SHADOW BLOG: Week 4: Introduction to Shadow

My first fashion equation:

Fashion – clothes = Fashion?

Does nothing change? I have never thought of dressing being something that doesn’t involve clothing or a material of some sort, until this class. This is the first fashion equation for shadow, which will be re-worked through the semester to eventually define what clothing and dress could be.

“Semiology does not follow the same path at all; it describes a garment which from beginning to end remains imaginary, or, if one purely intellective; it leads us to recognize not practices but images. The sociology of Fashion is entirely directed toward real clothing; the semiology of Fashion is directed towards a sew of collective representations… The function of the description of Fashion is not only to propose a model which is a copy of reality but also and especially to circulate Fashion broadly as a meaning.” (The Fashion System, R.Barthes p.10)

The Fashion System - (Written Clothing) discusses clothing being read in different forms, could a written description be more powerful than the actual item? Like fiction and fantasy; could words produce a more exciting and beautiful image?

Why do we read fiction? We do not have to analyze every word we read, the point is to be able to interpret when we want to. This can be more fun than the truth.

Clothes Swap Workshop:

It is a weird feeling being trapped inside another persons clothing. Firstly from the clothing being something I would usually too scared to wear (long skirts and boots) this is something I would put on in my house and then realise that I will feel uncomfortable for half the day in. However It was quite warming, it is nice to put yourself quite literally in someone else’s shoes! I felt dressed, but not the same as I would in something I knew that I put on myself because that’s how I wanted to feel on that particular day.