I think it is safe to say that most people can mention at least one fashion trend – if not from the current day, then one from the past that they particularly fond of.  Dresses are short then long and then short again.  Colors and fabrics come and go.  Although there is certainly much more about fashion that changes and changes frequently, the rules of fashion does seem to follow a pretty specific formula.     



The first stop in fashion is the runway.  Whether in Paris, New York, or Hollywood, the majority of our fashion starts on a runway.  Although many runway shows features couture fashion, which refers to dresses that are custom made for individual customers, these shows still have a great impact on what fashion goes into stores.  Dresses and other clothing shows up on the runway or on the Hollywood scene (such as television award shows) and then are quickly copied and featured in our local retail stores.  Although in many cases the clothing itself is not copied, the trend of colors, patterns, and fabrics of runway clothing is often used often used as an inspiration for the everyday fashion that we wear. 





One of the other ingredients of the fashion formula is the need for change.  As a society we get easily bored.  Fashion is often viewed as a way to prove that you are current with the times.  As the fashion trends change, the ability to keep up with them proves that you are in the know and that you have a certain amount of financial resources to keep up with all of the change. 
   



  Lastly, one of the formulaic elements is that, like history, fashion often repeats itself.  Just when you think it is safe to throw away your bell-bottom jeans or leggings, they come back into style.  The basic structure of these styles stays the same but they are updated in fabric or color choices to bring them current.  Sometimes these trends come back full force and other times they are chosen by an eclectic group of people who want to express their style with a retro look.  Retro looks are so popular that there are now resell shops popping up around the country to satisfy the desire for retro looks.  The one thing about fashion is that as much as it changes, it remains the same!  There will always be people who will fuel the industry with their love of clothes and their willingness to change with the trends. 

Today’s blog is about an article by Michael Serazio article entitled Ethos Groceries and Countercultural Appetites:  Consuming Memory in Whole Foods’ Brand Utopia.  This article describes the cult following that Whole Foods Market has garnered and paints a picture of the personality profile and motives for its customer demographic.  In order to understand the article, the reader should have a good grasp of the words ethos and counterculture.  Ethos simply put is the belief system of a group of people or company.  Ethos is one of those words that have gained a great deal of buzz in the management arena over the past decade as marketers scrambled to determine how to brand beliefs and moral values into a company culture.  A counterculture is a group of people that have values that go against the common culture.  One of the best examples of a counterculture is that of one which is discussed in this article – hippies!  As described in the article, Whole Foods Markets is a company that has turned grocery shopping into an experience that surpasses the mere mundane act of selecting the typical no-name chicken, green beans, and boxed potatoes.  Rather, grocery shopping at Whole Foods transcends the mainstream grocery story by offering no-guilt products that give a warm and fuzzy feeling through both their natural/organic ingredients or by giving rebates or donations back to environmental groups that are related to the product ingredients.  Whether purchasing chocolate that donates 10% back to wildlife protection or cereal that benefits similar shoppers can have some sense of redemption for shopping at a store that has been dubbed “whole paycheck” for exorbitant prices that may indeed prevent the average family from patronizing. 


If you wondered what happened to the hippies after they cut their hair in the late 70’s, traded their sandals for loafers, and went to work, many of them went on to financial success and are now happily shopping at Whole Foods Markets.  Serazio explains the appeal of Whole Foods Market to the hippie counterculture and how they are a perfect match for each other.  With the combination of those 60’s change the world values and cash in their wallets, Whole Foods has become a playground for ex-hippies to indulge their desire for food that is organic, healthful and exotic.  
 The article points out interesting incongruences in culture versus motive.  On the one hand, the brand of Whole Foods and the reputation of its founder, John Mackey, is that of easy-going, organic, natural and with a desire to make the world a better place.  The article also points out that all of this free loving goodness comes at a high cost.  It is a way, however, for the now affluence hippies from the 60’s to feel good about being part of the establishment.   As described though, Whole Foods is quickly going from a niche market to more mainstream as continue to sell their “lifestyle shopping.”  Although Whole Foods likes to identify itself with the hippie mentality, they are wholly about making money as evidence with John Mackey’s (CEO) rules over “an empire of 1.4 billion.”  (pg. 164)
 I thought this was an interesting article and that is accurately described the socially conscious and financially successful shoppers of Whole Foods Market.  I enjoyed Serazio’s analysis of this socially conscious mega grocer. 
Serazio, M. (2011). Ethos Groceries and Countercultural Appetites: Consuming Memory in Whole Foods Brand Utopia. The Journal of Popular Culture 44(1), p. 158-177.  Retrieved April 26, 2012 from:  http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-5931.2010.00825.x/abstract;jsessionid=A9124EA316F5D02AF69542FE4F91B271.d02t02?userIsAuthenticated=false&deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=

The definitions of many words have changed over time to reflect the lifestyle, technology and practices of new generations.  This may especially be true for the word hero.  My parents may have defined a hero as someone who has performed an act of bravery.  There likely may have been a burning building, small child, or patriotic act involved.   Although these heroes are recognized, the heroes that are typically emulated today, the way Charles Lindberg was a few generations ago, seem to be athletes, singers, and actors.  This elite group of people has captured the attention of both young and old alike and has become our current day heroes.  To learn how enamored our society is with celebrities, simply visit the popular website You-tube to see the vast number of people making their own videos depicting their interpretation of skits, songs, and runway shows originated by their favorite celebrity. 
       
With the increased availability of access to heroes and celebrity through television, radio, and the internet we are able to keep up with the latest happenings and trends of our favorite celebrities.  In the days of popularity for singers such as the Beatles, fans had to wait for the occasionally appearance on a variety show of the smatterings of magazine articles, but today we are saturated with celebrity news.  With all of the exposure to real time news on our celebrities we can keep up with everything from clubbing and dating habits to the daily clothing choices.   This provides an opportunity for manufacturers to also follow the trends and keep the general population with shoes, clothing, and the technology that our favorite celebs are sporting. 
       
Shifts in culture is a funny thing in that no one calls a meeting to decide that we are going to switch our hero figures from war heroes and those performing acts of bravery such as being the first to fly across the Atlantic.  The shift just happens and then we are left to reflect on whether or not it was one that was beneficial for your society and especially the youth of today.  I think it might be wise to continue to enjoy our favorite celebrities, but to remember the true definition of hero and to continue to look for examples of these people and to hold them in higher esteem than the entertainer of the day. 

Fashion and Television -- Rituals and Stereotypes

Performing ritualistic activities bring us together with family, friends and strangers.  Some rituals are performed out of obligation and others are done out of sheer pleasure.  A ritual can be a formal as swearing in to testify in court proceeding or as simple as watching a weekly television show.  Whether we admit it or not, most of us have a television show that we watch. Some of these shows may be guilty pleasures that we might be embarrassed to admit that we watch.  Other shows, however, quickly gain a cult-like following.  These are the television shows that we rush home to watch, ignore the telephone and meet our co-workers by the water cooler the next morning to process the storyline.  One show that garnered this type of cult following was Sex in the City, which was a story about four professional women living in New York.  Although the story line focused on their friendships and love lives, much of the interest centered on what the four protagonists wore each week.  The topic of fashion and the shoes quickly became buzz around female family members, friends and co-workers.  The greater the interest in the fashion behind the show, the stronger the ritual became.  In order to be part of the socialization behind the show, you had to participate in the ritual of watching the show each week.  That ritualistic behavior then transferred to shopping behavior.  For viewers who watched the show out of love for the fashion, emulating the fashion style of the characters became a natural extension of the ritual.
Television is a wonderful medium that connects us to people from other cultures, religions, and ethnicities.  Given that we watch so many shows with ritualistic fervor, it can be easy to mistakenly believe that the characters we watch on television reflect real people who share the same skin color, religious affiliation or even style of dress.  Stereotyping in itself is simply an impression that we have based on our past exposure and experience.  The pervasiveness of television viewing contributes greatly to how we stereotype people based on their dress.  It might be safe to say that most citizens in this country have never been exposed to gangs directly.  Even so, most of us would be able to describe how a gang members might dress based on the many weekly crime shows that we watch.  If the television gang members we watch dress in low-riding pants, hoodies, and a ball cap, the danger is that we might assume that anyone dressed in a similar manner is a gang member.  Similarly we might assume that anyone we see dressed in a suit is a harmless business man.  These fashion stereotypes can be dangerous as they are just one piece of information or a first impression if you will.  Two examples of how wrong these fashion-based stereotypes can be are Ted Bundy and Trayvon Martin.  Based partially on how he was dressed, victims of serial killer Ted Bundy incorrectly assumed he was a safe person with harmless intentions.  Conversely, in recent news, the death of young Trayvon Martin tragically may have been the result of stereotyping based on his dress.  We need to be cognizant of the fact that fashion style reveals only one small piece of the puzzle. 


 

Fashion & Media -- Popular Beliefs, Myths, & Icons

Popular Beliefs, Myths and Icons

Mark Twain wisely said “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” Although clothes have clearly always been used to place their wearer into a category of some sort, Twain’s statement has perhaps never been truer than it is today.  That need to categorize people is tantamount to stereotyping them based on their clothing choices.  In the 1950’s the good boys dressed neatly in trousers, button up shirts, sweater vests and loafers.  Black leather jackets and white t-shirts with a pack of cigarettes rolled up in the sleeve was the uniform of choice for the troubled boys. The 1960’s and 1970’s ushered in clothes made with tie dyes flower power prints, and that were lose and flowing.  Those who donned that garb were quickly marked as hippies.  The past 30 years have continued to produce styles that are too often used to use to place people into a specific personality type based on our visual assessment. 

So how is that we are so quickly able to sort people based on their clothing? Given that the pervasiveness of this stereotyping seems to be increasing, is it possible that mediums such as television and movies may be influencing our opinions on how people dress?  According to a Nielsen blog, the average American watched nearly 35 hours of television in the fourth quarter of 2010.  (Nielsen, 2011).  Thinking back to those old black and white Westerns, viewers were trained that we could easily recognize the good guys by their white cowboy hat and the bad guys were always donned in black from head to toe.  This is a simple example of how television and movies have helped create the myth that clothes do make the man and are implicit in the intentions and morals of those who are wearing them. 

From the time television came to be a common fixture in the American home, it has influenced our opinions and desire for fashion.  Throughout the decades, we can look to television to find the source of many of our fashion icons.  In the 1970’s, the Brady Bunch kids served as psychedelic fashionistas and sadly the 1980’s gave men the infamous Miami Vice look.

Clothing has changed drastically over the past 60 years, but one thing that has remained constant is that television and movies have a great influence over how we dress and how we perceive the personalities of people based on their clothing choices.    Although television may reflect the popular culture of fashion, it seems unlikely that fashion alone can convey the person that lies within. 

Pop Culture Logos & Icons (Including that I-Phone)

So far, the 21st Century has been visually stimulating with colorful logos and icons that immediately identify their respective companies and call our attention to just how present these products and services are in our daily lives. The logos are so familiar, in fact, that they are almost as familiar as a family photo sitting on our desk or hanging on our living room walls! I have chosen three logos I believe tell the story of our love for socializing, technology and fashion! The first logo is that of the social network Facebook. The Facebook logo is a rounded blue square box with a lower case f prominently displayed top to bottom on the right side of the box. The second logo is that of the famous rainbow-colored apple representing the technological giant Apple. And lastly, a solid red box with white print lettering and rainbow naming The North Face brand. These icons are certainly bright colorful and engaging to the viewer. They could easily be recognized from a distance or by a quick glance through a magazine.

I choose the Facebook and Apple icons because they are both a daily part of my life and I engage them nearly daily. Since my first posting of my blog asked the question “I-Phone…friend or foe?” I had to bring this technology back into discussion. That crazy I-phone does both. This weekend, I have read three Facebook postings (made from an I-Phone no less) letting us readers know that they were out enjoying a great dinner with someone special. Umm, excuse me…but if you are out to dinner with someone special, shouldn’t you be spending time focusing on him or her? Don’t get met wrong, I always respond back with an obligatory “yum” or “sounds great” and I love knowing what my family and friends are up to, but at what cost does this communication come? On page 307 of our text (Petracca, 2012) points out that Freud “knew full well that technical and scientific advances are not to be taken lightly” and that there is definitely a con to the pros that come with them. So although I love knowing that my niece and her husband are having a great dinner at Brio, they might be better served enjoying their time together and a break from that fabulous great-nephew of mine. For my nephew-in-law who travels extensively for work, I think those constant updates are a habit he has developed to keep himself busy while hanging out at airports and in hotels. It seems that in all of the communication of Facebook and I-Phones (pros), the one thing that could get lost is one-on-one communication (cons). Can we figure out the balance to keep the pros and minimize the cons? I sure hope so! Oh and by the way...I am posting this with my Mac computer!

I chose The North Face logo because I think it represents our (O.K.…maybe I mean my family’s) love of name brands. I think North Face is particularly funny because the product was developed to supply the need of warmth for those brave souls who were traversing that cold North Face and who have a true need for a warm jacket that could help maintain movement during activities in extreme cold weather. I have to be honest, neither my daughter nor myself have been rock climbing in Alaska lately. Wait…we’ve never been rock climbing or even been to Alaska for that matter. So why do we need to go to spend the extra money for The North Face? Well, we like the brand of course. If we can’t be outdoorsy rock climbing people, we can at least look like them! Whether it’s the North Face, Coach, or Toms, we love name brands! It seems to be even more fun, when you are the “discovering” end of newly discovered (or popularized) brands. In other words, you are one of the trendsetters who jump on the brand wagon early in the game! OMG – I think we’re addicted to brands!

I’d love to hear whether the Facebook and I-Phone logos bring familiar memories to you and if there is a particular brand that you love because it makes you look or feel ________ (fill in your own blank!) like The North Face wear makes me look rugged!