Critical Studies in Fashion & Beauty - Volume 9, Issue 1, 2018

Spain has a considerable number of local popular festivals or fiestas, many of which feature traditional and gendered dress and costumes. The Fallas festival in Valencia is arguably one of the most representative and sophisticated examples. This article aims to present an in-depth analysis of the Fallas, considering it as an apparent remnant of a pre-modern regional tradition and as subject to transformations during modernism and up to the present day. The article examines the significance of the festival over time by looking at its functions and their meanings through three specific approaches: (1) as an expression of local collective identity; (2) as a ritualistic activity that cements social interactions, and (3) as an aesthetic and artistic experience that fosters a collective feeling of belonging and enchantment. These three dimensions examine the celebratory aspects of this exemplary fiesta, and also its ambivalent and critical dimensions. Although focused on this one example, the analysis has some resonance for other festivals, in Spain and elsewhere.

This article analyses the Israeli cultural phenomenon of a cartoon character named ’Shoshke’ that transformed into a real-life female embodiment and alter-ego of its male creator, the writer, artist and journalist Zeëv Engelmayer. Starting out as a two-dimensional drawn character in alternative, satirical and politically-critical publications, Shoshke became a physically-embodied, three-dimensional performance on the streets and social spaces of Tel Aviv and more widely in Israel and beyond, initially through ‘personal appearances’ of Shoshke/Engelmayer and then via the Internet and social media. The cartoon Shoshke is a voluptuous female superhero; her performed personification involes a man with a beard clad in a ‘naked’ female costume that emphasizes her genitalia, special headdress, glasses and red high-heels. All of this, along with her ‘promiscuous’ behaviour, define her as a subversive performance of a new self, transgressing rules of gender, sexuality and genre in an extraordinary way within the complex social, cultural and political contexts of contemporary Israel. Commenting on the local politics of that country at its 70th anniversary, Shoshke is a political act that calls attention, among so many other things, to what is true, what is semblance, what is to be believed and not believed. The analysis presented here considers the intentions of this creation, its reception and its effects, which are curiously and interestingly ambiguous on several levels – in relation to conceptions of national identity, gender identity and roles, and concepts of acceptability regarding clothing as covering and as revealing within the particular contested context of contemporary Israel.

This article explores the tension between individualism and national collectivism in modern Israeli fashion design. When looking back at the end of the nineteenth century up until the declaration of Israel as a country in 1948, one can recognize the creation of the ideal community and image of the ‘New Jew’. In this process of building and defining the new national culture of Israel, the dominant approach within the ‘New Jew’ community was one of unity for a greater cause. In this state of mind, clothes did not matter, nor did individuality. Unlike bourgeois city fashion based on individual preferences, the unified ‘anti-style’ became a visual marker of Israeli identity. In the last couple of years, fashion designers are trying to go back to their roots by creating unique local garments. Due to the ‘anti-style’ visual past of the local fashion scene, one has to ask weather contemporary designers succeeded in creating a unique Israeli fashion by following the past and erasing individuality? Or by standing against the past and criticizing collectivism?

With increased awareness of environmental issues, and of ethical consumption, the fashion industry has been trying to address ethical issues in its supply chain, and on consumer behaviour. One approach to reducing the environmental impact of garment consumption is to change the way consumers behave. The prevailing strategies for behaviour change utilized within sustainable fashion have fallen into two categories: the provision of information, such as social media campaigns, and the creation of new garments using design strategies such as ‘design for durability’. However, these strategies are based on assumptions, rather than empirical understanding of what motivates consumer garment use, or the mechanics of behaviour change. This article focuses on one particular environmentally desirable behaviour: wearing garments for longer, and the factors influencing this behaviour. The findings provide insights into where improvements could be made.

A quantitative wardrobe study was undertaken with female consumers in the United Kingdom. The purpose of the study was to explore the motivations and barriers to a selection of environmentally desirable garment-use behaviours, including wearing garments for longer. From this study, behavioural motivations were compiled. The predominant factors motivating prolonged wear were comfort and good fit of garments. The predominant factor acting as a barrier was change in circumstances, which changed consumers’ perceptions of how appropriate garments were for their perceived identity.

The implications of these results are twofold. Changes in personal circumstances are inevitable for all consumers, and something that designers cannot influence. This suggests that alongside promoting prolonged wear, it is critical to guide consumers towards shifting ownership of unworn garments to new users. There is also an opportunity for designers and researchers to further explore comfort and fit of garments, but these factors are highly individualistic, which suggests that mass production may be detrimental to promoting prolonged wear.

Excerpt from Marketers, Tear Down These Walls: Liberating the Postmodern Consumer, Michael R. Solomon (2018) Pennsauken, NJ: BookBaby, 192pp., ISBN: 978-1543923445, p/bk, $17.99

Frenetic Gossamer, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 19 February–11 September 2016