THE LANGUAGE OF CLOTHES: CURRICULUM EVALUA TION OF FOUR FASHION DESIGN AND MERCHANDISING PROGRAMS IN CANADA JUDI DORMAAR B.A., University of Lethbridge, 1993 A Project Submitted to the Faculty of Education of the University of Lethbridge in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF EDUCATION Lethbridge, Alberta February 2003 111 Abstract A high level of educational attainment carries both economic and social benefits. The popularity of continuing education programs and adult high school completion programs attest to people's interest in educational development and to the growing importance of education, skills and training in today's workplace. In general, higher levels of educational attainment are associated with improved labour market outcomes. Employment rates increase and unemployment rates decrease with higher levels of education. Education in the area of Fashion Design and Merchandising is one such area that is continuing to grow and MUST grow to keep up with the dynamics of our society. Fashion in the global market and in Canada today is big business. Its component parts - the design, production and distribution of fashion merchandise - form the basis of a highly complex, multibillion-dollar industry. It employs the greatly diversified skills and talents of millions of people, offers a multitudinous mix of products, absorbs a considerable portion of consumer spending and plays a vital role in the country's economy. Almost every country in the world depends on the textile and apparel sectors as important contributors to their economy. In Canada, more and more people will need an increasing amount of training and retraining throughout their careers. As a country, we need an educated, skilled and flexible work force to remain competitive. This can only be achieved by directly promoting continuing education and training programs amongst and for our people. IV Acknowledgements G.A.: You know there are not enough words to express my gratefulness. Your guidance is amazing! Leah: What a mentor you have been to me. Thank you ... for your strength, your wisdom, your faith in me. Thank you for your ambience Leah! Gerald: Thank you for taking the time to be a part of my project. Our paths crossed at just the right time! Janelle: I'm so glad you chose me to be your Maman ... what an honour! Mom & Dad: What can I say... you two were very hard to raise! Touche! Thanks Mom! Thanks Dad! v Table of Contents Abstract. ................................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents .................................................................................................................. v List of Tables ........................................................................................................................ VB Introduction and Background to the Project.. ...................................................................... Purpose and Focus of the Project.. ........................................................................................ 6 Significance/Implications of the Study................................................................................. 10 Canadian Retailing Today..................................................................................................... 12 Inside the Fashion Business .................................................................................................. 42 The Language of Clothing.................................................................................................... 63 Education in Canada ............................................................................................................. 78 Examination of Four Canadian Colleges and Universities ................................................... 84 Kwantlen College University.................................................................................... 84 Lethbridge Community College ................................................................................ 102 Ryerson University .................................................................................................... 114 LaSalle College ......................................................................................................... 132 Comparative Analysis............................................................................................... 148 References............................................................................................................................. 157 Appendices ............................................................................................................................ 162 A: Careers in Fashion ............................................................................................... 162 B: Canadian Fashion Schools .................................................................................. 175 VI c: Selected Trade Publications for the World of Fashion ....................................... 186 D: Selected World Wide Web Sites ......................................................................... 193 Vll List of Tables Table 1. Canadian Retail Chains.................................................................................................... 14 2. The Retailing Challenges Beyond Year 2000 .................................................................. 16 3. Wal-Mart: The Impact on Competitive Retailers ............................................................ 22 4. Population Age Distribution (1996-2016) ....................................................................... 26 5. How are French Canadians Different? ............................................................................ 32 6. Fashions Reflect the Times .............................................................................................. 50 7. Laver's Law ..................................................................................................................... 65 8. Broad Listing of Industry Career Opportunities ............................................................... 164 Introduction and Background to the Project Education is such a vital part of our everyday reality. Whether it be spoken, unspoken, learned or taught, it is with us in all areas, in all forms. For thousands of years human beings have communicated with one another in the language of dress. Long before an individual is near enough to talk to another individual on the street, in a meeting or at a party, they have already announced their gender, age and class through what they are wearing - and very possibly given important information (or misinformation) as to their occupation, origin, personality, opinions, tastes, sexual desires and current mood. Each individual may not be able to put what they observed into words, but they have registered information unconsciously about each other. By the time they meet and converse they have already spoken to each other in an older and more universal tongue. Today, as semiotics becomes fashionable, sociologists tell us that fashion too is a language of signs, a nonverbal system of communication. The vocabulary of dress includes not only items of clothing, but also hair styles, accessories, jewelry, make-up and body decoration. Theoretically at least, this vocabulary is as large as or larger than that of any spoken tongue, since it includes every garment, hair style and type of body decoration ever invented. In practice of course, the actual language-clothing resources of an individual may be very restricted. When we think of a farmer working his land, we see only the bare necessities of clothing, jeans, shirt, boots, etc. Hence, his language-clothing may be limited to five or ten "words" from which it is possible to create only a few "sentences" almost bare of decoration and expressing only the most basic concepts. On 1 2 the other hand, a so-called fashion leader, who is able to create an enormous entity of clothing styles, may have several hundred "words" at his or her disposal, and thus be able to form thousands of different "sentences" that will express a wide range of meanings. Just as the average English-speaking person knows many more words than he or she will ever use in conversation, so all of us are able to understand the meaning of styles we will never wear. Dress and appearance are worthy of study because they are laden with meanings. Appearance and dress often provide the most immediate and apparent visual cues about age, gender, ethnicity, social status and social roles. In addition, dress protects the body from the environment - physical, psychological and social. It expresses relationships, steers individuals to approach or avoid others, shapes actions toward others, reflects how people feel about themselves, expresses personal values and values of the society in which an individual lives. Dress is more than the mere objects and materials people put on their bodies. Dress can be a sign or symbol that refers to and stands for meanings not inherent in the material or object. In sum, the physical body when dressed reflects the "social body" or surrounding societal system (Turner, 1991). Dress is a chronicle of any time in history. As fashions or norms of dressing change over time, trends in technology, the economy, religion, the arts, notions of morality,