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- Volume 6, Issue 1, 2019
Critical Studies in Men's Fashion - Volume 6, Issue 1-2, 2019
Volume 6, Issue 1-2, 2019
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Fashioning the ‘Performance Man’: Costumes and contexts of Andrey Bartenev
More LessThe article is focused around the work of contemporary Russian artist Andrey Bartenev. Nicknamed the ‘Performance Man’ and the ‘Master of Installations’, Bartenev creates performances, installations, kinetic sculptures, theatrical and video art and flamboyant outfits for himself. The article argues that expressive aesthetics of Bartenev’s performances are connected to the culture of Russian avant-garde. The methodological frame of analysis includes the concept of Bakhtinian grotesque, demonstrating the liberating and subversive potential of carnivalesque culture. Special attention is given to representations of body in Bartenev’s performances. Many of his performances feature a carnival grotesque body: oversized, unnaturally tall, asymmetrical, covered with various bulges. The origin of Bartenev’s individual fashion style is interpreted in the historical context. The article explores Bartenev’s views on the transience of performance, on the role of positive emotions in performances and on environmental pollution and ideas of sustainability.
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Between the gangster and the country gentleman: Male fashion during the volatile 1990s
More LessOfficial de-Sovietization during the chaotic 1990s ushered in ‘The New’ – ostensibly, a new sociopolitical and economic order, a new business vocabulary, the new word ‘rossiiane’ for Russian citizens, the New Russians and the new genre of male fashion. Much of the new, in fact, recuperated the pre-Soviet old, including appropriation of western styles in sundry walks of life. Within male fashion, sartorial choice signalled allegiance to the ‘new’ order, financial and social status, individualism or membership in various collectives. Glossies targeting a male readership served as both primers and advertisements for men intent on forging an identity expressed in sartorial choices derived from such western modes as grunge, pop, Mafia, British rural garb and youth-eclectic ‘casual’. For better and worse, that plethora reflected the seemingly endless options for the country during the Yeltsin era.
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Queering the stitch: Fashion, masculinity and the postsocialist subject
More LessIn my article, I analyse some of the ways in which Gosha Rubchinskiy, Demna Gvasalia and Lotta Volkova might be said to ‘queer’ masculinity. I draw parallels between their work and the modernist, utopian, Constructivist project of Soviet fashion designers of the 1920s such as Varvara Stepanova and Lyubov’ Popova. Most importantly, both groups of artists share a desire to organize their fashion practice within a broader ideological project. At the heart of their respective projects is a fundamental challenge to conventional notions of gender in fashion, and in the fashion industry. In both cases, the ‘queering’ of gender norms, distinctions and hierarchies, both on and off the catwalk, is designed to produce a radical transformation of the relationship between the fashioned object and the fashionable, consuming subject. As far as today’s post-Soviet fashion designers are concerned, by the way in which they either queer masculinity or perform their own, queer brand of masculinity, they produce a new, utopian subject. Far from being the antithesis of the Constructivist project, then, this post-socialist utopian body can be seen as constituting perhaps its most spectacular realization to date.
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The queer coat: Konstantin Goncharov’s fashion, Russian masculinity and queer world building
By Vlad StrukovI re-assess Russian sartorial economics of the 1990s by examining fashion by Konstantin Goncharov, who was credited for styling Russian rock stars and making costumes for artistic projects. I focus on the relationship between queer masculinity and sartorial practice. The former relies on a visual code encompassing a range of multi-platform, cross-media strategies and a network of references. The latter refers to a community of individuals engaged in the production of a characteristic style across different sites. The article proposes the concept of queer world-building, which brings together object-oriented and community-oriented practices. Central to Goncharov’s world is ‘the queer coat’, a costume designed for his clientele and a historically grounded metaphor for Russian society. It designates the process of creative re-modelling of pre-Soviet and Soviet aesthetics, producing a complex cultural exchange challenging dominant notions of masculinity. Goncharov’s cross-platform and intermedial work captures the spirit of multi-centric cultural activity of the 1990s.
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The negotiation of masculinity and identity through clothing choices among Russian speakers in Canada
By Alla MyzelevUsing information interviews conducted with Russian-speaking men living in Toronto and vicinity this article interrogates the understanding of fashion among immigrants from former Soviet Union and Russia. Using a hypothesis that Russian-speaking men conceptualize their male identity differently from both their Canadian counterparts and Russian men living in Russia this article investigates how fashion choices affect negotiation of identity of these men in Canada. Using art historical methodologies, historical analysis and qualitative research I look at the interviewee’s contributions as a reflection of masculinity in transitions assuming that the forming of masculine identity is a constantly changing process. In each society the hegemonic model of masculinity categorizes groups of men in relation to each other through ‘normalizing’ the definition of masculinity and defining its standards and proper manifestations. This is particularly true of societies where the military culture has an increased presence and an important role to play. Contemporary Russia epitomizes the commanding and rigid nature of the masculinist regime where hegemonic masculinity is firmly established and thoroughly institutionalized.
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Fashioning Muslim men: Appraising professional Saudi men’s attitudes towards the thobe
More LessThe Muslim man’s shirt-dress, or thobe, is a popular form of dress in the global Muslim community. Attention to Muslim clothing has most often been to its associated ideology. As a fashionable garment worn across many regions of the world, the thobe has received little attention within the fashion industry or from fashion scholars. This study used Appraisal methods to analyse the subjective attitudes of 79 professional Saudi men in describing their positive and negative views of the thobe. Attitudes were clearly positive overall, realized in engagement clauses reflecting a reserved linguistic style, and showing the collectivist and uncertainty-avoidant social values characteristic of educated Saudi men. The reserved nature of the Saudi male style means that positive results may be read as significantly more positive than subcategory frequencies would otherwise suggest. Frequently realized judgements of social sanction indicate that participants enjoyed the thobe because it allowed them to participate in shared national and religious identities. Frequently realized judgements of social esteem indicate that they find it more practical and comfortable than western wear. Participants identified a variety of elements of design that are desirable and significant to them in a thobe. They distinguished different kinds of thobes based on their social function and context.
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Gen-Y men and ‘Fast Fashion’: Who values it?
Authors: Jihyun Sung and Hongjoo WooFast fashion refers to the clothing that follows the latest fashion trends at affordable prices. Although fast fashion could cause environmental, social and ethical issues, it has been widely consumed by young consumers because of its various styles with inexpensive prices. Thus, the current study investigated how Gen-Y males’ varied decision-making styles influence their perceptions towards fast fashion differently. The results of an online survey collected from 335 Gen-Y males showed that there are two different decision-making groups: indifferent realists and conscious fashionistas, which were dissimilar in their ethnic distribution. Further, their varied decision-making dimensions influenced their perceptions towards fast fashion differently. These results contribute towards the existing literature related to fast fashion and provide insightful perceptions for fast fashion marketers in targeting Gen-Y male consumers.
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Fashion parades – for men only: Multiple tailor Hepworths, designer Hardy Amies and the marketing of men’s suits in Britain in the 1960s
More LessThis article will examine the use of male fashion shows as a marketing and promotional tool by British high street multiple tailor Hepworths in the 1960s as part of their design collaboration with women’s fashion designer and couturier Hardy Amies. The partnership successfully brought the concept of the branded designer label to British men for the first time and was a major initiative for the menswear industry as it highlighted and consolidated a design ethos which strongly emphasized men’s fashion. Drawing on a wide range of primary source material including oral history interviews with two male models who worked for Hepworths and Amies; object studies of surviving garments; and film and images of the shows, this article will explore the significant and innovative approach to selling men’s fashionable tailoring taken by this mid-market menswear company. It also provides a broader understanding of the history of men’s fashion during this period, a narrative which is dominated by the concept of the peacock revolution, by demonstrating Hepworths’ important contribution to everyday men’s fashion in post-Second World War Britain.
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Reconciling hyperconsumerism and sustainability in the island ecosystem: A photo essay of men’s street fashion in Honolulu
More LessThis visual study explores men’s street fashions in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Due to their geographical remoteness, ethnically diverse population, and attractiveness as tourist destination, the Hawaiian Islands attract a variety of styles. I analyse men’s street wear through the theoretical lenses of hypermodernity and hyperconsumerism, which are characterized by the dissonance between the pleasures of fashion consumption and the associated environmental and social problems. Island ecosystems with dense boundaries between urban areas and the natural environment heighten awareness for sustainability. Detailed discussions of each outfit articulate my observations: men’s street fashions incorporate subtle references to current environmental and social issues to attenuate hyperconsumerist contradictions.
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Reviews
Authors: Michael P. Londrigan and José Blanco F.Menswear Revolution: The Transformation of Contemporary Men’s Fashion, Jay McCauley Bowstead (2018) London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 210 pp., ISBN 978-1-47428-900-9, h/bk, £67.50
Peacock Revolution: American Masculine Identity and Dress in the Sixties and Seventies, Daniel Delis Hill (2018) London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 210 pp., ISBN 978-1-3500-5643-5, h/bk, £85.00
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