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Final Syllabus
The Meaning of Style
Summer 2016
Copenhagen
3 Credits
Major Disciplines: Communication, Media Studies, Anthropology
Faculty Member: Anders Larsen, [email protected]
Program Director: Iben de Neergaard, Vestergade 5.24, [email protected]
Program Coordinator: Louise Bjerre Bojsen, Vestergade 5.24, [email protected]
Program Assistant: Jenny Han, Vestergade 5.25, [email protected]
Location: V10 B-24
Class starts at 10.00 unless otherwise indicated in the syllabus below.
Course Description
We have always worn garments to shelter us from the elements, but as history has progressed these
garments have been loaded with meaning. Today fashion is essential in the creation of identity. We
use dress to express our individuality or to fit in. Subcultures have specific looks, special occasions
require a certain type of dress, and the media is always chasing the latest trend. Fashion has simply
become a multi-billion dollar industry.
In the course of three weeks we will explore how fashion and dress can be interpreted. We will go in
depth with the cultural history of fashion (c. 1500-present), and the place of fashion in today’s world,
complemented by field studies. So join us on this journey through the ever-changing world of
fashion.
Learning Objectives
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To develop a critical understanding of fashion and its intersections with identities, histories,
narratives, and cultures in the contemporary world
To equip students to analyze and interpret style
To familiarize students with the Danish fashion industry
To introduce students with the cultural history of fashion, and the existing research, research
methods and theories.
Course Instructor
Anders Larsen holds a Cand. Mag. in history, and English literature and language from the University
of Copenhagen. His primary interests are the development of national identity, corporate brands,
and the visualization of ideology. With DIS since 2007.
Anders Larsen also teaches Literary London and Visual Culture of Cities.
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 2121 5773
Meetings are held preferably after class, but meetings can be scheduled on all school days by email.
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Final Syllabus
Course Evaluation
To be eligible for a passing grade you are to complete all assigned work and participate actively
during class sessions
Ongoing field notes (10%)
Participation in fish bowl (10%)
Papers 1 (20%)
Paper 2 (20%)
Paper 3 (20%)
Copenhagen off the Rack (10%)
Engagement/participation (10%)
Attendance and Engagement
Attendance is mandatory for all scheduled classes and field studies.
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If you miss multiple classes, the Office of Academic Support and the Student Affairs Office
will be notified and they will follow up with you to make sure all is well. Absence will
jeopardize your grade and your standing at DIS. Allowances will be made in cases of class
conflict, observance of religious holidays and sickness. In case of multiple missed absences
due to illness, you will need to provide a doctor’s note.
You are to complete the required readings before class.
You are required to participate in class and group discussions. It is suggested that you make
references to readings and have questions ready for each session.
If you arrive more than 15 minutes late or leave before the last 15 minutes of class, you will
be considered absent for the day. This includes class sessions, field studies, evening sessions,
and guest lectures.
Use of Computers, iPhones, Cell phones etc. in Class
Computers and tablets are allowed in class PURELY for note taking purposes. In case of other uses
such as Facebook, emails or internet surfing, it will have a negative impact on your participation
grade. Cell phones are to be shut off or silenced during class, and texting etc. during class will have a
negative impact on your participation grade.
General Notes Regarding Assignments
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All assignments must be double spaced with one-inch margins
You are expected to use correct citing formats (please consult the DIS academic handbook or
ask Anders Larsen). Failure to use a correct citing format will result in grade deduction.
Late assignments will be accepted, but only agreement with the instructor prior to the due
date. All late assignments will be deducted half a letter grade for each 24 hours they are late
(an A paper will receive an A- if turned in one day late)
Academic Honesty
DIS expects that students abide by the highest standards of intellectual honesty in all academic work.
DIS assumes that all students do their own work and credit all work or thoughts taken from others.
Academic dishonesty will result in a final course grade of F and can result in dismissal. The student’s
home university will be notified. DIS reserves the right to request that written student assignments
The Meaning of Style |DIS
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Final Syllabus
be turned in electronic form for submission to plagiarism detection software. See the Academic
Handbook for more information.
Field Studies
1. National Museum of History at Frederiksborg Palace: (workshop “Dressed to Rule” on the
history of fashion and how it relates to the general history of Europe.)
2. Studio Nicholas Nybro – Meet a local designer and learn about his design process
3. Design Museum Denmark – tour of exhibitions
4. Gender Bender Workshop – explore gender performativity and costuming
5. Copenhagen off the Rack – a scavenger hunt through Copenhagen style
Films
Movie screening:
The September Issue: Documentary on Anna Wintour and the making
of Vogue
http://www.theseptemberissue.com/theatrical.html#/synopsis
Explore:
Guest Lectures
- Moussa Mchangama – Cover Magazine
Detailed Course Schedule
Session
Location
1
V10 B-24
2A
V10 B-24
The Meaning of Style |DIS
Date/Time
Topic
Readings
Wednesday, 25 May
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Topic of the session:
What is Fashion?
Introduction to fashion
studies and to the
class
Readings:
Malcolm Barnard,
“Fashion as
Communication”,
Routledge 2001,
Chapter 1: Etymologies
and Definitions of
Fashion and Clothing
(Canvas)
Thursday, 26 May
9:00 am-12:00pm
Topic of the session:
The body in the history
of fashion: head to
toe.
How has the body
ideal changed from
the early modern
period up until today?
What was the point of
corsets and crinolines,
Readings:
Susan J. Vincent, “The
Anatomy of Fashion.
Dressing the Body
from the Renaissance
to Today”, Berg
Publishers 2009,
“Head and Neck”
(compendium)
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Final Syllabus
and how can we
interpret the meaning
of the garments of the
past?
After a lecture
discussing the
interaction of fashion
and body image, we
will discuss today’s
beauty ideal.
2B
Thursday, 26 May
1:00-4.30 pm
We meet at the DIS front desk in Vestergade 7
at 1.00 PM
3A
Friday, 27 May
10:00 am-12:00pm
V10 B-24
FIELD STUDY: Frederiksborg Slot
Topic of the Field Study:
Dressed to Rule – how have Kings and Queens of
the past used dress to communicate their
status.
Topic of the session:
Fashion and Ways of
Seeing
How does one read
fashion? In this class,
we will explore and
apply theories
regarding how to read
fashion.
3B
V10 B-24
Friday, 27 May
1:00 pm-3:00 pm
Topic of the session:
Fashion as
communication
“I speak with my
clothes” is a famous
quote by the Italian
scholar Umberto
Ecco. What to clothes
say, and how is the
communication of
clothes used?
Readings:
Malcolm Barnard,
“Fashion as
Communication”,
Routledge 1996,
Fashion, Clothing and
Meaning
(Compendium)
Suggested Readings:
Jae Emerling, “Theory for Art
History”, Routledge 2005,
Ferdinand de Saussure
(compendium)
Jae Emerling, “Theory for Art
History”, Routledge 2005,
Roland Barthes
(compendium)
Deadline – Paper 1 - Friday, 27 May at midnight – to be submitted via e-mail to [email protected]
The body in the history of fashion - Assignment will be posted on Canvas
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Final Syllabus
4A
Monday, 30 May
10:00 am-12:00pm
V10 B-24
Topic of the day
before lunch:
Fashion in text
We will discuss fashion
and the role it plays in
various types of
literature; from novels
to fashion blogs. Who
decides what is
fashionable and how is
this communicated?
4B
Monday, 30 May
1:00-3:00pm
V10 B-24
4C
V10 B-24
Monday, 30 May
6:00-9:00pm
Readings:
Roland Barthes,
“Image Music Text”,
Fontana Press 1972,
Rhetoric of the Image
(compendium)
Meet Moussa Mchangama Jonsson:
Moussa Mchangama Jonsson holds a BA in
Rhetoric and an MA in Modern Culture and
Communication focused on Danish fashion. He
has previously worked as Fashion Features
Director at DANSK Magazine and he is known as
a prominent voice in the Danish fashion debate.
Moussa currently works as digital director at the
Danish fashion magazine Cover.
Evening Session:
Screening of The September Issue. A documentary on Anna
Wintour and the making of Vogue
Explore:
http://www.theseptemberissue.com/theatrical.html#/synopsis
Complimentary snacks and drinks will be served at the movie
screening.
5A
V10 B-24
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Tuesday, 31 May
10:00-12:00
Topic of the session:
Fashion and Gender
We will explore how
certain types of dress
are gendered and how
fashion helps the
individual perform
their gender identity.
Readings:
Henry Urbach,
“Closets, Clothes,
Disclosure”, The MIT
Press 1996
(compendium)
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Final Syllabus
5B
V 10-B24
6A
V 10 B-24
Tuesday, 31 May
5:00-8:00pm
Gender bending workshop
Drag queens from a local community of cross
dressers will teach you the art of playing with
your gender appearance.
We will explore how dress modifies gender
expression and how that changes ways of acting
and interacting with others. Please show up
wearing gender neutral dress e.g jeans and a
white t shirt.
Wednesday, 1 June
10:00-12:00
Topic of the session:
Fashion, class, and
consumption
What is good taste?
What makes us pick
certain garments over
others and do our
choices reflect social
class?
6B
V10 B-24
Wednesday, 1 June
1:00-3:00pm
Topic of the session:
Fashion and
Subculture
Subcultures have been
instrumental in the
shaping of
contemporary fashion.
In class, we will
explore the
subcultures that
shaped the looks of
the punks and the
mods and discuss how
the study of
subcultures can shed
meaning on style.
The Meaning of Style |DIS
Readings:
Thorstein Veblen, “The
Theory of the Leisure
Class”, Oxford
University Press (1899)
2007, Dress as an
Expression of
Pecuniary Culture
(compendium)
Readings:
How to live without
irony? (Canvas)
Suggested Readings:
Dick Hebdige,
“Subculture. The
Meaning of Style”,
Routledge 1979,
Subculture: the
unnatural break, two
forms of incorporation
(compendium)
Sara Thornton,
“Understanding
Hipness. ‘Subcultural
capital’ as a feminist
tool” Routledge 2006
(compendium)
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Final Syllabus
7A
Thursday, 2 June
10:00-12:00
We meet at the front desk at 10.00 and
walk to the studio as a group.
Field Study: Studio Nicholas Nybro
We are going to meet the Danish Designer Nicholas
Nybroe and learn about how he as a designer thinks
of the creative process of creating a collection.
Explore: http://www.nicholasnybro.dk/
7B
V10 B-24
Thursday, 2 June
1:00-3:00
Topic of the session:
Sound, sign and
mutation
It is hard to deny that
there is a connection
between the fashion
world and popular
music. In this class, we
will explore the role of
fashion in music
videos and how
cultural signs mutate.
Reading:
Mutant: An
introduction to
literature, criticism
and theory (Canvas)
Deadline - Paper 2 – Friday, 2 June at noon - Your assignment is to be submitted to [email protected]
The purpose of this assignment is to make sure that you are familiar with the most basic terms
covered in class so far.
- You are to provide a reading of a fashion blog using the concepts of Roland Barthes
(linguistic message, denotation, connotation etc.)
- Length of paper: max. 4 pages
8A
V10 B-24
The Meaning of Style |DIS
Monday, 6 June
10:00-12:00
Topic of the session:
Fashion Cities
Paris, Milan, New York
and London are often
called the big four
fashion capitals of the
world. What does that
mean and how does
that relate to the
identity of the city and
the image of its
fashion?
Readings:
Marie Riegels
Melchior, “Catwalking
the Nation: Challenges
and Possibilities in the
Case of the Danish
Fashion Industry”,
Linköping University
Press 2011
(compendium)
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Final Syllabus
Monday, 6 June
1:00-3:00
Meet in class room V10 B-24 at 1:00 for
instructions
Copenhagen off the rack
9A
Topic of the session:
Fashion and national
identity
8B
V10 B-24
Tuesday
10:00-12:00
Individual Assignment in the neighborhoods of
Copenhagen. Answers are to be submitted by
midnight to [email protected]
Do nations have a
look? How does
national identity affect
the way we dress? We
will explore a number
of cases of national
looks and discuss the
relation between
fashion and
nationalism.
9B
Tuesday, 7 June
1:00-3:00
We meet at the front desk at 1:00
Readings:
Alison Goodrum, “The
National Fabric”, Berg
2005, Banal
Nationalism:
Reproducing the
Nation Daily
(compendium)
Field Study: Design Museum Denmark
At the museum, we will explore how Danish
Design is curated.
Our tour will be led by Danish fashion scholar
Frederik Larsen.
Frederik Larsen holds a PhD in Organization
Studies from Copenhagen Business School and a
MA in Visual Culture from the University of
Copenhagen. His research is focused on secondhand industries and social economies. He is
currently working as a strategic consultant for a
NGO and lecturing on consumer culture at the
Copenhagen Business School. He has taught
Design Theory at the University of Copenhagen
and previously worked as a stylist and writer for
Danish fashion media.
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Final Syllabus
10A
V10 B-24
Wednesday, 8 June
10:00-12:00
Topic of the session:
Art and fashion,
fashion and art
We will explore the
intersection
between art and
fashion in order to
prepare for the fish
bowl exercise.
10B
V10 B-24
11A
V10 B-24
11 B
10 B 24
Readings:
Zandra Rhodes & Alice
Rawsthorn in The Observer
Sunday 13 July 2003, “Is
fashion a true art form”
(compendium)
Rebecca Arnold, “Fashion. A
very short introduction”,
Oxford University Press
2009, Art
(compendium)
Wednesday, 8 June
1:00-3:00
Is fashion art?
Thursday, 9 June
10:00-12:00
Topic of the session:
The future of fashion
FISH BOWL EXERCISE:
Each student will be given a task prior to this
exercise. The purpose of the fish bowl is to
make you aware of how an argument is
negotiated within fashion studies.
We will discuss where
fashion is heading.
How do new
technologies affect the
way we dress and
does globalization
distort the meaning of
style?
Thursday, 9 June
1:00-3:00
Readings:
Matthew Jeatt, “The
Fashion Handbook”,
Routledge 2006, The
future for fashion
(compendium)
Wrap up and reflection
!!! Notebooks must be handed in after the last class session on Thursday, 9 June for assessment!!!
Deadline – Paper 3 - Friday, 10 June before midnight – your assignment is to be submitted to
[email protected]
Capturing the Copenhagen look
Instructions for Final paper:
Projects can be solved in groups of maximum three people. Individual papers must however be
submitted.
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Final Syllabus
You are to conduct interviews with Copenhageners about their sartorial practices and examine
their discourses on the Copenhagen look.
Make sure to document your interviews with photos. They can either be added to your paper or
uploaded to Instagram with #MeaningofStyle
Referring to theories learned in class, you are to discuss whether their sartorial practices match
their perception of what they are wearing.
Some advice for conducting interviews:
- Decide on a clear focus before you head out.
- Have research questions ready.
- Stay away from the city center. Many people in that area are tourists or from suburbs.
They will thus not reflect ‘the Copenhagen look’
- Ask open questions. A question such as ‘Do you feel like you are a part of a subculture?’
can be answered with a yes or a no, and it will reveal what you are interested in examining
to the person you are talking to. You should rather try to make open questions, such as
‘Tell me about what you are wearing’ or ‘Tell me about your style’. Or use hidden
questions such as ‘I see that you wear a lot of black…’
- Pay attention to how the weather affects the way people dress
- Pay attention to how factors such as age, gender, social class affect how people dress
- Pay attention to how the person interacts with the surroundings (e.g. does the person look
like a hipster, and does this person sit at a trendy café?)
- Pay attention to what brands the person is wearing and what the persons perception is of
these brands (you may need to do some research on the brands when you prepare your
paper)
- Pay attention to your gut feeling. What are your instinctive readings of the person’s style?
- Pay attention to how the body shape of the person is affecting the way they dress.
- Are there practical aspects that the interviewee needs to take into consideration when
getting dressed? Consider how you prepare questions.
In your paper, you should remember to include the following:
- Field of research (what are you interested in examining?)
- Research questions (how are you going to do it?)
- Findings (what did you find?)
- Theories employed (which theories could explain your findings? Why/why not?)
- Contextualization (How can your knowledge of Danish culture/the fashion system inform
your findings?)
- Interpretations (how do you connect the points above to a synthesis?)
- Conclusion (what are your takeaways?)
The Meaning of Style |DIS