Fashion, Gender, and Identity

Catalog description

Do clothes really "make" the woman? In this course, we explore how the living art and practice of fashion intersects with gender, and shapes our multiple identities. This is an integrative learning course, which means we bring together the methods, theories and skills taught in general education arts courses (GA) with those practiced in general education humanities courses (GH). Our course is grounded in visual literacy, and we learn how to read clothing through the study of formal elements including material, color, form, line, texture and mood. Our inquiries place women's fashion into cultural, political and social contexts. We concentrate on three areas of study: the construction of particular kinds of femininity through fashion, challenges and subversions, and the contributions of women at all levels of the fashion industry, from factory labor to haute couture. Along the way, we will be encountering diverse individuals who have shaped women's fashion, from Michelle Obama to the pop star Selena to Vera Wang. Finally, in this class we connect theory to practice by situating ourselves as creators of fashion. During interactive laboratories, we empower ourselves by acquiring skills including basic sewing, cutting, sketching, draping, and embellishing garments; we also digitally design a collection using specialized software.