How Fashionable is It?

As mentioned in the discussion session and in the many blogposts before mine, Kaja Silverman notes in her "Fragments of Fashionable Discourse" essay that fashion, as a driving force behind the outward appearance of individuals, plays an important role in defining the "bodily ego", as coined by Sigmund Freud in his quote:

"The ego is first and foremost a bodily ego. It is not merely a surface entity, but is in itself a projection of a surface." (The Ego and the Id)

Thus, conversely, as a "projection of the surface", the inner psyche or the "ego" can be reflected in one's fashion. And Silverman, throughout the essay, touches upon the economic and social determinates of fashion and how it was used to reflect one's wealth.

"a man should demonstrate by means of hi black coat, cylindrical hat, spotless linen, carefully rolled umbrella, and general air of refined discomfort that he was not actually engaged in the production of goods, but only in some more genteel employment concerned with management or distribution." (page 140)

This point along with the "inside-out structure of the gaze", which deals with man as being fundamentally exhibitionist, support Freud's theory of the bodily ego. One receives validation of their existence and their ego through their perceived appearance by the "Other". Freud's theorem is something implied in basic high school health classes in which students discuss the media's affect on people's impressions of expected women appearance and its effects on self-esteem and self-worth.

To add to the discussion, Silverman also mentioned J C Flugel's three vicissitudes of The Great Masculine Renunciation. "Male identification with woman-as-spectacle" was one of the three. This analysis of gender roles remarks on the association of men with objectified women. But also, the identification extends to some men exploiting perceived female mannerisms and making a spectacle of themselves, such is the case for transvestites and drag queens. Drag queens, as we had seen in RuPaul's television series utilize camp to exaggerate and embrace societal expectation of a female mannequin. And in applying Freud's theory, these men who drag alter their appearance and change their bodily ego. Would this be in the same manner of seeking validation of their existence? Such is essentially the case with transsexuals, who typically feel they were born into the "wrong body" so they undergo gender reassignment so that their bodily ego will reflect their inner psyche. But what about for men who drag for the sport of it?

The Ego in Clothing

One of Kaja Silverman's points that resonated with me was her assertion that the subject is defined by clothing. This very Lacanian view that the ego manifests itself through fashion is the fundamental idea behind the philosophy that sartorial style is a way of expressing oneself. Style gurus and clothing vendors alike subscribe to this view, the former proclaiming the cultivation of individuality and the latter attempting to reach the largest demographic to whom they can sell their products. They also both tout personal style as being an avenue to self-love and self-confidence, easing the conflict between how one feels on the inside and how one expresses that on the outside. This adds another layer to the significance of clothing: It is also a symbol of the amount of dissonance between the inner and outer selves.

This symbolism is highly flawed (and many style gurus are aware of this and are careful to make disclaimers about it), since one may dress without a care for appearance and be perfectly at peace with oneself, and one may dress in a way that does not show any kind of self-expression and be totally content as well. But it is certainly true that no matter how we dress ourselves and why, whenever we wear anything we send a message about ourselves out into the world for other people to read.