Learning Portfolio #5

When asked “What is fashion?” now, I would say that I define fashion as being a system comprised of changing and evolving trends that act as communication tool. I now see fashion as a collective entity rather than a personal one. My definition of fashion has changed because my first definition of fashion regarded fashion as one’s personal self expression, but now looking back on that with what I learned in this course, I think I was confusing my original definition of fashion with the definition of style. As style is defined in Fashion and Cultural Studies by Susan Kaiser as “part of the process of self-telling, that is, to expound an aspect of autobiography of oneself through the clothing choices an individual makes.”  My understanding of fashion has deepened as I now know that while the system of fashion is vast, I still do have my own place in it. I became more aware of my agency and the different subject positions I take, both conscious and unconscious, that help formulate who I am and my style, and how I project that into the social constructs of fashion. I thought the more interesting part of this was the unconscious aspect of fashion, and how we incorporate it into our lives as a habit. I like how Joanne Entwistle says in The Dressed Body “Dress forms part of our epidermis — it lies on the boundary between self and other. The fact that we do not normally develop epidermal self-awareness tells us a lot about our routine relationship with dress.” Our consciousness is usually only heightened when something is out of place. However when we did the dress log where I was required to think about my dress choices everyday, it made me realize my aforementioned agency and subject positions as a young woman in New York City. Going forward, I have a newfound understanding about fashion and my relationship with it.