ACJ Review: Fashion As Communication

Volume 7, Issue 2004

Fashion As Communication

Malcolm Barnard
Routledge, 2002
224 pagesPaper, 0415260183, US $19.95

Reviewed by: Lin Allen and Angie Koponen, University of Northern Colorado
Printer-friendly PDF version

In his apercu, Fashion as Communication, Malcolm Barnard seemingly subscribes to the Latin proverb, “Fashion is more powerful than any tyrant.” With this tacit mantra, Barnard addresses the rhetorical functions of fashion to determine the locus and latitude of the role of fashion in constructing and maintaining cultural roles, rules, rituals, and responsibilities. From palaces to punk, luxury boxes to laundromats, Barnard presents the reader with an extensive pallet of the premises of fashion as persuasive art and architecture.

Barnard argues that fashion is an ambivalent entity, which fosters and features a variety of tensions. He advances his agenda by exploring the nature, origin, philosophy, and practice of fashion across centuries and sequences of dominant cultural powers. To engage in such a review, he weaves in narratives focusing on creators, consumers and critics of fashion.

Barnard’s writing is a veritable catwalk of research, positioning the reader in a dramatic text and context of apparel. Presented in an enlivening and engaging manner, this work catalogs a literary boutique of fashion lore. The author’s extensive research reveals an amalgam of insights, ranging from etymological clarifications to the semiological stratagems of fashion. His forays into the world of the garment industry invite the reader to peruse everything from regalistic to militaristic costumes in the reification of the power relation. In fact, power relations emerge as a key organizing principle in his work.

Interestingly, Barnard advances his arguments almost in a point/counterpoint style. He is careful to present a multi-faceted view of interpretations on research regarding fashion. For example, he raises questions about whether the meaning constructed by fashion is to be reviewed as an internal or external system of signification, presenting an array of reasons for both sets of beliefs.

Though the book contains a rather limited number of visuals, photographs chosen are presentations of the narrative account that he renders. In fact, the restricted number of visuals, and their strategic appearance in the text, renders them all the more salient in supporting the claims advanced in the collection. This is a testament to the writing style of the author.

Although the knowledge one gains from Barnard’s depictions of the histrionics and hermeneutics of fashion is extensive, the author’s tendency to review arguments already advanced in previous chapters tends to clutter what otherwise is a fascinating writing style. Likewise, his desire to forecast what will come in ensuing chapters is unnecessary and detracts from the otherwise clean and elegant prose.

Those who wish to teach more about nonverbal communication, the rhetorical construction of gender and ethnicity, as well as prominence of power relations in religious and political settings will be very well served by Barnard’s exemplary account.