HECOL 268 Study Guide - Winter 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Linen, Wool, Silk
12 Oct 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
HECOL 268
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
HECOL 268
LECTURE 1 - INTRODUCTION
dress or clothing - most encompassing. anything we put on our bodies. doesn’t distinguish
costume - used to mean the same sense as dress, now come to mean something more
theatrical, more distinctive, ie. occupational, folk
fashion - implies particular kind of clothing produced under particular conditions. certain kinds
are more or less popular. fashionable. a certain way of making or distributing. fashion system.
capitalist way. many specialized people. trendy.
used to be thought that fashion was exclusively Western, arising in Europe. increasingly
understood that many different societies had fashion
element of change is key
Clothing, Costume, and Dress
state of being that exists for social reasons - decorating the body using textiles, animal skins,
jewellery, paint
warmth - clothing as being a necessity, basic need
some research suggests that people survived was because we managed to have clothing
what does it mean to be dressed?
what does it mean to be undressed/ nude?
if you are not wearing clothes, can you be dressed? - in lots of different societies in the world,
not might need to be wearing clothing to be dressed. paint. covering of skin is the important
thing
some research on dress relates to history, others to the importance or meaning of dressing the
body, or signifying personal and/or cultural identity. distinguishing types of people and describing
who they are often involved understanding their dress. many scholars, including
anthropologists, art historians, costumers, economists, historians, psychologists and
sociologists all study dress, even psychiatrists who want to know more about their patients.
dress also has to do with other forms of social norms
notion of change in dress allowed art historians to date art
interest in social development, the way that social groups used material objects to communicate
and to distinguish certain social groups
economists - economic impact of trade of textiles, etc. how people spend money, create jobs
psychologists - using dress as a symbol of identity or emotions
theatre people are on of the first dress historians, along with art historians
why did the change happen? what caused the change?
A working definition
costume or dress includes all modifications of a persons appearance, from clothing and
accessories to makeup and jewellery, plus posture, corseting, padding, even surgical alteration
when talking about clothing often about silhouettes - surgical alteration
the body becomes the canvas for fashionable clothing so that the clothing looks how it is
supposed to look
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
definitions usually include:
-physical objects
-cultural aesthetic and moral norms
-assumption of change - rapid or gradual
-inherent symbolism - understand what something means
Western Dress
really no such thing as the ‘west’ - implies shared set of norms and customs
artificial distinction, used as a shortcut
implies existence of fashion system - making, marketing, consumption, discarding,
includes influence of ‘other’ cultures - imports,
Western Dress is NOT:
Ethnographic
occupational/ military
folk
ceremonial
objects are created
for a purpose - things that are actually manufactured
in a particular period
for an owner or a class of owners
objects belong to the society within which they are created and used, and derive meaning and
significance from that
dress, as a cultural object, can tell us about the culture from which it came
fashion is used to communicate cultural identity
how does fashion acquire its initial social meaning?
how and why does this meaning change?
is there a difference between the inherent (created) meaning of an object and its social,
fashionable (adopted) meaning?
is it something specific about the object? or some idea around the object? that makes it
fashionable
motivations for clothing
protection - from the elements is needed, for survival, but humans seem to have has their
origins in warm, not cold, climates. supernatural protection, or protection against spiritual
dangers that are throughout to surround each individual
status - most cultures used dress to denote status, but this function probably become attached
to dress after clothing first came into use. includes the quality of the item.
modesty - just what constitutes modesty differs markedly from society to society, and what is
modest in one part of the world may be immodest in another
decoration - any type of adornment of the body. probably the initial motive
symbolism - means something. ex. sports jersey. ‘magical’ function of clothing - lucky socks, etc.
the logical conclusion is that decoration of the self is a basic human practice
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Assumption of change - rapid or gradual. Inherent symbolism - understand what something means. Magical" function of clothing - lucky socks, etc. the logical conclusion is that decoration of the self is a basic human practice. India - cotton, mesopotamians - wool, egyptians - linen. Mesopotamia = between the rivers" place, but doesn"t refer to the civilizations small city states that have a lot of regional power. Assyrian social structure similar, similar religious beliefs, same kind of economic interests. Sumerian men wear their hair long, curled heads are frequently bald, but with long beards and sometimes side locks wear long fringed skirts, kilt lie garments typing at the wasist, if the fabric was long enough (see notes) Temples of the goddess bau: lagash, ca, 2350 b. c buried with worldly posssesions, and with other people buried with towels that described her households.
