EOC:Week 2

1.) How was fashion advertising changed since the mid-twentieth century? What are some of the differences between ads that appeared before the 1950’s and those from the 1950’s, and 1960’s, and today?

Prior to the 1950's fashion advertisements targeted one kind of woman rather than having different types of advertisements aimed towards different styles and different people. It was more common for the designer to be featured in the advertisement rather that hiring a model to do the work. In the 1950's fashion ads aimed more towards adding hype to more simple items and int he 60's there was a development of a "fashion language".


2.) What are some of the theories related to fashion branding (i.e., Barthes and Baurdillard)? What do they say about fashion branding as a means of communicating with consumers? How do the contemporary ideas Hamilton, BeBord, Agins, Gobe, and McCracken relate to those of Barthes and Baurdillard?

They believed that fashion was a form of postmodernism and that it was a form of hyper reality,the sense that what is real and what is perceived is blurd. A woman can put on a beautiful bra that immediately transforms her into a confident and sexy being. She instantly feels like a stronger person, her self perception has changed yet on the outside no one else can see what has transformed her. Fashion is about a feeling, a state of mind, putting on a "uniform" that suites you best.


3.) What types of meanings does Grant McCracken associate with fashion products? Do you agree or disagree? If you disagree, what would you add to or delete from his list? Give an example of one of the meanings.

He states that to understand the cultural evolution of society, we must look at fashion and how it has changed over time. The meanings that McCracken associates with fashion products are gender, lifestyle, decade, age, class, status, occupation, time and place.

I agree with McCracken because looking at how fashion has evolved over time and the history of each decade, there is a direct correlation between the two. You can also look at the fashion pendulum that shows how fashion changes with the change of a strong to weak economy.