This Is Not a Shoe’ an Exploration of the Co-Constitutive Relationship Between Representations and Embodied Experiences of Shoes
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‘This is Not a Shoe’ An Exploration of the Co-Constitutive Relationship Between Representations and Embodied Experiences of Shoes. By: Alexandra Sherlock A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Sheffield Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Sociological Studies 31st October 2016 Thesis Abstract Through their narrative incorporation in fairy tales, song lyrics, in movies and on television shoes have become a ‘loaded device’ recycled as metonymy for the wearer or as metaphor for experience (Pine, 2006: 353). This research argues that in academic studies a consequence of their visual and symbolic ubiquity has been the material invisibility or ‘humility’ of the shoe as a ‘thing’ (Miller, 2005). Following Magritte’s lead in his painting The Treachery of Images (1928- 29) I suggest that a tendency to see and analyse the messages shoes convey, rather than the things themselves, has led to a lack of empirical interrogation into the role shoes play in everyday processes of identity and identification. This research addresses this lack, yet rather than separate the shoe from its representations to do so, it unites the material and visual to understand the relationship between representations and embodied experiences of shoes in processes of being and becoming. With a focus on the styles that comprise the Clarks Originals brand, particularly the Desert Boot, the study observes the ‘situated bodily practice’ (Entwistle, 2000b) of those who both produce and wear the shoes to understand them as medium rather than message in processes of identification and transformation. This approach enables us to identify the material and semiotic affordances that lead to their cultural visibility and to gain a picture of the complex ‘networks’ (Latour, 2005) and ‘meshworks’ (Ingold, 2010a) such significant objects facilitate. Consequently, the thesis addresses shortcomings in sociological approaches to fashion theory by offering a meso-level between structure and agency which undermines common dualities between production and consumption, masculine and feminine, and the material and visual. Ultimately, the research argues that Clarks Originals offer a valuable opportunity to understand how and why particular objects become culturally and socially significant and valuable. Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor Professor Jenny Hockey for having the insight to propose a sociological study of shoes - the If the Shoe Fits research project at the University of Sheffield - and for including the doctoral research post that funded this thesis. Words are insufficient to express my gratitude for her committed guidance, support and patience throughout this PhD. I also thank Professor Vicki Robinson for her guidance as second supervisor. The research process would not have been as enjoyable, nor the data as rich without the participation of Clarks, I therefore thank all my participants for their continued enthusiasm, interest and patience during analysis and writing-up; the fashion industry moves exceedingly fast, yet academic research can be notoriously slow, especially when juggled with a lectureship. Of my participants at Clarks, special thanks go to my contact Hannah for forwarding my project proposal and Saskia on whose desk it landed and who has devoted her free time to assist with the research. Thanks also to Tim, Paul S., Rosie, Gemma and Marijke for reading earlier drafts and responding positively to my analysis. I have made many friends throughout my research, all of whom have supported me, however particular thanks also go to Helen, Paul and Philippa at Clarks, and Eve, Melanie, Kitty, Donna, Ronnie and Natalija at the University of Sheffield. In addition, the writing-up process would have been impossible without the support of the School of Fashion and Textiles at RMIT in Melbourne and my colleagues on the Fashion Design degree who provided the flexibility and understanding I needed to complete at a manageable pace. Finally, I would like to thank my supportive family but especially my fiancé Steve Pellegrino (now a committed Desert Boot wearer himself) for his unwavering support and patience throughout the last three years of this research. Parts of this thesis comprise sections developed from an article I wrote for a special issue of Critical Studies in Fashion and Beauty (Sherlock, 2014). Thanks go to the publisher Intellect for granting permission for the reproduction of this material. The thesis also expands on a conference paper I delivered for the 2011 interdisciplinary.net conference Fashion: Exploring Critical Issues, later published in the conference proceedings (Sherlock, 2012). This research was funded by the Economic Social Research Council. For Steve Contents: List of Illustrations 1 Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Introduction 9 1.2 The Data 11 1.3 The Structure of the Thesis 12 1.4 Positionality and Broader Implications for the Research 15 Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Introduction 19 2.2 Clothing, Fashion and Identification 19 2.3 Framing Shoes as Fashion Object 22 2.4 Sociological Approaches to Fashion 23 2.5 Identifying Dominant Shoe Discourses: The Feminisation of Consumption 26 2.6 Fashion Theory: Fetishising the Extraordinary Shoe 28 2.7 Alternative Angles on Shoes 29 2.8 A Post-Structural Legacy 31 2.9 Ceci n’est pas une Chaussure 33 2.10 The ‘Truth’ of Heidegger’s Shoes: Perception as a Subjective and 34 Embodied Practice 2.11 Restoring the Body to Semiotic Studies of Shoes 36 2.12 The Material and Semiotic Affordances of Shoes 39 2.13 Peirce’s Pragmatist Approach to Semiotics 41 2.14 Metaphoric and Metonymic Shoes: Linking the Material With the 43 Symbolic. 2.15 Medium Versus Message: A Practice Based Approach to Representation 46 2.16 Conclusion 47 Chapter 3: Methodology 3.1 Introduction 51 3.2 Foregrounding the Research Design: Defamiliarising the Shoe 52 3.3 A Biographical Approach to Objects, Materials and Representations 53 3.4 Envisaging the Biography of a Shoe 55 3.5 Gaining Access to the Field 56 3.6 The Research Plan 57 3.7 Finding a Shoe that Fits 60 3.8 Following the Clarks Originals Biography 65 3.9 Wearer Focus Groups 68 3.10 Data Collection 70 3.11 What to Wear 72 3.12 Data Analysis and Writing-up 73 3.13 Ethics and Anonymity 74 3.14 Incentivising the Research: Collaborative and Reciprocal Ethnography 75 3.15 Conclusion 78 Chapter 4: Defamiliarising the Shoe 4.1 Introduction 81 4.2 Method 81 4.3 In Goffman’s Shoes: Gender Coding in Footwear Advertisements 82 4.4 The Close-up: The Shoe as Identifier 89 4.5 Empty Shoes: Metonymic and Metaphoric Practices 89 4.6 Shoes as a Narrative Aid 95 4.7 Worn Shoes: Endorsement and Shoes as a Source of Cultural Capital 95 4.8 Conclusion 99 Chapter 5: The Material and Semiotic Affordances of Clarks Originals Shoes 5.1 Introduction 103 5.2 A Material Approach to Semiotics 103 5.3 Embodying Cultural Representations: ‘Madchester’ and Looking 104 Authentically ‘Normal’ 5.4 Sticky Soles, Narrative Identity and Materialising Memory 110 5.5 Materiality, Authenticity and Aura 112 5.6 Materialising and Authenticating Gender 120 5.7 Other Niche Affordances 123 5.8 A Social Shoe 124 5.9 Conclusion 125 Chapter 6: ‘The Shoey’: Embodying Sub/Cultural Capital 6.1 Introduction 129 6.2 The ‘Shoey’: Habitus, Cultural Capital and Fields of Practice 129 6.3 Subcultural Capital and the Creative Class 133 6.4 Embodying Clarks: The Materiality of Space and Place 135 6.5 Reflexivity, Intersubjectivity and the Habitus 140 6.6 The Habitus of a Marketing Manager: 141 The ‘Internal-External Dialectic of (Brand) Identification’ 6.7 Embodying Subcultural Capital and Becoming Clarks Originals 150 6.8 Habitus, Creativity and Innovation 151 6.9 The Habitus of the Senior Designer: 153 Embodiment Through Collecting, Organising, Making and Miniaturising 6.10 The Habitus of the Artist: 161 Embodiment Through Two-Dimensional Representation 6.11 Conclusion 169 Chapter 7: ‘Getting the Shoes on the Right Feet’: Affective Bodies and Endorsement 7.1 Introduction 173 7.2 ‘Cool’ Shoes: Endorsement and Affect 174 7.3 Inalienable Shoes: Extended Personhood and Metonymy 183 7.4 Animistic and Anthropomorphic Shoes 187 7.5 Shoes are ‘Good to Think’ 191 7.6 Conclusion 194 Chapter 8: Trickster Shoes 8.1 Introduction 199 8.2 Hermes the Trickster 200 8.3 ‘Betwixt and Between’ Shoes 201 8.4 Ugly and Abject Shoes 204 8.5 Quasi-Objects and Material Parasites 207 8.6 The Trickster Trademark 210 8.7 Strategy-Less Shoes 212 8.8 Conclusion 213 Chapter 9: Conclusion 9.1 Conclusion 217 9.2 Implications of the Research 219 9.3 Further Avenues for Research 221 Bibliography 223 Appendices A Ethics consent 249 B Research schedule 2012-2014 251 C Informed consent form for Clarks’ participants 253 D Recruitment postcard 255 E Focus group participant questionnaire 256 F Focus group informed consent form 258 List of Illustrations Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Shoes, 1886, oil on canvas by Vincent van Gogh. Image courtesy of the 35 Vincent van Gogh Foundation. 2.2 Diamond Dust Shoes (Random), 1980, acrylic, silkscreen ink, and 35 diamond dust on linen. The Warhol Foundation. 2.3 1956, Andy Warhol, ‘Zsa Zsa Gabor’ shoe, part of the ‘Crazy Golden 45 Slippers’ exhibition at the Bodley Gallery. The Warhol Foundation. 2.4 Auschwitz, Poland, a storage room full of shoes taken from the Jews in 45 the death camp. Yad Vashem. Chapter 3: Methodology 3.1 Desert Boot, Sand (courtesy of Clarks) 62 3.2 Wallabee, Cola (courtesy of Clarks) 62 3.3 Desert Trek, Beeswax (courtesy of Clarks) 62 3.4 Funny Dream (courtesy of Clarks) 62 3.5 Bombay Light (courtesy of Clarks) 62 3.6 Cocoa Crème (courtesy of Clarks) 62 3.7 Un Loop (courtesy of Clarks) 62 3.8 Henderson Band shoes and associated store imagery.