Detail View: Graduate Thesis Collection: Metamorphosis: Construction of Social Identity through Fashion and Clothing

Metamorphosis: Construction of Social Identity through Fashion and Clothing

Dixon, Walter Joseph

Thesis (M.F.A.) -- Fashion

Savannah College of Art and Design -- Department of Fashion

Copyright is retained by the authors or artists of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

"In post-modern societies, clothes are exposed to the prevalent public discussion that expresses a wearer’s ideological position including: personal opinion of the zeitgeist, values, social class, and social identity; however, the clothing’s principal messages are about ways in which others perceive the wearer’s social roles or their expected roles based on outside perception. Clothes can be a dialogue between an individual and society about how society may perceive the individual as a cultural ideal image or as a desirable, or undesirable, statement. An individual that identifies as LGBTQ goes through the 'coming out' process sometime in their life, which can be compared to the biological process of metamorphosis. Metamorphosis is a physical and chemical process involving a dramatic change in an insect’s body structure to become a completely new creature. The insect’s transformation can be compared to a human life and the process by which an individual alters their socially ascribed status and develops their identity. Based on the Cass Identity Model by Vivienne Cass, the different stages of identity formation takes place as a LGBTQ individual interacts with society and their surrounding environments (Cass, 1979). At each stage of the identity formation process, clothing and appearance are also used by the LGBTQ individual to bolster a sense of self when some aspects seem incomplete (Wicklund & Gollwitzer, 1982). Development of prototypes and final garments for a gender neutral Autumn and Winter collection will use the various metamorphosis stages of the butterfly as the key visual concept. The desired outcome for this collection would be a line of clothing that would fill the gap for effeminate male or male-identifying members of the LGBTQ community."

Keywords: metamorphosis, clothing, psychology, androgyny, identity, fashion

Savannah, Georgia : Savannah College of Art and Design (Atlanta)

2016-06

PDF : 56 pages, illustrations (chiefly color)