Anthropology of Clothing and Fashion The Fashion System ANTHRO 3373 Dr. Kedron Thomas !Roland'Barthes'The$Fashion$System'(1967)!Semio7cs!The!systematic!study!of!signs!Language,!images,!actions!!How!is!fashion!constituted!through!a!system!of!signs!(words,!images)!in!fashion!magazines?!!!Why'is'there'so'much'speech'about'fashion?''Can’t'the'clothing'speak'for'itself?!!Capitalist,!consumer!society!must!produce!consumers!who!are!unreasonable!about!fashion!!!Fashion!must!be!surrounded!by!images,!meanings,!reasons!!It!is!not!the!object!that!creates!desire!but!the!systems!of!signs!that!surround!it!and!endow!it!with!meaning!!“In$order$to$blunt$the$buyer’s$calculating$consciousness,$a$veil$must$be$drawn$around$the$object$–$a$veil$of$images,$of$reasons,$of$meanings$…$in$short,$a$simulacrum$of$the$real$object$must$be$created,$substituting$for$the$slow$time$of$wear$a$sovereign$time$free$to$destroy$itself$by$an$ a ct $of$annual$potl a t ch.”$$@$Barthes$$Semio7c'levels!!Real!clothing!(technological)!!ImageCclothing!(plastic,!a!particular!usage)!!Written!clothing!(verbal,!Fixes!meaning)!“The!primary!function!of!speech!is!to!immobilize!perception!at!a!certain!level!of!intelligibility.!…!The!meaning!of!an!image!is!never!certain.!Language!eliminates!this!freedom,!but!also!this!uncertainty;!it!conveys!a!choice!and!imposes!it,!it!requires!the!perception!of!this!dress!to!stop!here,!it!arrests!the!level!of!reading!at!its!fabric,!at!its!belt,!at!the!accessory!which!adorns!it!…!The!image!freezes!an!endless!number!of!possibilities;!words!determine!a!single!certainty.”!!!C!Barthes,!The,Fashion,System!(p.!13)!“We!look!at!imageCclothing,!we!read!a!described!garment,!and!it!is!probable!that!two!different!audiences!correspond!to!these!two!activities!…!!The!image!makes!the!purchase!unnecessary,!it!replaces!it;!we!can!intoxicate!ourselves!on!images,!identify!ourselves!with!the!model,!and!in!reality,!follow!Fashion!merely!by!purchasing!a!few!boutique!accessories!…”!!!“Speech,!on!the!contrary,!rids!the!garment!of!all!corporal!actuality;!being!no!more!than!a!system!of!impersonal!objects!whose!mere!assemblage!creates!Fashion,!the!described!garment!encourages!the!purchase.!The!image!provokes!a!fascination,!speech!an!appropriation!…!when!combined,!the!latter!serves!to!disappoint!the!former.”!!!C!Barthes!!Prints!win!at!*!the!races.*“Prints'win'at'the'races.”''Prints!are!the!sign!of!the!races.!!Wearing!prints!at!the!races!is!Fashion.!!This!magazine!tells!you!something!about!the!world.!!Fashion!comes!to!seem!natural,!not!cultural!or!historical.!!“In!the!Fashion!System,!the!sign!is!(relatively)!arbitrary:!it!is!elaborated!each!year,!not!by!the!mass!of!its!users,!but!by!an!exclusive!authority,!i.e.,!the!fashionCgroup!…!or!the!editors!of!the!magazine.”!!!C!Barthes!“Fashion,!like!all!signs!produced!within!what!is!called!mass!culture,!is!…!simultaneously!imposed!and!demanded!…!it!is!born!suddenly!and!in!its!entirety,!every!year,!by!decree;!what!points!up!the!arbitrariness!of!the!Fashion!sign!is!precisely!the!fact!that!it!is!exempt!from!time:!Fashion!does!not!evolve,!it!changes:!its!lexicon!is!new!each!year.”!!C!Barthes!fashion does not evolve, it changes: its lexicon is new each year.-Barthessame as Kroeber's theory, it has a law under, it follows the rule ofchanging, thus, it is not