To understand the relationship to the entire form and its meaning.
To develop an expertise in various issues of personal clothing choice.
12.00
Unit I:
Dress and Aesthetics:
Body in cultural context- Frameworks for viewing the body, two viewing orientations- visual world, visual field.
Spatial priorities in viewing the apparel-body-construct:
Closed or open
Whole or part
Figure ground integrated or figure ground separated
Flat or rounded
Determinate or indeterminate
Dress as Non-verbal communication- Meaning of communication; structure of dress communication system; elements of dress signs; identity, post modernity and the global marketplace
Perception: Interpretation of Form and meaning- the visual aspect of perceiving the apparel-body-construct; importance of the whole; perceiving order; viewing figure ground and relationships, the contexts
Cultural influences- clothing and adornment for protection, clothing and adornment to meet psychological and sociocultural needs (economic position, social status, sumptuary laws, ethnic identity, gender coding of garments, marital status, political beliefs, religious ideas
Physical influences- Body build and head proportions, body types, physical fitness, body analysis
Influences on color perception-Background, light source, distance, texture, personal reactions
Personal color identification- color theory, color analysis, color theory related to personal color analysis, specific personal color considerations, predominant color categories
12.00
Unit V:
Conformity and Individuality:
Meaning of Conformity, non-conformity and individuality
Clothing symbolism- Symbolic interaction theory, clothing cues related to personality, sex, age and situation
Cyclical nature of fashion- conformity, pressure towards conformity
Deviation from the norm- Fashion innovation, Fashion leadership
Diffusion of Fashion- Fashion and trade publication, Apparel manufacturers, Fashion consultants, central buying offices, retail buyer
Essential Readings:
Marilyn J. Horn, The Second Skin- An Interdisciplinary Study of Clothing, Third Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.
Delong M., The Way We Look, Dress and Aesthetics, Second Edition, Fairchild Publications, New York, 1998.
Marshall, G. Jackson, O. Stanley, M. Kefgen, G. & Specht, P., Individuality in Clothing Selection and Personal Appearance, Fifth Edition, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 2000.
Kimberly A., Mary L., & Susan O., The Meaning of Dress, Fairchild Publications, New York, 2001.