Abstract The chapter examines the emergence of popular European fashion magazines in Portugal during the 1980s. It explores how consumerist and cultural products of the late 1980s such as Elle and Marie-Clare interpret and represent the feminine role and her image in the late 1980s. It questions how they stimulate the reader to re- imagine a new landscape where past and future coexist through the symbolic language of fashion. Fashion assumes a central role within the context of a Broader process of social and cultural Europeanisation, The magazines sell commodities that suit the society’s expectations and desires while compensating for a perceived loss for memory and tradition. Key words: Consumption, fashion theory, post-modernism, Europeanisation, dictatorship Captions: Fig.1. ‘Viva Azul’. From Marie-Claire n.3, 1989, photographer Patrick Wilen. Reproduced By permission of the author. Fig.2. ‘Viva Azul’. From Marie-Claire n.3, 1989, photographer Patrick Wilen. Reproduced By permission of the author. Leafing through the 1980s in Portuguese Fashion Magazines Introduction Salazar’s forty-year dictatorship ended in 1974 with the April Revolution reinstating democracy. In the following decades, Portugal’s political, social and cultural structures underwent a series of transformations as the ‘political staBilization’ Began. The 1980s was critical for Portugal as it came to define itself as a post-authoritarian and post-revolutionary state. A key development here was its relationship with the rest of Europe and its desire to join the European Economic 1 Community (EEC).1 Popular European fashion magazines proved to Be highly influential as Portugal Became increasingly attuned to European customs in the 1980s. This chapter demonstrates that - with the arrival of such magazines - fashion images played a key role, shifting economic and political identities as seen through the lens of fashion theory and history. Seen as semi-symbolic signs of social change, these magazines turn into cultural tools that disseminate and contextualize views on how can Portugal’s national identity be successfully integrated with that of a more desiraBle pan-European identity. By examining the way in which the magazines presented Portuguese fashion to a wide geographical audience and a growing market in the 1980s, I investigate the representations of “Europe” that played a growingly important role ahead of and after the country’s entry to the EEC. The chapter is divided into three sections: it Begins with an examination of secondary sources and the analysis of the texts and images found in the primary sources. The first section focuses on the historical context of fashion and its consumption in Portugal during the 1970s - just after the revolution. The emergence of shops selling ‘unconventional' clothes encouraged new forms of pleasure and desire, emphasizing consumerism and puBlic appearance. It created ideal conditions for the rise of a new generation of female fashion designers and sowed the seeds of a national fashion identity with products and garments identified as essentially ‘Portuguese’. The second and third sections analyze a selection of texts featured in Portugal’s two most influential European fashion magazines that were published towards the end of the 1980s: Elle and Marie-Claire. These were the Portuguese versions of the well-estaBlished French magazines, which targeted mostly female Portuguese consumers with an array of images. By analyzing the magazine editors’ letters, the columnists’ writing and 1 Portugal would join the EEC in 1986. 2 editorials,2 I illustrate how these magazines provide what ReBecca Arnold defines as “narratives of a culture, clues, and revelations of the way a social group or indeed a nation envisions itself, particular to time and space.”3 These magazines are valuaBle sources for tracing the emerging signs of modernity in Portuguese society, which, until that time, had often Been perceived as traditionalist and Backward looking. By developing a narrative Based on a selection of four editorials from the two magazines, it is my intention to map out the growing tension Between the desire to estaBlish a strong Portuguese identity and the increasing pressure to adopt a more European identity. The latter arguably constitutes one of the prevailing tensions found in Portuguese culture during the 1980s. As a result of this tension, these emerging fashion images allowed the predominantly female Portuguese readers to re-imagine the cultural landscape of Portugal via their symbolic language of dreams and desires. In doing so, I claim that the magazines attempted to compensate readers for this perceived loss of national identity By presenting Portuguese fashion as a modern artifact and sign of tradition. As Luis Trindade suggests in his contriBution to this volume, rather that clashing, Europeanization and national identity complemented each other. In the ensuing sections, ‘modernity’ refers to a historical process entailing Both economic and social development, as well as political emancipation, rather than any specific historical period. Accordingly, when referring to twentieth century Portugal, it is possible to state that the decisive time in the country's economic, social and political modernization corresponds to the period of cultural postmodernism, seen here as the cultural logic of late capitalism 4 , a set of phenomena closely related to consumerism and social and cultural perceptions of leisure, hedonism, desire, which fashion contriButes to in a decisive way. 2 Fashion editorials refer to photo-editorials with full-page photographs on a particular theme, designer, model with or without accompanying text. 3 ReBecca Arnold, 'Looking American: Louise Dahl-Wolfe’s Fashion Photographs of the 1930s and 1940s' in Fashion Theory, Volume 6 Issue 1, p.46 4 Frederic Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (Duke University Press 1991). 3 It is important to mention that the Portuguese case needs a chronology of its own and should not Be suBsumed in gloBal chronologies putting modernity and postmodernity in succession in a linear way. In Portugal there is arguably an overlap of what is usually considered postmodernist culture and a process (and perception) of social and political modernization. As Luís Trindade explains: ‘the succession of dictatorship, revolution and democracy in a very short span of time created a sense of overlapping, rather than transition proper, of different historical periods.’5 The emergence of popular fashion in Portugal It is difficult to discuss popular Portuguese fashion during the forty-year long dictatorship, Because it was mainly anything ‘French’ i.e. Parisian haute couture.6 As a result, fashion - as a symbol of social contextualization - was limited to only the wealthiest sections of Portuguese society and rarely indulged in. As Ines Brasão explains, women’s magazines that emerge during the Regime of “Estado Novo” were mainly addressing middle and upper-middle class readers who were more interested in European culture.7 In the late 1920s, Lisbon was a city where you could find various ateliers specializing in French haute couture with the use of French fabrics.8 Their influence on Portuguese dress Became very important throughout the 1930s and the 1940s. This is well documented in writings about Madame do Vale and Ana Maravilhas.9 These two ladies were the most well-known designers for women, having Both 5 cf. Luís Trindade's chapter in this volume, and see: José ReBelo, Formas de legitimação do poder no Salazarismo, LisBoa (Livros e Leituras , 1998) p.346. 6 Madalena Braz Teixeira. A moda do Século 1900-2000 (LisBon: Museu Nacional do Traje, 2000). 7 Flama and Modas e Bordados (M&B) are the magazines extensively examined in Ines Brasão’s chapter in this volume. 8 Tereza Coelho and Maria da Assunção Avillez. A Moda em Portugal nos Últimos Trinta Anos (Lisbon: Edições Rolim, 1987). 9 Ibidem. 4 succeeded in adapting and popularizing Parisian couture for their clients. Ana Maravilhas remembers Being the first one to make ‘a Dior’ in LisBon. 10 Her professional name defined her as a ‘modista’, which differs from the ‘costureira’ who usually made less expensive garments. The haBit of commissioning clothing was widespread in affluent Portuguese society Because this was the only way to acquire such clothing. 11 Ana Maravilhas continued to produce expensive, fashionaBle clothing until April 1974; according to her, no one would order or buy clothing anymore, Because ready-to-wear was Both more affordaBle and readily available. Young female customers were now Buying their clothes from Loja das Meias, Eduardo Martins and Porfirio; shops introducing Portuguese youth to ready-made clothes, international Brands and trends.12 These stores sold ‘gangas’ (jeans) and mini-skirts. However, it was still not possible for everyone to purchase Brand new clothes. For most young Portuguese women, everyday dress consisted of wearing outfits similar to those of their mothers and grandmothers. Many could simply not afford to adopt what was considered to be a more ‘fashionaBle’ look. 13 And even for those who could, fashionable clothes were still very difficult to find.14 Reflecting on the early 1970s fashion the Portuguese editor of Marie Claire, Helena Redondo, wrote in the 1990s that Lisbon was a ‘suspended’ place; a city “where people made resignation a way of living” and in which only a minority of people were interested in having an original look.15 My focus on the city of Lisbon does not imply that I intend to leave out other parallel realities in the country. 16 Instead, it is meant to bring attention to particular cases, e.g. Maçã, as a starting point for questioning how and when Portuguese fashion began. 10 “O primeiro vestido Dior aqui, fui eu: a “toile” e o tecido. Era carissimo, mas nunca gostei do que nao era bom” in Tereza Coelho and Maria da Assunção Avillez. A Moda em Portugal nos Últimos Trinta Anos (LisBon: Edições Rolim, 1987). 11 Ready-mades were not yet availaBle until the late 1960s.