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- Convenors:
-
Stefanie Mallon
(University of Goettingen)
Sonya Darrow (Masaryk University (Brno, Czech Republic))
Marija Gačić (Heritage Chaser, ethnological research and cultural consulting company)
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- Format:
- Panel
Short Abstract:
Dress comes supplied with narratives. In their vestimentary practices, individuals un-write these by adapting their clothing according to their dispositions, telling alternative stories and imbuing garments with meaning. This panel investigates the processes of storytelling in clothing practices.
Long Abstract:
In the process of designing and producing dress is supplied with narratives. This counts for folk dress as well as for products from the fashion industry that are part of a themed collection and also for homemade clothes that are sewn with specific addressees in mind. But in their individual dress practices, users adapt their clothing according to their own dispositions, socio-political perspectives etc. Some of them not only abandon the ready-made narratives, but tell completely new stories in the creative ways that they wear their clothing, fill garments out with their individual bodies, imbue them with meanings relevant to them, combine them with other pieces of clothing or alter them. For example, alternative narratives are developed by style movements which adapt vintage clothes with distinct time/place signifiers to enrich them and transport them into their life-styles. This un-writing is accentuated by up-cyclers who intervene with the clothes structurally and generate the basis for rich distinctive narratives. For this panel, we invite papers that develop on how individuals or groups interpret or even alter their clothing to fit into their lifestyles. Which narratives guide the respective transformation processes? How are new and alternative stories told and how are these apprehended by others? How do these narratives imbue clothes with new and alternative meanings? The aim of this panel is to contribute to the understanding of individual vestimentary storytelling and their reception beyond the mainstream.
Accepted papers:
Session 1Paper Short Abstract:
This paper will attempt to understand the evolution of Patani as a cultural attire through the lenses of memory and political history of the ST(Scheduled tribes) Movement of the Koch Rajbongshis of Assam. It will particularly focus on the oral narratives collected from women, the process of Sanskritization and contemporary ideological contestations regarding Patani.
Paper Abstract:
"Patani", a 3 to 4 yards long traditional attire of the Koch Rajbongshi community of Assam and North Bengal, India has a lot of political history behind its remodelling. An attire majorly worn by the community women of common origin, it has been hitting the current market with varied styles from the last decade. However, the most popular one today is the yellow Patani, also called “Beshor Phuliya Patani” or “Katholiya Patani”. It is associated with the symbol of the “Royal” lineage of the community and the auspicious nature of the colour yellow typically worn during wedding rituals in earlier days. But behind the glorification of this traditional attire lies the silent injustice of restricting women as the sole models for carrying the burden of safeguarding identity, labelling women as the flag bearers for the community’s upward mobilisation. Also, an unconscious attempt to institutionalise traditional attire poses a threat to the sanctity of a cultural marker as well as commodifying women’s bodies as a symbol of agitation. This paper will attempt to understand the evolution of Patani as a cultural attire through the lenses of memory and political history of the ST(Scheduled tribes) Movement of the Koch Rajbongshis of Assam. It will particularly focus on the oral narratives collected from women, the process of Sanskritization and contemporary ideological contestations regarding "Patani".
Paper Short Abstract:
This paper follows the sartorial stories of queer activists in Copenhagen navigating the tension between expectations of embodying the nation and simultaneously embodying a politicised sexual subjectivity. Un-writing national sartorial aesthetics creates alternative meanings of what it might look like to find belonging through dress.
Paper Abstract:
Ways of dressing are productive grounds for the imagination and creation of national belonging. Since the emergence of the Danish fashion industry in the 1960s, narratives of social cohesion, equality and liberal-mindedness as inherently part of the fabric of modern Danish society have found heightened expression through dress and fashion. Whilst embraced by many, specific aesthetic narratives of what it means to dress in a Danish way are also subject of contestation. Despite their link to positively connotated notions of progress and modernity, these sartorial narratives narrowly define the possibilities and boundaries of what it might mean to be, and to look, Danish and to belong within the national imaginary.
Drawing on wardrobe studies and ethnographic fieldwork, this contribution follows the accounts of queer activists in Copenhagen whose stories about choosing and wearing clothes speak of a tension between the expectations of embodying the nation and simultaneously embodying a politicised sexual subjectivity. Making sense of societal pressures to conform to a certain way of dressing whilst negotiating queer (in)visibility makes queer activists un-write Danish sartorial aesthetics and practices, thereby creating alternative meanings of what it might look like to find belonging through dress.
Paper Short Abstract:
This paper explores how clothing in Frances Burney's "The Wanderer" serves as a means of "un-writing" and "re-writing" narratives, reflecting identity, social norms, and cultural practices, and highlighting the heroine Juliet's role as both subject and creator of dress.
Paper Abstract:
This paper aims to explore how dress functions as a means of "un-writing" and "re-writing" narratives. By analyzing the interplay between clothing, identity, and social structures, it highlights the significance of dress in shaping both the story and the cultural context of the period.
The discussion will focus on three main aspects:
1. Narrative Structure: How clothing influences the plot and external perceptions of the protagonist, Juliet, reflecting broader societal norms and values. The stages of the novel are marked by Juliet's attire, which drives the narrative forward.
2. Juliet as a Producer of Clothing: Juliet's work as a milliner and embroiderer positions her as an active participant in using dress as a tool of "unwriting" and "re-writing", offering insights into the economic and social conditions of the time. This also highlights how Burney herself uses clothing to challenge conventions of contemporary society and literature.
3. Psychological and Cultural Dimensions: The impact of Juliet's various disguises on her psychological state and how these costumes express her inner conflicts and identity, while also engaging with cultural practices and beliefs about dress. This approach shows how clothing serves as a lens to explore social tensions and identity.
By using clothing as a lens, this paper aims to provide a focused perspective on the novel's engagement with social structures and identity. This approach not only underscores the thematic richness of Burney's work but also offers insight into the conventions of contemporary society and literature at the intersection between literary studies and ethnology.
Paper Short Abstract:
The lecture presents the research and reconstruction of the folk dress from the village Riečnica (Kysuce region), flooded due to the construction of a reservoir. It focuses on source search, field research with former residents, and the creation of replicas for a dance choreography for folk ensemble
Paper Abstract:
This presentation delves into the process of researching and reconstructing the traditional folk dress of Riečnica, a Slovak village in the Kysuce region that was submerged in the second half of the 20th century to create a water reservoir. The displacement of its inhabitants and the flooding of the village led to the loss of tangible cultural heritage, including its folk attire. The initiative to revive this heritage arose within the framework of folklorism, particularly for a folklore ensemble’s stage performance aimed at preserving and showcasing the dances and traditions of the vanished village.
The lecture will cover the various stages of this reconstruction process. These include archival research to identify historical documentation of the village’s attire, field research conducted with former residents and their descendants to gather oral histories and photographs, and the challenges of interpreting and reproducing the dress. The focus will also extend to the practical aspects of creating replicas, such as selecting materials, crafting techniques, and stylization for stage use.
The destruction of Riečnica due to the reservoir’s construction ironically spurred a targeted effort to preserve and document the region’s cultural heritage. Systematic research was undertaken to record and safeguard elements of traditional folk culture. This preservation not only kept the memory of the submerged village alive but also highlighted the critical role of traditional dress and other cultural expressions in maintaining regional identity. This case study demonstrates how even the loss of a community can become a catalyst for cultural preservation, inspiring similar efforts worldwide.
Paper Short Abstract:
The object biography of a green leather jacket – once part of a police uniform, then punk fashion and finally an archive object – serves as a springboard for reflecting on textile storytelling and the power interwoven within it.
Paper Abstract:
One piece of clothing can contain a whole universe of stories. This paper focuses on the plentitude of stories written into the green leather and red lining of a jacket from the Ludwig-Uhland-Institute's Archive of Everyday Culture in Tübingen (Germany). Taking the materiality and visuality of the jacket as a starting point, the paper explores the biography of the object: while as an archival piece it tells the story of punk culture and its role within post-folklore-studies, turning the jacket inside out and unwriting it reveals its first purpose as part of a police uniform. The garment is witness to processes of appropriation and reinterpretation – of how culture is literally made, shaped, written, rewritten and unwritten through vestimentary practices. Once it symbolized the institutionalized power of the state. By willfully destroying and reshaping the jacket, the new owner came to terms with the system the garment symbolized and recoded the power inscribed in it. The paper follows the textile story-telling the jacket materializes and is an invitation to reflect on how the materiality of dress objects writes and unwrites cultural history. A particular focus is placed on the question of how we as cultural anthropologists use this narrative capacity for our own sakes and purposes: How does a jacket become a textile storyteller? How does the materiality, style and appeal of a garment turn into a mouthpiece? And how do vestimentary practices materialize power, how do they write and unwrite (hi)stories?
Paper Short Abstract:
The presentation reflects on the usage of clothes as mode of communicating competence among female employees in the Swedish energy sector. Clothing choices aimed at highlighting their status and capacity as individuals, but also visually affirmed their participation in a growing collective body of women that take on more place and a variety of roles and hierarchies in a sector wherein their presence has long been marginalised.
Paper Abstract:
The presentation is a reflection on the usage of clothes as mode of communicating competence among female employees in the Swedish energy sector. Clothing emerged as an analytical trope in our research quite unintentionally, as we did not expect to speak of ‘material’ things when it comes to career options and collective advancements. But it seems that some of our research participants could use their talk of clothing as segway into their experiences and trajectories as women in a men-dominated sector, and going through multiple stages of development in their professional roles. While previous research accentuates female students’ in STEMs pursuit of blending in, and becoming invisible, the entrance of our participants into the employment market has involved multiple rites of passage towards professional maturation and visibility. Ascendance in career trajectories and hierarchical ranks involved the acceptance, or pursuit, of increased visibility and an accentuation of however they construed their subjective difference. This ascension also involves the capacity to be able to stand in the intensity of visibility and difference, and use it as a signal of one’s capacity to take on a challenge and master it. And not only are these practices aimed at highlighting their status and capacity as individuals, but also to affirm their participation in a growing collective body of women that take on more place and a variety of roles and hierarchies in a sector wherein their presence has long been marginalised.
Paper Short Abstract:
This paper examines how personal narratives emerge and evolve through everyday clothing practices, focusing on how individuals un-write and re-write stories associated with their garments. By analyzing over 3,000 personal narratives gathered during the “Pasado de Moda: Historias de una colección” exhibition in Chile, it highlights how ordinary clothing is imbued with multiple meanings, reshaping mainstream fashion discourses and bridging dress heritage with contemporary experiences.
Paper Abstract:
Clothing, as an intimate element of daily life, carries stories that intertwine personal, social, and material dimensions. Yet, these narratives are not fixed; they evolve as individuals reimagine and reinterpret their garments, challenging and enriching dominant fashion discourses. This paper explores these processes of un-writing and re-writing clothing narratives through a participatory curatorial initiative conducted at the Museo Histórico Nacional in Chile. The “Pasado de Moda: Historias de una colección” exhibition (2022–2023) engaged visitors in reflecting about their own garments, resulting in over 3,000 written responses—an unprecedented archive of personal vestimentary narratives.
By examining this archive, the paper delves into how individuals repurpose and reinterpret garments to reflect personal identities, sociopolitical perspectives, and emotional attachments. It discusses cases of vintage garments adapted to contemporary lifestyles, upcycled clothing imbued with distinctive meanings, and everyday attire transformed into symbolic acts of care and resistance. These practices demonstrate how storytelling in dress transcends consumption, connecting individual experiences with broader cultural and material narratives.
Aligning with the panel’s focus, this paper contributes to understanding how everyday vestimentary practices reconfigure the meanings of clothing. It reflects on the mechanisms by which garments become vehicles for storytelling, both at an individual level and within museum contexts, fostering a dialogue between past and present. Ultimately, it suggests how these narratives can inspire new approaches to fashion heritage, sustainability, and curatorial practices, revealing the transformative potential of ordinary garments in shaping cultural and social discourses.
Paper Short Abstract:
If the prefabricated, designed narratives of clothes is re-written and altered by peoples vestimentary practices, then what happens once such personalised clothes are to be discarded? This paper investigates the processes and storytelling in practices concerning clothes donations for secondhand and reuse. It documents how peoples’ contradictory attitudes towards donations of ‘private’ clothes complicate the transition towards a circular economy of textile. Through ethnographic data obtained from 2024-25 in Denmark, it exemplifies how there exist, simultaniously, a narrative stressing the ‘greener good’ of donating instead of discarding clothes, while in practice this narrative is being unwritten by people’s aversions towards donating ‘personal’ clothes. Thus, the paper unfolds how the transition towards a circular economy of textile is negotiated between the moral imperative/narrative of a ‘greener good’ and sentiments of deeply personal feelings towards and identifications with one’s clothes.
Paper Abstract:
If the prefabricated, designed narratives of clothes is un-written and altered by peoples vestimentary practices, then what happens once such personalized clothes are to be discarded?
This paper investigates the processes and storytelling in practices concerning clothes donations for secondhand and reuse. It documents how peoples’ contradictory attitudes towards donations of ‘private’ clothes complicate the transition towards a circular economy of textile. Through ethnographic data obtained from 2024-25 in Denmark, it exemplifies how there exist, simultaniously, a narrative stressing the ‘greener good’ of donating instead of discarding clothes, while in practice this narrative is being unwritten by people’s aversions towards donating ‘personal’ clothes. Thus, the paper unfolds how the transition towards a circular economy of textile is negotiated between the moral imperative/narrative of a ‘greener good’ and sentiments of deeply personal feelings towards and identifications with one’s clothes.
Paper Short Abstract:
Paper explores designers' motivations and practices associated with repurposing discarded textiles, as well as social and symbolic significance of upcycling. It examines how upcycling challenges waste perceptions, fosters ecological awareness, and promotes social change.
Paper Abstract:
Global fashion industry as a major driver of consumerism, with its relentless cycle of disposable clothing, has intensified the environmental crisis fostering a throwaway culture where garments are discarded after minimal use. In recent years, a growing number of designers and consumers are turning to upcycling – repurposing, reusing or transforming discarded textiles into new, unique, creations, addressing environmental consequences of fast fashion at the same time. In upcycling, histories of discarded materials and “new lives” of upcycled clothes redefine the value of textile and make them meaningful once again on individual and social level. This research explores the transformative practices of upcycling, focusing on symbolic and social significance of both the processes and objects – refurbished garments. The study aims to (1) examine motivations, attitudes, perspectives and practices of designers committed to sustainability, and (2) situate upcycling within broader historical and sociocultural frameworks. Drawing on anthropological theories of material culture and perspectives on sustainability, this research seeks to uncover the ways in which upcycled clothing navigates the boundaries between waste and worth. The study argues that the upcycled clothes challenge societal perceptions of waste, foster ecological consciousness, and contribute to social change. Ultimately, it positions upcycling as a critical intervention in the age of mass consumption, emphasizing its role in reshaping cultural attitudes toward sustainability and resourcefulness.
Paper Short Abstract:
The paper proposes a "design pedagogy of resistance” to unwrite fashion’s consumerist narrative. Grounded in Freire and Debord, it enables students to defy the industry's unsustainable model and subvert the spectacle with design for circularity while fostering conscious engagement with clothing.
Paper Abstract:
This paper proposes a pedagogical framework for "unwriting" the fashion industry's ingrained narratives that prioritize novelty and disposability. Inspired by circular-economy-systems defined by the rigorous constraints and needs of long-duration space travel, the author aims to subvert the industry’s consumerist narratives from within the design studio. The goal is to contribute to a broader cultural shift toward ending fashion’s wasteful spectacle and reclaiming active engagement with textiles and clothing, by fostering a generation of designers who prioritize individuality, sustainability, and a more conscious relationship with apparel and textiles.
Grounding its approach in Guy Debord's "Society of the Spectacle" and Paulo Freire's critical pedagogy, this framing translates their critiques of consumer culture and overbearing educational systems into a design pedagogy that empowers students to become active agents of “unwriting” the present fashion culture. Utilizing classroom perspectives illuminates students’ evolving relationship with clothing and consumerism as they develop critical awareness of social and political realities embedded in their design choices.
Analyzing the fashion industry's role in perpetuating consumerism and environmental damage, and informed by new materialism, students engage with the materiality of clothing, going beyond the surface, critiquing consumerism, and designing for individual engagement, durability, and repair. They consider materials and their impact on production and consumption, to foster narratives of sustainability and anti-consumerism. Through active deconstruction, mending, and upcycling, they "unwrite" the illusion of disposability and expose fashion’s hidden costs. By motivating a shift towards ethical and responsible design, they challenge the industry's image of effortless style and relentless consumption.