VIRTUAL FASHION
Just when you're in the market for a new look, the world of the hip
is populated by pale faces and smudged eyes, white vinyl hip huggers and
too-small sweaters, not to mention those clunky go-go boots. Mod style
arrives hard on the heels of grunge--the used look of flannel shirts and
baggy pants--not to mention biker chic.
Confused? That's exactly the point, contends psychologist Thomas
Ferraro, Ph.D. He insists that in its stunning incoherence, fashion is
expressing the information overload unleashed by the digital revolution.
"Generation X's sense of time is now so fragmented that they are randomly
appropriating fashions of the 50s, 60s, and 70s as a way of seeking
meaning during confusing times."
Fashion, of course, has always reflected cultural developments. But
recent shifts are putting more on fashion's back.
According to the Long Island psychoanalyst, fashion is increasingly
"carrying America's purpose, mores, and ideology" Today's stylistic chaos
is a sign that individuals are escaping the grip of institutions, like
church, family, and government, that keep tight control of our
identity
The speed and quantity of information has collapsed our sense of
history and tradition, contends Ferraro. "We can no longer acquire values
and meaning in everyday experience." Untethered from the familiar
moorings of time, not to mention religion and community, "individuals
have no choice but to attach themselves to their own bodies and
self-images."
As the role of fashion expands, Ferraro finds it increasingly
important to ask: What latent meaning does a particular trend convey
about contemporary culture?
Take the grange look, where the goal was to appear as if you had
dressed in complete darkness. "Grunge expressed hopelessness and
confusion," Ferraro insists, pointing to the style's incorporation of
disparate fashion elements like goatees and flannel shirts.
Or consider the recent return of the 60s look. Here an entire style
of the past has been adopted wholesale. Virtual fashion, Ferraro calls
it, an attempt to simulate a bygone era.
This stylistic chaos is a boon to psychological health. "It's an
opportunity for individuals to be themselves, to develop themselves, and
to express themselves," says Ferraro.
Granted, clothing has always provided an outlet for personal
expression. But when fashion designers and style trends dictate what we
wear, we're not really expressing our own selves but adopting a
prepackaged persona. It really boils down to one question: Can you buy
your self, which is what fashion is, or can you be your self?
PHOTO (COLOR)
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