Substances of Dress: Week 9

“1.2 Real Clothing

…We might suppose that these two garments recover a single identity at the level of the real garment they are supposed to represent, that the described dress and the photographed dress are united in the actual dress the both refer to. Equivalent, no doubt, but not identical; for just as between image-clothing and written clothing there is a difference in substances and relations, and thus a difference of structure, in the same way, from these two garments to the real one there is a transition to other substances and other relations, thus, the real garments forms a third structure, different from the first two, even if it serves them as model, or more exactly, even if the model which guides the information transmitted by the first two garments belongs to the third structure.”

Looking at “The Fashion System”, specifically chapter 1. Written Clothing, explaining the different garments; the written, the image and the actual garment. I applied this to my research and came out with many different outcomes or ideas dealing with the same ‘garment’

1. The wrapped garment; this is the act of putting on the body which could be seen as a different outcome to the actual garment once on the body.
2. The garment/material on the body (seen in real life)
3. The documentation by the wearer; a written document that explains the process, materials and feelings of the wearer.
4. Photographic evidence of the garment on the body; could be a fashion photograph or purely analytical.
5. Photographic evidence after the garment is removed; imprinting on the skin (if any) and what the body looks like after going through this processed.

Can it be better than the real thing?

‘units of real clothing, they cannot exist at the level of language , for, as we know, the language is not a tracing of reality’[1]

Can the ‘secondary’ clothing such as a photograph or description be better than the real thing? A sensation or feeling that a unit of clothing could give you could outweigh the excitement that the real clothing gives you?

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[1] Barthes, R 1990, ‘Chapter 1. Written Clothing’ The Fashion System, University of California Press, Berkley and Los Angeles. P.4