Over the course of this semester, we have examined the meaning of historic and
contemporary dress, in different cultures and groups around the world. We have
learned that economics, history, politics, religion, social mores as they relate to gender,
age, ethnicity and more impact our view of dress in society.
Choose a culture, group or sub-group and examine the meaning of dress (including
apparel, accessories, adornment, body modification, hair and makeup) and ways in
which that group uses dress to communicate. Include answers to the questions below
as well as other pertinent information as it relates to the examination of your chosen
group.
1. You can choose your group by various means of defining characteristics including:
nationality; pop culture; specific genres of fashion, music, art; demographics such as
age, socio-economics, geography, ethnicity, race, gender; or sexual orientation,
religion, politics, nationality or other definition, i.e. the Japanese Lolita sub-culture, or
the 1990’s Grunge movement in Seattle.
2. How would you describe the dress of this group?
3. What messages are communicated by the dress of this group?
4. What external factors (such as society, politics, economic status, war, environment
or other factors) have affected this group, and how have these factors impacted
dress?
5. What, if any, cultural influences such as music, art or film had on this group and the
associated dress?
6. Has this group been stereotyped? Why? Is it a negative, positive or neutral
stereotype in your opinion.
7. Has this group been impacted by media attention or coverage? Has the coverage
been positive or negative? How has the group managed the media attention or
coverage, if at all?
8. Has this group defined themselves or been defined by the larger society around
them, or both?
Present your information in a paper that is 5 pages minimum including any images or
references to support your positions or provide examples. You must have 5 sources,
not including your images, to support your paper. Credible sources include
publications like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Mintel,
WGSN, Women’s Wear Daily, W, Surface or Paper magazines or other publications
along those lines. Organizations such as the Pew Research Center, Media Matters,
Neilsen, website for museums or historical centers, or other scholarly journals. Blogs
can be but you have to be careful and research the blog authors to make sure they are
actually experts in the area they’re writing about and not just “fans” so to speak. If you
have questions about this please ask!
Make sure you are asking not only who, what, when and where types of questions, but
also how and why things are the way they are? How did they get this way? How did
this subculture develop and why? Etc. etc.
Please cite your sources using MLA formatting.