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Eve Nova
Integrative Seminar 2 (Fashion)
Eric Wilson
May 03, 2016

Whats the Word? : Semiotics and Exploring the Possibility of Re-Defining the Connotations behind Garments

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Everything we say in the English language is an arbitrary conjunction of sounds. These
sounds have meaning that we as humans added to them; the sounds on their own dont directly
refer to the meaning. In other words, a table is only called a table, not because the sounds
t+a+b+l+e has meaning, but because we decided to call the elevated platform that we place our
things on a table. When these sounds or written letters are combined together, we can create
structures to understand each other, structures such as this sentence. The physical sound of "P"
"I" and "G", don't mean much on their own but when put together "PIG", allows us to have a
recognizable word, which has a denotation (what the word physically refers to), of a pink fuzzy
animal, while the connotation (the undertone and abstract meaning created societally, which is
associated with the physical object) may be someone who is a sloppy, dirty person. The whole
structure of a form referring not only to its denotation but connotation is called semiotics. 1 In
Semiotics of Advertising and the Discourse of Consumption, Kettemann says that a wall is a
wall, because I say it is a wall or because you say it is a wall or because we all say it is a wall,
and because we all agree, it is a wall and not because it is a wall. 2 We as society together
determine the meaning behind words and in fashion we choose to do the same with the garments
that we embody. The system of semiotics makes it easy to understand why as a society and
individuals we make the choices that we do in terms of everyday apparel.

1 Roland, Barthes, Operation Margarine; Myth Today, in In Durham, Meenakshi Gigi.,

and Douglas Kellner. Media and Cultural Studies: Keyworks. Chichester: John Wiley &
Sons, 2012. Print. pp. 95-100

2 Bernhard, Kettemann, 2013, Semiotics of Advertising and the Discourse of Consumption.

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In fashion, clothing has the same semiotic system as words (such as pig) where a
certain item of clothing refers to a physical object (a pink fuzzy animal). The clothing itself and
the body/environment the garment is placed in; can change the way we think about the person
embodying the garment (which is the connotation, or underlying meaning). Often you hear that
fashion trends are just recycled through history, a re-iteration of a past idea but in conjunction
with something new. Which means that no-matter how trendy the garment, it embodies some
essence of the past and therefore has some sort of stereotype associated with it. When we wear a
fashion garment, we are wearing the connotation and meaning behind it; these connotations have
been created by the relationships between advertisers, wearers, observers, cycling into the
creation of stereotypes in our current society, which can only be re-defined and changed through
the process of de-myth.
Every day we choose an outfit to wear, whether for comfort or for a conscious outward
portrayal of our identity. We choose the specific garment we wear for not only its utilitarian
purpose, but perhaps we like the color or how the garment makes us feel. When we pick out
something to wear in the morning, We are not careless in our projections of our identities,
instead trying to present meanings to others that we assume they consider desirable, meaning
that our clothing choices are based off of societal signs and connotations each garment has, not
simply off the utilitarian purpose. 3 Conscious or not, we often reflect the attitude and mood that
we are feeling, hence why the color black is used for funerals (to signify grief). Even, choosing
leather as opposed to silk, Lycra as opposed to cotton, denim rather than wool, will affect the
way the body looks and feels, when it comes to the garment. 4 This creation of identity (whether
3 Bernhard, Kettemann, 2013, Semiotics of Advertising and the Discourse of Consumption.
4 Joanne, Entwistle, "Real Bodies A Sociological Introduction," The Dressed Body,
2002, 133-51, PDF, Page 133.

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realistic or false) through clothing, is one that is portrayed by the individual, through the signs
and connotations the garment gives off.
Clothing items have much more difficulty avoiding underlying stereotypes, because
unlike the variety of mediums and forms that are often used in fine-art, there is a pre-set form
and medium for the field of fashion, the form being the body and the medium being fabric. Every
garment is meant to fit some kind of body. The character of the body itself changes when a
garment is on that specific person. If someone wears their favorite shirt, the physical body that
the clothing is molded onto, changes the body's gait into something more upbeat. Put this person,
wearing their favorite shirt into their favorite place in town, and it changes the person who
possesses the body into a physical positive jumping bean. 5 The combination of a garment, body
and environment creates not only a different way someone else might view the person but a
different way the person wearing the garment views themselves. Since, our experience of
embodiment is thus always mediated by the culture we live in, it means that we as humans can
manipulate the way we want our image to be portrayed. 6 If a person wants to portray themselves
as if they are more laid back or rebellious, they might choose to wear a graphic t-shirt, instead of
something more formal to a cocktail party (even if this apparel is not an accurate depiction of
their own day to day identity). In a research study by Yuniya Kawamura, Yuniya realized that one
of the people she did research on, Lurie, had a great point about fashion; she explained that its
not only about the garments themselves but also, "hairstyles, accessories, jewelry, make-up, and

5
Caroline, Evans, and Minna Thornton, 1991, Fashion, Representation, Femininity, Feminist
Review, no. 38, Palgrave Macmillan Journals: 4866. doi:10.2307/1395377.
6
Joanne, Entwistle, "Real Bodies A Sociological Introduction," The Dressed Body,
2002, 133-51, PDF, Page 138.

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body decoration, " 7 which contribute to the way people are perceived. The person who is
embodying the garment is not only choosing which fabric they want to cover themselves with,
but the impression or persona that they want to be seen as that day (whether this is intuitive or
not). Hence why those who want to fit in will follow the societal rules. A classic example of this,
can be seen from the cult movie, Mean Girls, where the girls who want to be included in the
clique only wear pink on Wednesdays, because if the girls wear a color besides pink they will be
shunned and excluded from the group. The clothing you wear always sends a message about who
you are, or in other terms how people stereotype you based on looks, whether you like it or not.
Connotations in terms of fashion garments, are created by advertising companies.
Companies such as Louis Vuitton, Victoria Secret PINK, Adidas, Fendi, Obey, Nike and so many
more, plaster their name onto their garments and goods because the consumer wants to embody
the image of these brands. The brands advertising companies, such as Louis Vuitton convince the
consumer that if they purchase their products, they will be glamorous and put-together, just like
the ladies in the advertisements. 8 The problem is the only real thing that an advertisement or
movie is portraying is nothing more than a popular desire. Everything in movies is a
misrepresentation, hence why we watch it. The word representation itself means that it is an
indication of something in the real world, it is not the real world. If everything in media was an
accurate representation of real life, we wouldnt be enticed by it (because we want a distraction
from our reality). Media being based on misrepresentations is dangerous because people cant
7
Yuniya Kawamura, Doing research in fashion and dress an introduction to qualitative methods,
New York, NY: Berg, 2011, ProQuest ebrary.
8
Jennifer Lopez for Louis Vuitton. Photograph. FanPop. Accessed May 2, 2016.
http://www.bwgreyscale.com/adimg09/adv_4500.JPG.

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acknowledge or realize that media, particularly film, is not a replica of real life. 9 Even
documentaries and reality-television are planned out format wise, they are edited and re-drafted
before it is shown to the viewers. Media decides to dress a cast member in a hoodie, to make
their character seem like a creepy person. This can be problematic because people take these
associations into their real life and automatically categorize people by type based on these
associations. A lot of the time someone might see someone else in a hoodie, and assume or
stereotype them as threatening or dangerous because thats the way media chose to represent
hoodie wearers. There will always be inaccurate assumptions in conjunction with fashion
garments that are already floating around in our society. The only way we can change the way
people think about these garments is to start thinking as fashion in terms of a new form.
We need to start thinking of fashion as a form that is similar to art in terms of
postmodernism. Postmodernist art, is installation, collaging or any work that exceeds the border
of the picture frame. The difference between postmodernist art and the modernist art that came
before, is that postmodernist art is about the collapse between the art and culture distinction, 10 it
has no sense of time besides the present, which means that most postmodernist art has no

9
Stuart, Hall, Encoding/Decoding, In Durham, Meenakshi Gigi., and Douglas Kellner, Media
and Cultural Studies: Keyworks. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2012, Print. pp. 137.
10
Fredric, Jameson, Postmodernism or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, In Durham,
Meenakshi Gigi., and Douglas Kellner. Media and Cultural Studies: Keyworks.
Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2012. Print. pp. 407

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stereotypes associated with it. If fashion is the re-iteration of history in a new environment, and
postmodernist art is something immersive that loses its sense of having a narrative, then the way
we can change the connotation behind certain garments, is to make it of the present or in
combinations with re-iterations of the past. By taking away the narrative behind a garment, we
are taking away connotations and stereotypes associated with it, which means new ones can be
formed.
A good example of postmodernist art, is the Dada movement. Dada was able to change
the form of art from something beautiful (pleasing to the eye) 11 to something sublime (makes
you feel). 12 Dada not only changed the physical form of art, but also the context and content in
which the art was presented in. Many viewers saw this form for the first time, and had no direct
mutual connotation associated with the pieces. An example of a way Dada did this was by
introducing collaging. Erwin Blumenfelds Beauty in Motion is multi-second clips of
experimental beauty films, in which Blumenfeld layered texts of a brand on top of the imagery of
a beautiful woman. When Blumenfeld layers the text and video like this, he makes the viewer
physically see the connection between the brand (the text) and the brands connotation, being
something sensual (the woman in the video). Dadaists blurred the line of art and real life, similar
to the way fashion does every day. 13 In the same sense, if we want to change the connotations
11
"Definition of Beautiful." In Merriam-Webster. Accessed May 1, 2016. http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/beautiful.
12
"Definition of Sublime." In Merriam-Webster. Accessed May 1, 2016. http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/sublime.
13
Helen, Molesworth, "From Dada to Neo-Dada and Back Again," JSTOR, Last modified 2003,
Accessed March 9, 2016, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3397693.

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behind fashion, we can look at Dada as the main example, but how can we do this without
changing the physical form of fashion?
In an ideal world it would be great to re-define all the connotations behind fashion
garments, so that people wouldnt stereotype others based on their looks, but it is not possible.
The only way we can re-define the meaning behind a garment is to make an artistic statement
about it, in a way that makes people re-define what it means to be a garment. The problem is
making an artistic statement, may simply not be enough to change the day to day meaning and
wear we have to a garment. Since our physical bodies cannot change past weight and height, we
cannot change the form of the physical garment. In other terms, clothes will always be made for
a body. Removing the connotation behind a garment is like trying to reclaim a word such as
nigger, that have negative associations with the past, being the degradation of whites upon
blacks in terms of oppression. 14 Theoretically, reclaiming a word would be a great way to show
that the word doesnt hurt anyone or anything anymore and theres no power to it, but no matter
what, the word itself still has a history and connotation, even if there is an attempt to reclaim the
word. In the same manner, its difficult to forget the history behind a fashion garment, for it is
tied in with an unchangeable form of the body. Ideally, changing a stereotype behind a garment
would be a positive impact on society and can possibly be accomplished through an artistic
statement, but no matter how the garment is created, or the environment its in, or the person
thats wearing it, we wont be able to change the history or connotation behind it.

14
"Definition of Nigger." In Merriam-Webster. Accessed May 1, 2016. http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/nigger.

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Works Cited/Annotated Bibliography

Primary Sources:
Blumenfeld, Erwin. "Beauty in Motion: The Films of Erwin Blumenfeld - NOWNESS." Video
file, 04:22. Vimeo. 2015. Accessed March 9, 2016. https://vimeo.com/102823409.
Erwin Blumenfeld was known for his iconic fashion photographs in conjunction with the
dada technique of collaging. Erwin Blumenfeld's Beauty in Motion is multi-second clips
of experimental beauty films that were brought to the public by Blumenfeld's son Henri.
The clips consist of imagery, of gorgeous idealized women that are playing/showing their
physical beauty in a test-shot scenes. Many techniques in the film consist of playing the
clips backwards, so that the flowers fly back into the models hair, or paper puts itself
back together. Another technique Blumenfeld uses is layering text on top of the imagery
of a beautiful woman. By doing this Blumenfeld is able to sell a brand and turn the
brand's connotation of something sensual and idealized by simply layering the text on top
of the woman lying on the floor. The sound is very minimal, only sounds of the film reel,
birds, or string instruments is used, which makes it seem like the women in the video are
unreal/extra-terrestrial, only existing behind my screen. The kaleidoscope effect is quite
mesmerizing, having the same made up face duplicated around the screen.
Jennifer Lopez for Louis Vuitton. Photograph. FanPop. Accessed May 2, 2016.
http://www.bwgreyscale.com/adimg09/adv_4500.JPG.

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This is an advertisement Louis Vuitton released featuring Jennifer Lopez. Her face is
sculpted and her hair is slicked back. She is wearing all black, with a low-cut shirt,
spandex skirt and spandex gloves. She holds the Louis Vuitton upright into the air. With a
cat-eyed alien gaze, she stares into the camera. All of this is shot against a purple/black
screen.
Secondary Sources:
Barthes, Roland. The Language of Fashion. Translated by Andy Stafford. Edited by Michael
Carter. London, United Kingdom: Bloomsbury, 2004. PDF e-book.
In The Language of Fashion, Barthes explores the structures and systems behind fashion
in everyday wear. His understanding about consumption, human interaction and ways of
thinking really develop while he examines fashion in an analytical sense. This book lets
the reader understand fashion in the framework of how it works through society. He
examines why semiotics and fashion are related and why fashion is an integral part of
understanding our culture.
Barthes, Roland. Operation Margarine; Myth Today, in In Durham, Meenakshi Gigi., and
Douglas Kellner. Media and Cultural Studies: Keyworks. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons,
2012.
Barthes explores his ideas about semiotics as it relates to the general structure of our
culture.
"Definition of Beautiful." In Merriam-Webster. Accessed May 1, 2016. http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/beautiful.
The dictionary definition of beautiful, is something that has aesthetic pleasure.
"Definition of Nigger." In Merriam-Webster. Accessed May 1, 2016. http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/nigger.
The dictionary definition behind nigger is a black person, who is socially disadvantaged.
This is tied back to a shaming word in times of slavery, from the relation of the enslaver
to the slave.
"Definition of Sublime." In Merriam-Webster. Accessed May 1, 2016. http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/sublime.
The dictionary definition behind sublime is when something is pure, excellent or
something of higher worth.
Entwistle, Joanne. "Real Bodies A Sociological Introduction." The Dressed Body,
2002, 133-51. PDF.
In the Dressed Body, Entwistle examines the relationship the social body has to the
physical body and those two bodies in relation to clothing. Clothing can make us
extremely self-aware of our surroundings, depending on the material/cut/fit. The article
also states that a body can be dressed in ways either than clothing (such as tattoos,
jewelry, makeup) etc. There is the idea that there is not only the physical body but the

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social one as well, meaning that the experience of the physical body is always going to be
changed by the social one.
Evans, Caroline, and Minna Thornton. 1991. Fashion, Representation, Femininity. Feminist
Review, no. 38. Palgrave Macmillan Journals: 4866. doi:10.2307/1395377.
Fashion may seem to be against a systematic analysis by opposing it in its ways. The
interesting part in this article, is when the article discusses how you try to apply a system
such semiotics or psychoanalysis to a meaning destroying such as fashion. Fashion has a
traditional identification with femininity and then what does that mean in relationship to
the physical body.
Hall, Stuart, Encoding/Decoding, In Durham, Meenakshi Gigi., and Douglas Kellner. Media
and Cultural Studies: Keyworks. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2012. Print. pp. 137
Hall explores the ideas of representation and misunderstandings through media forms in
order to understand how our society functions in terms of understanding our own culture.
Jameson Fredric. Postmodernism or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. In Durham,
Meenakshi Gigi., and Douglas Kellner. Media and Cultural Studies: Keyworks.
Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2012. Print. pp. 407.
Jameson explores the ideas of art in terms of modernism, postmodernism through a
cultural lens.

Kawamura, Yuniya. Doing research in fashion and dress an introduction to qualitative methods.
New York, NY: Berg, 2011. ProQuest ebrary.
<http://site.ebrary.com.libproxy.newschool.edu/lib/newschool/reader.action?
docID=10446313>
Semiotics in terms of fashion is the study and interpretations of how clothing, or texts
(such as photos or ads) in combination with clothing, is used as a symbol or a sign in
terms of defining our culture. Barthes argues that fashion (in terms of the context the
garment is worn in - on who, where etc) can send a message about the status, beliefs etc.
about the person wearing a certain garment. In the late 1950s, Barthes studied the
language that fashion writers and editors used in French clothing publications. It's
important to note that semiotics works on a system of signifier and signified, for example
the word "blue" would be the signifier and the signified for it would be sad, the ocean, a
turquoise color etc. Barthes realizes that the garments themselves may not be
signs/signifiers, but the message that is conveyed and embedded about them using
advertisements/fashion articles, allows the garments themselves to have a social meaning.
Lurie on the other hand thinks that the problem with Barthes view is, ignoring the fact
that the physical fabric also changes its values. Lurie knows that its also beyond just a
garment, its about the put together look (hair, makeup, jewelry etc.). Unlike Lurie,
Barnard believes that meanings are constantly changing for clothing, through the process
of the negotiation between the spectator, wearer and designer. All in all, it's important to
note that no matter the views of Barthes, Lurie or Barnard, the relationship between a

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garment and its text (creating its connotation) isn't concrete, until that connection is
established through various ways (such as ads, person to person interaction).
Kettemann, Bernhard. 2013. Semiotics of Advertising and the Discourse of Consumption.
AAA: Arbeiten Aus Anglistik Und Amerikanistik 38 (1). Narr Francke Attempto Verlag
GmbH Co. KG: 5367. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43025841.
Consumption of goods shows the construction of our own identities. We societally agree
that an object is a certain object because we all agree on it. Truth is found in that which
we agree upon societally here and now. We as humans know that we are dressing through
signs, not simply for a utilitarian purpose. Objects correlate to meanings; therefore, we
are consuming meanings not objects. Fashion is something that is of shared taste, we
dont wear outrageous clothing because people would just laugh. We do not know why
we call a computer a computer, but if we called a computer tea we would be called crazy.
We have to follow these rules of calling physical objects their names in order to
communicate. We can predict a perfume/cologne advertisement based on signs of what
they are trying to communicate, hence feminine could be red/pink but strong might mean
tight fitting clothes. Advertisements are a direct way to interpret what meaning is trying
to be sold behind the commodity good.
Molesworth, Helen. "From Dada to Neo-Dada and Back Again." JSTOR. Last modified 2003.
Accessed March 9, 2016. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3397693.
Molesworth gives a good summary of how many depict the Dada movement, by saying
that Dada is like an unruly child. When someone is trying to describe the art world, both
Dada and Neo-Dada movements are often seen as transitional into a new form of art. In
the 1910s and 1920s, the Dadaists were granted with the creation of montage and collage.
The Dadaists wanted to question what it meant to be art, by blurring the line between art
and life, by creating what many called anti-art. Marcel Duchamp bought ready-made
artists to use in his art, not only to show that these objects had mixed connotations in
history, but to kind of re-defy or emphasize the connotations behind these objects, by
editing and creating them into a new art form. Many artists such as Kaprow wanted to
question what it meant to perform the labor of art; in one of his pieces titled Fluids, he
told volunteers to build an ice-wall, only to watch it melt. Dadaists also focused on
transforming the ready-made (an example that is easily understood with Jeff Koon's
sculptures). Dadists did this to show the role of labor within the problems of capitalism.