“The new SASS”

Final stylistic analysis

Term paper in CEL
Bc. Kristína Rimóciová, UAP 2019/20

This article was published in the British magazine Vogue from September 2016. This
magazine is mainly focused on fashion. The author of the article is Julia Hobbs. My research
paper will be devoted to the analysis of the fashion article. I choose this article because I am
interested in fashion and in a way how to express myself through fashion.

The style
In this article, the author uses descriptive writing style. The author's vocabulary and
language is mostly informal and colloquial. We can consider it as an informative writing – the
author grabs the reader´s attention, she introduces a new theme or topic, she clearly conveys
information and ideas about the topic, she develops a topic with a variety of specific, relevant
details, she uses comparison and contrast and the language and vocabulary is appropriate to
the topic. Regarding to the descripting writing style, she impress our senses, especially see,
touch and hear. She paints a picture in words of things for readers.
The language is also descriptive. She uses so many adjectives and they are often
compound. She uses also foreign words from French, for example, “laissez-faire” what
means leaving things to take their own course, “fȇted” what means honoured, then Indian
word “mantra” what corresponds to statement or slogan repeated frequently.
We consider this article informal and colloquial because of choice of words and style
of writing. She uses colloquial and informal words as sass, sassy, backchat, sexiness, droll,
mantra, brazen, spree, geek-chic, sexy, grunge, cool, slay, smash, ballsy and so on.

The title
The title of the article “The new SASS” is a phrase what we can compare to a common
phrase “the new black” what means that something has become fashionable or popular. In my
opinion, the main aim of the article is to inform readers about new trends in fashion. The
author wants to attract the readers´ attention. The word “sass” in capitals indicates and
resembles the word “sassy”. The word “sass” is mainly used in American English,
specifically in North American and it refers to strong attitude, to talk or behaviour that is rude
and shows no respect. In fashion, this can indicate something controversial, vulgar and reveal
or uncover as much as possible. In this case, readers can be assisted by photographs of
catwalk models whose designers tried to translate something "sass" into fashion. As we can
see, “sass” can be feminine and it doesn´t reveal too much. It is just to show what is really
feminine and show feminine power and woman´s weapons, such as long legs and nice
neckline or décolletage. The title corresponds to the content of the article. There is also a
foregrounding of the title, because the author speaks directly to the reader and invites him to
discover something new.

The subtitle
This article continuous with a long subtitle in capitals: “WELCOME A FRESH SPIRIT
– OPINIONATED, CLEVER AND UNASHAMEDLY PROVOCATIVE. IT´S TIME TO GET
SASSY, SAYS JULIA HOBBS”. The arrival of a new style in fashion is suggested in a
statement “welcome a fresh spirit” which is described as “opinionated” what means to have
strong opinions in egoistic way, “clever” what shows intelligence, but not polite or serious
and “unashamedly provocative” indicates something sexual, without shame and causing an
angry reaction of society. The author tries to say that it is important to be confident in fashion,
to provoke sometimes, to have an opinion and express it through fashion and to ignore what
society says. Clothing often reflects our self-confidence. The entire purpose behind fashion is
to have the ability to convey what needs be in egoistic way. The author uses exclamation “it´s
time to get sassy” that represents a challenge, decision or “word to fight”, and it calls on
women not to be afraid to show themselves and what they can accomplish.

Visual appeal of the article

The article consists of several large colorful pictures whose aim is to catch the reader´s
attention. In the picture we can see models that show different pieces of clothing that
correspond to descriptions in the article. The models wear clothes that fit their merits, for
example, long legs, nice neck and neckline. The article is about courage, their dress is
characterized by rich colors, colorful design and especially bold cuts. According to this, the
reader knows what to expect and what will be the main theme of the article.
For this type of article, visual appeal is very important. Themes about fashion must be
displayed by using pictures. This promotes the reader´s imagination and he/she can visualize
how to wear it. It is also essential to include photos of celebrities in their daily lives because
the reader is interested in celebrities and often wants to be like them, for example, in this
article we can see Beyoncé, Soko, Karlie Kloss and Adwoa Aboah.
Sequencing
The article is divided into paragraphs. Division into paragraphs is very reasonable and
organized. The author organized her thoughts very efficiently. The text is divided into four
columns. Between each column he cites one main idea that follows from the paragraph. These
citations are big and in bold to hit the reader´s eyes.

Content analysis
The first paragraph starts with a statement “Sass isn´t what it used to be.” we consider
it an idiom. The author compares the word “sass” with its original meaning of an American
variant of “sauce” or “backchat” (British) both meaning rudeness or without respect, but the
author considers them as “old-fashioned” and introduces “sass” as a modern word and as new
name for “opinionated sexiness”.
In other rows we can find a metonymy: “When you pull together the designers we´re
wearing…” which means we wear a piece of clothing from the hands of the designer, an
idiom: “we´re apparently a lot more thirsty for sass” with meaning of intense desire or need
for something, in this case for “sass”. The author of this article explains that in today's world
we can find "freedom of expression" and rudeness almost everywhere, in fashion, music or
famous people. The author introduces us a new fashion that does not reveal everything but
only what is needed. She has a disagreement with totally sexiness and claims that it is
necessary to maintain a balance between “sass” and gentleness. The author highlights the
importance of the fashion.
Next we learn about Karlie Kloss´s brand very appreciated by the author because she
created something else that brings masculine to the female world, what combines sexiness and
“male-dominated” (compound word) elements. She uses a phrasal verb “case in point” for
that what means an instance which will be discussed, and a phrasal verb “pours her intellect
and her unapologetic sexiness into one mighty global brand” what means to give a lot of
effort to something with the idea of making it successful.
The second paragraph starts with declaration “straight-talking confidence wins” what
claims that self-confidence is extremely important in almost every aspect of our lives and we
should not be afraid to show it.
In third paragraph we can find another declaration “Women now want to enter into the
fantasy that comes with a powerful silhouette” what claims a pleasant situation or story where
women want to show their distinctive features which make them powerful. “Taking a riskier,
overtly sexy approach to what we wear has never been so appealing” this statement means
that in fashion it is allowed to take a risk and it is a good way to express yourself.
The next paragraph talks about what it means to be “sassy”. Nowadays, a “sassy
woman” represents someone with strong attitude who gives us an extraordinary impression.
To express this quality the author uses a word “slay” which is an archaic word means “to kill
in a violent way”, but the new meaning of this word is “to impress someone very much”, as
Beyoncé slays in her video clips, or Emilia Clark as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones.
Then, she describes Jennifer Lawrence who is also not afraid to take a risk, whether on the
movie scene or in fashion – the author expressed it as “on-screen sass”. When it comes to
attractiveness or “glamour” in fashion she does not compromise but the contrast is her
“unvarnished honesty” what she radiates.
“We are now in an era where we dress for a powerful state of mind.” – we can say
that this statement could be the main theme of the article. When we feel good in our clothes
that underlines our strengths we feel more confident and that is the secret for strong and
powerful mind.
The last paragraph is a summary of all thoughts and ideas expressed in the article. At
the end of the article the author adds that “sass” means improvising and do not be afraid to
try something new.

Morphological expressive means

 compound words (e.g. “picture-perfect sexiness”; “high-voltage glamour”; “male-
dominated world”; “straight-talking confidence”; “look-at-me snap”; “geek-chic
vibe”; “box-office smash”; “risk-taking heroine”)
 the form of monologue
 contracted forms of words (e.g. “we´re”; “I´ll”; “aren´t”)

Lexical expressive means

 metonymy (e.g. “the designers we´re wearing”; “Roberto Cavalli under Peter Dundas”)
 idioms (e.g. “we´re apparently a lot more thirsty for sass”; “pours her intellect and her
unapologetic sexiness into one mighty global brand”; “having her moment”; “the duo
headed back”)
 synonyms (e.g. “sass = sassy, sauce, backchat”; “sexy = sexiness, provocative,
unashamedly”)
  metaphors (e.g. “straight-talking confidence”; “head of the house”; “creations pressing
for a revolution”; “hands-off white tuxedo”)
 personification (e.g. “confidence wins”; “sexiness that doesn´t have anything to say
for itself feels boring”)
 epithet (e.g. “risk-taking heroine”; “revealing white dress”; “provocative feminity”)
 oxymoron (e.g. “clever sexiness”)
 proverbs (e.g. “never complaining, never explaining”)

Conclusion
The analyzed article was divided into several sections. Based on the analysis it was
seen that the article is descriptive, informative and expressive style. The descriptive style in
paragraphs focuses more on descriptions of fashion. The expressive style is represented by the
usage of words – informal and colloquial words, morphological and lexical expressive means.
The author used also informative style to introduce something new.
We have analyzed also the title which deals with the word “sass”. After reading the
text, we clarified the meaning of this word and its usage in the context.
In our analysis, there is also a short interpretation of some statements and an
approximation of the meaning or “what the author wanted to say”.
The author used lot of visual appeals which aim was to catch the reader´s attention.
The article deals with the question of today´s fashion and confidence. The author declares that
women cannot be afraid to be themselves.