Assoc. Prof. Jennifer Craik
School of Film, Media and Cultural Studies
Griffith University
j.craik@mailbox.gu.edu.au
Jennifer's research interests concern cultural studies and policy approaches to the cultural industries including: fashion, tourism, arts policy, media and everyday culture. Her publications include "The Face of Fashion: Cultural Studies in Fashion" (Routledge, 1994) and "Resorting to Tourism: Cultural Policies for Tourist Development in Australia" (Allen and Unwin, 1991). She is currently writing a book on the significance of uniforms in culture.
The Uniform in Fashion
This paper explores the persistent influence of uniforms in fashion design and dress codes. Why has the uniform been such a pervasive influence on how we dress? How do the ways in which uniforms shape our bodies also shape our performativity and sense of self? And how does this feed into the messages that we send through our clothes? I will trace the emergence of the modern uniform and its incorporation with fashion as distinctive garments, stylistic influences and aesthetic codes. In particular, I will explore the role of ecclesiastical garb, military uniforms and school uniforms and show how their developments have influenced dominant cultural preoccupations in postmodern society. Part of the appeal of uniforms, I will argue, is the ambivalent connotations they embody. So, while we think of uniforms as the locus of power, authority, discipline, confidence, uniforms also connote transgression, subversion and opposition. How did these ambivalent registers arise? And why are we so intrigued by the sight of uniforms or references to elements of uniforms? The paper in particular examines the centrality of uniforms in emergent codes of fashion photography and fashion design. Why, in a culture preoccupied with individuality, is the uniform so attractive?
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