Elizabeth argues that what is now considered ‘cool’ is the refusal to conform to the set standards of society, and not caring about the opinion of others regarding their actions. This…
n the reading “The Jacket,” Gary Soto writes about how clothing expresses your life. He tells about the disadvantages he went through while wearing a specific jacket. The author said, “... I described something like bikers wears: black leather and silver studs, with enough belts to hold down a small town,” but instead he got “... a jacket the color of day-old guacamole” (1). He was embarrassed by the jacket, and his peers made fun of him. People make fun of others because of their clothing, and items that a peer doesn’t have.…
First impressions stick with a person for a long time and appearances do matter. When it comes to living in America, everyone wants to live the American Dream. Everyone wants a big house, luxurious cars and a white picket fence around your property. In Christine Page’s paper A History of Conspicuous Consumption, she talks about conspicuous consumption and how it refers to the ostentatious display of wealth for the purpose of acquiring or maintaining status or prestige. The thought process is you have to show how worthy and successful you are by buying expensive things. If you are rich buy a new 2016 BMW M6 class or a new Rolex to show off your success as well as your status with the elites. The thought process, “Look at all my stuff, I am successful!”…
As said by Allen “Fashion is a part of society, whether it be good or bad.” Teens judge each other by whether or not their appearance revolves around or creates new fashion. If someone isn’t rocking the latest style, fashion’s hold on society deems them a loser. On the other hand, a new quiet kid in the high school cafeteria can instantly become “popular” simply by wearing the newest clothes or even unusual piercings. Unfortunately, the teenage mind undeniably judges their peers by appearance without any consideration of personality or any true values. Gosnell shows this in his film Never Been Kissed when 25 year old copy editor Josie Geller is sent back to high school to do an undercover piece on high school kids. On her first day of school, Josie’s outfit is chosen by her older friend Amanda whose knowledge of fashion stems…
Schorman, Rob. Selling Style: Clothing and Social Change at the Turn of the Century. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 2003.…
J.Crew is a very successful brand that reaches out to young business professionals; however J.Crew, specifically at Stonestown mall, is having difficulty reaching out to the college students at San Francisco State University. J.Crew believes the students at SFSU are a smart target to reach, considering the University is located right next to the Stonestown mall. Although J.Crew believes the college students are smart target to reach, many students are unaware of the student discount they offer. Looking over J.Crew’s past marketing campaigns, they have used older looking models. When doing our research, we noticed that J.Crew’s top competitors: GAP (Banana Republic), and BCBG use younger, college age range, type of models. With this is mind, we feel that the best advertising campaign is to follow their competitors and choose younger looking models, in order to reach out to the college market. J.Crew’s competitors use fun advertising methods to reach out to a younger market. We noticed in all of GAP holiday commercials, the young models are jumping around having a good time. We get a sense of fun and playful energy from the commercial, which could draw in college students. Gap also gives off a feel of comfort, casual and trendy style in clothing for the everyday college wear. We feel that if J.Crew starts advertising with younger looking models emphasizing on basic wear of a typical college student, J.Crew may have better success at reaching out to the SFSU students.…
We go wrong, Walker believes, not when we express ourselves through our possessions, but when we allow our possessions to take precedence. It’s all too easy for people, under the influence of the siren songs of marketing (or murketing), to drift into a situation in which they use commodities “not to reflect who they are, but to construct who they are. Not to reflect a self, but to build a self.” No object, of course, is meaningful enough to fulfill that role, and an endless cycle of chasing after glittering but ultimately…
Old Navy is a family oriented clothing retailer, both in-store and online, owned by an American Multinational Corporation, Gap. Old Navy’s mission is to offer affordable, fashionable clothing and accessories for adults, kids, baby’s, and moms-to-be. It all began in February 1993, when a small team of Gap employees was given an assignment to come up with a business plan, for a revolutionary new approach to retail. The following fall, was the birth of Gap Warehouse, who offered casual, yet fashionable, clothing at a great price. The name “Gap Warehouse” seemed too dull, so the name was shortly after changed to “Old Navy”. The first Old Navy opened in March 1994 in Colma, California. They now have over 1000 stores within America and Canada, and also account for approximately 40% of The Gap’s $15.8 billion in sales. An early ad showed the spirit of the brand: “Imagine a store that offers clothing for the whole family. And everything it sells has a great style, in great colours, with the kind of quality you recognize at once. And then imagine that the jackets, the sweaters, the dresses, the t-shirts, everything you want and need to buy is at a price you can’t believe. This is Old Navy.” Less than four years after opening, Old Navy made history as is became the fastest retailer to reach $1 Billion in annual sales.…
“Blue Jeans” by Fred Davis talks about denim jeans, their creation about 700 years ago, and how since then this item of apparel has served as a form of expression. Jeans were and still are made from sturdy indigo- dyed cotton cloth. Before the 60’s one did not see blue jeans on everyone, in the 30’s and 40’s painters and artist were the main consumers, and in the 50’s the denim trend spread to hoodlums and motorcyclist. Not until the 60’s did jeans become universally worn, crossing all genders, ages, regions and national boundaries. In the 60’s Jeans also crossed the occupational boundaries; no longer being looked at as a work tool but simply another article of clothing.…
There has been a surge, in recent years, in interest in vintage clothing and this has been reflected in price as well. The deliberate wearing of vintage clothing rejects social norms of what is fashionable and trendy and proves that individuals can create their own sense of identity and originality. Often more affordable than high street shops and definitely unique, ‘thrifting’ has become similar to antique shopping. There are a multitude of events targeted at vintage-loving people that brings them together like dance classes, themed nights out, pop up fairs and even speed dating. Vintage clothes seem to be viewed as more individual and unique than contemporary fashion, even though at one point in time, they were most probably the norm in fashion. But the treasure hunting to find a piece of clothing and the combination of different garments confers the wearer a sense of…
The Merchants of Cool is a documentary about researchers and marketers exploring out into the society to see what is popular or cool in the latest trends within teenagers. These people would spend days going around the streets, malls, and even schools to find out what is the next big thing that will give them the attention from people. They would have the teenagers participate in surveys and studies while analyzing them thoroughly to portray the founded characteristics into the media. These marketers realized that teenagers are actually portraying themselves to the media so the media would then reveal it back to the teenagers, which teenagers then sees it and portrays them that way. The only disadvantage of that was once the marketer reveals what is cool to the world, they would have to go on the radar and find out what is the next thing that is cool. We live in a culture, a consumer culture to be specific where we are driven to buy things, especially teenagers, which is fueled by corporate motivation to annual grow profits. There was a teenager in the video and she stated that no matter where she goes, she must always get ready to look nice before she leaves the house. As mentioned earlier, sometimes the media depicts things that will cause teenagers to feel like they are not good enough, thin enough, or pretty enough and the negative thoughts build up. Although this video was made about twelve years ago, teenagers are still the same as today. Teenagers should not have look into the media or advertisement to find out what they want or how are they supposed to be. Each individual is different with a unique mind so every teenager should act and be like however they want. Teenagers just needs to understand that the cool hunters are just being paid to find people who they think are cool to ask questions and find answers, which advertisers and producers will then use this cool information to sell more…
‘’ Young people spend too much money on clothes and are too often influenced by brands and designer labels’’…
In Champagne Taste, Beer Budget, Delia Cleveland tells us about how she believed that having the latest and greatest designer brand clothing made her feel more appealing to those around her. Some young adults today are so focused on what others think of them that they are willing to spend whatever amount of money necessary just to look good. Later in the essay Cleveland talks about how having expensive taste is not worth all of the money and time it took to live a life like she used to. During the class discussions, a large part of the class agreed with Cleveland in saying that no clothes or accessories are worth ridiculous amounts of money.…
“Dress as an expression of the pecuniary culture” (1899) expresses Thorstein Veblen’s view on the issue of the representation and abuse of dress in his society. Veblen tries to answer a very important question that, even over a century later, we still ask ourselves. Why do we spend more than we need to on clothes? Veblen views this phenomenon through an economic lens, which allows us to gain a different insight into the motive of dress. What makes Veblen an interesting read is how many of his claims surrounding this question ring true and remain applicable to this day and society. For instance, Veblen tries to explain why people participate in “wasteful consumption” (1899, P.339) using…
It is thought that the clothes society chooses to wear defines ones intentions, character and gives others a basis on how to interpret personality. People have bold behaviours because of what they wear. Many are too open with what they wear making it seem as if modern fashion is mainly about sex appeal. Modern culture is mainly concerned with how others will interpret them and their appearance. Therefore society uses this to make oneself more appealing. If someone were to dress in revealing clothing, others will construe this as they are trying make themselves as sexually appealing as possible. However if someone were to dress in less revealing clothes they would not be in to the hype of sex appeal. This shows how modern culture reflects on the clothes being worn. These people who are only worried about revealing themselves through outfits clearly have bold behaviours because they care what society thinks of them. People tend…