The Aesthetics of Mainstream Androgyny: A Feminist Analysis of a Fashion Trend Rosa Crepax Goldsmiths, University of London Thesis submitted for the degree of Ph.D. in Sociology May 2016 1 I confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Rosa Crepax Acknowledgements I would like to thank Bev Skeggs for making me fall in love with sociology as an undergraduate student, for supervising my MA dissertation and encouraging me to pursue a PhD. For her illuminating guidance over the years, her infectious enthusiasm and the constant inspiration. Beckie Coleman for her ongoing intellectual and moral support, all the suggestions, advice and the many invaluable insights. Nirmal Puwar, my upgrade examiner, for the helpful feedback. All the women who participated in my fieldwork for their time, patience and interest. Francesca Mazzucchi for joining me during my fieldwork and helping me shape my methodology. Silvia Pezzati for always providing me with sunshine. Laura Martinelli for always being there when I needed, and Martina Galli, Laura Satta and Miriam Barbato for their friendship, despite the distance. My family, and, in particular, my mum for the support and the unpaid editorial services. And finally, Goldsmiths and everyone I met there for creating an engaging and stimulating environment. Thank you. Abstract Since 2010, androgyny has entered the mainstream to become one of the most widespread trends in Western fashion. Contemporary androgynous fashion is generally regarded as giving a new positive visibility to alternative identities, and signalling their wider acceptance. But what is its significance for our understanding of gender relations and living configurations of gender and sexuality? And how does it affect ordinary people's relationship with style in everyday life? Combining feminist theory and an aesthetics that contrasts Kantian notions of beauty to bridge matters of ideology and affect, my research investigates the sociological implications of this phenomenon. My thesis explores in what ways the new androgyny, apparently harmless and even radical, paradoxically reinforces traditional gender roles, and legitimatises particular kinds of femininity over others also in terms of class, sexuality and ethnicity. It interrogates whether this trend, and by extension contemporary mainstream fashion in general, can oppose traditional values, and investigates the relationship between the aesthetic sphere and socio-cultural inequality. In response to classical theories of fashion, and filling a gap in contemporary ones, my study also focuses on social class, now often overlooked, in the analysis of style. These questions are examined from a twofold perspective: first I investigate representation to identify ideological patterns of legitimation and de-legitimation arising from fashion intermediaries' portrayal of the trend. I then look at how this visual material becomes an object of affective engagement, and analyse emotional responses to the aesthetics. To do this, I employ a mixture of traditional methods, such as semiotics and discourse analysis, and experimental ones, like the collection of creative ethnographic data. I explore the particular aesthetics associated with the androgyny trend and consider how it is configured by the different fashion intermediaries, what its presence online entails, and what is its relationship with the wider public and their everyday negotiations of identity. Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction: Androgyny, Fashion and Why They Matter Questioning the New Androgyny 10 Androgynous Fashion and Style in Culture and Society 17 Fashion and Sociological Investigation: 26 Dress and Style as Markers of Class Outlining the Chapters 36 Chapter 2 Aesthetics Through Ideology, Class and Gender: Theoretical Underpinnings Introduction 44 Political, Gendered and Affective Bodies 46 Emotional Attachments, Affect and Feeling Difference 54 Positive and Negative Affectivity in Context 56 Aesthetics Between Bodily Sensations and Ideological Functions 59 Class as a Cultural Manifestation and the Supremacy of the Higher Classes 62 Class as an Affective Manifestation and the Portrayal of the Working Classes 68 Conclusion 73 Chapter 3 Investigating the New Androgyny: Methodology and Methods Introduction 77 Understanding Fashion Intermediaries 79 Finding a Space for the Audience 88 Translating the Complexity of the Fashion-Communication Scenario into a Researchable Entity 90 The Methods (I): Semiotics 94 The Methods (II): Discourse 99 The Methods (III): Street Style Photography 102 Conclusion 108 Chapter 4 Mapping the Themes: Representation and androgyny as a Trend Introduction 111 Affluent Lifestyle 114 Minimalist Refinement and the Domestic Ideal 121 The Heterosexual Wife and the Sophisticated Femme Fatale 128 Rebellion and Resistance 135 The Alien and the Work of Art 143 Conclusion 146 Chapter 5 Pulling Off the Androgyny Trend: The Androgynous Body? Introduction 149 Bodies in the Fashion Market, Stylisation of the Self and Value 151 The Androgynous Body as a Project: 155 Transformation, Cultivation and Consumption The Androgynous Body as Cyborg Femininity 164 The Aestheticised Moral Affectivity of the Androgynous Body 172 Androgynous Body Consciousness 177 Conclusion 181 Chapter 6 The Re-mediation of the Androgyny Trend: Blogs, Legitimation Struggles and Affective Negotiations Introduction 185 Bloggers and the struggle over Legitimacy (i): 187 Minimalist Refinement, the New Androgyny and the Insider's Look Bloggers and the Struggle over Legitimacy (ii): 194 Excess, the New Androgyny and the Outsider's Look Blogging about Androgyny as a Public Intimate Engagement 201 with Affect and Creativity Blogging as an Intimate Experience Between Writers 206 and Readers: Are They Peers? Conclusion 211 Chapter 7 Engaging/Disengaging with Androgyny and Reconfiguring the Trend: Affective Online Interaction Introduction 215 Androgyny and the Affectivity 217 of Contemporary Fashion's Online Audience Engagement Direct Engagement: the Audiences' Imagined Audience 219 and Personal Investments in Androgynous Fashion Bashing and Judging 219 Investing 228 Indirect Engagement: Online Procrastination as a Tool 232 for the Mainstream Reconfiguration of the Androgyny Trend Social Class and Online Participation 232 Creativity and Semantic Alterations 234 Conclusion 242 Chapter 8 Androgyny on the Streets: Street Style and Symbolic Play Introduction 245 Street Photography, Access and Hanging Out 248 Wearing Androgyny (I) Androgynous Fashion in Real Life 252 Wearing Androgyny (II) Androgynous Fashion and Business 257 Smelling Contemporary Fashion: Perfume and Style 262 Comfort and Spontaneity Versus Femininity in Everyday Life 264 Old Clothes and Sitting on the Streets with Friends 271 White, Black and Bright Colours 275 Dressing for the Occasion 279 Creativity 282 Conclusion 286 Chapter 9 Conclusion: Making Sense of the New Androgyny and Assessing its Potential Introduction 290 Towards a More Androgynous Future? 296 Androgyny in the Contemporary Fashion Scene: 305 Self-Presentation and Negotiations of Identity An Alternative Model of Fashion Distribution: 310 Variations in Aesthetic Distinction The Potential and the Future of Androgynous Fashion 316 Conclusion 320 Bibliography 323 Social media references 346 List of Tables 351 List of Figures 351 Appendix 1 353 Appendix 2 354 Appendix 3 355 Chapter 1 Introduction: Androgyny, Fashion and Why They Matter Questioning the New Androgyny In the past few years, androgyny has gained a significant prominence in Western women's fashion that can be compared to the popularity and the clamour caused by the Garçonne look of the 1920s, the Glam ambiguity of the 1970s or the unisex style of the 1990s. In 2010, The New York Times commented on the androgyny tendency, arguing that not since the 1970s has there been such a media frenzy about gender bending styles; only this time, instead of stressing the mysterious charm of ambiguity, such portrayals focus on 'empowerment' and 'pride' (Van Meter 2010). The article quotes the editor of LOVE magazine Katie Grand's comments on how this new positive attitude of the fashion industry towards androgyny is reflected by its very presence in high fashion advertising, as well as in Vogue magazine and in Oprah Winfrey's popular TV show. After being flirted with for decades, androgyny has recently entered the mainstream, to such extent that new discussions spark everyday on the internet about whether the trend has already gone too far. The androgyny trend is seen in many places: in photoshoots (New Dandy - Flair Sept 2011, New Kid in Town - Vogue Paris Oct 2012, Macho Libre - US Elle 2012, Rebel Rebel - Vogue UK Sept 2013, Boy Talk - Vogue UK Sept 2012 are only a few examples) and advertising campaigns (Calvin Klein AW11, Donna Karan AW12, Miu Miu AW12, Burberry AW10) as well as in catwalk trend reports, articles, fashion blogs and so on. LOVE magazine even released an entire Androgyny Issue for SS11. Large high street clothing chains, such as River Island or Topshop, offer a wide selection of 'boyfriend blazers', 'tomboy crop tops' and 'boyish shorts'. Even a recent popular trend in designer perfumes encourages women to 'borrow from the boys' and experiment with fragrances that mix masculine and feminine olfactory notes together (Elle Sept 2014). In fact, 10 lately, one cannot flip through a magazine or visit a fashion website without encountering terms like tomboy, mannish, boyish, androgynous (often paired with the word chic) associated with womenswear. These