Pop Art in Fashion - Classroom Activity
- Page ID
- 316564
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Today's discussion is centered around considering how the more overt references to consumer culture in fashion that is inspired by Pop Art compares to other ways those consumerist values infuse other styles or trends in fashion that are familiar to students. From obvious to subtle, students will be asked to converse (collegially and respectfully) about a range of fashion statements "say" about the industry and commerce aspects of dressing ourselves.
"Marilyns pop art" by MEDIODESCOCIDO is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Personal Reflection
Clothes cost money: money to make and distribute, money to purchase, money to launder or repair, etc.
But some clothes are designed with an apparent aim to emphasize the connection between the garment or the wearer and money while other clothes are designed to avoid being implicated, or at least to suggest less of a connection, with their role and value in commerce.
Consider the ways in which a garment or style may make a statement about the cost of the clothes being worn (this may be a statement about the high cost, or a statement about a low cost, or something in between) or about the financial status of the wearer of those clothes.
How and to what degree are various garments or styles making clear to wearers (as well as others who see and interact with that wearer) the connection between fashion and consumerist culture?
Consider, for example, how a style of your choice (such as "quiet luxury/stealth wealth" or "thriftcore" or "old money" or "minimalism" or "maximalism") is similar to and different from the Pop Art-inspired fashion you have been reading about in terms of what each says about money and the wearer's involvement in a consumerist landscape.
Group Dialogue
Each group member is encouraged to pick an influencer from a social media platform of their choice or a celebrity and analyze some of the style choices being presented there. The influencer or celebrity does not have to focus on style explicitly in order for their style to be analyzed.
Your focus should not be on whether or not you personally like or don't like the person or their style, but instead on how fashion as a commodity is acknowledged or hidden by certain garments or overall styling approaches.
Be prepared to present your analysis to your group members, keeping in mind that many people may have strong beliefs about fashion that may contrast with other group members' beliefs.
This activity is not an opportunity to denigrate any particular person or style, but to consider thoughtfully the range of ways in which choices about fashion may gesture to consumer culture and commercial industry. It might be most illuminating to honestly analyze one's own style choices and bring some subconscious values to the surface.
These are some questions you and your group members may consider:
- How are the influencer's or celebrity's style choices reflecting economic values? Which economic implications are being communicated?
- Which styles--or which elements of certain styles--seem designed to assert the individuality of the wearer?
- Which styles--or which elements of certain styles--seem designed to emphasize the wearer's recognition and display of cultural and aesthetic norms?
- Which styles--or which elements of certain styles--acknowledge overtly the role of money in the acquisition and wearing of these garments?
- Which styles--or which elements of certain styles--are subtle about the role money plays in the acquisition and wearing of these garments?
- Which styles--or which elements of certain styles--suggest an exemption or "opting out" position regarding one's participation in the economic dynamics of fashion consumption?