Parts I found interesting:
"According to social learning theory, behavior is first learnt by the process of imitation, and is internalized through identification (Bandura 1977). Whereas imitation involves the acquisition of specific behaviors, identification involves the generalized adoption of not only the behavior, but also the beliefs, values, attitudes, etc. of significant others, for example parents. These processes continue into adulthood and fuel group dynamics."
(Analysis)
This is an interesting point, the process of taking in information and relating or self identifying with it. From a fashion point of view, I doubt anyone would wear something they didn't like or don't agree with. This concept I feel like can be applied to the relationship player has with playable characters or their avatars. To the player, a character is like a clothing that they can wear which in turn becomes their method of communicating with game world and in turn the character/ avatar can communicate with them.
"Since beliefs are inferred from behavior, the corollary of this process is that we choose to identify with those whose behavior appears similar to ours. This is particularly true of appearance aspects of behavior, since these represent our first assessment of others. There is evidence that we are attracted to those who look similar to ourselves (Stone 1965), and Berscheid and Walster (1974) demonstrated that we select partners who are at a similar level of attractiveness."
(Analysis)
This implies that fashion is a form of communication. There is am interesting connection with art as how it's often describe as a way of communicating with people and fashion, being a sub-category of art, also inherited this. Fashion, in one instance, tries to convey the "self" to others.
"Closely related to this need for identification is the concept of conformity, which leads us to alter both behavior and beliefs in response to perceived group pressure (Asch 1956). Both identification and conformity involve the internalization of group beliefs and attitudes, and it is not surprising that we feel pressure to conform in our clothing choice (Gurel et al. 1972). Snyder and Fromkin (1980) have pointed out that similarity in clothing lends cohesiveness within a group by uniting the members and segregating them from others, and conformity in dress is certainly conducive to group acceptance (Creekmore 1980). One of the functions of fashion, then, may be to cement that sense of cohesiveness."
(Analysis)
The need to feel like we belong in a group is something that is understandable. This can be seen throughout different culture and religions or even everyday society. For example, the turquoise trousers and shirt are very indicative of nurses.
"Alongside our need to belong is the equally powerful need to see ourselves as unique; this is the concept of differentiation. The feeling of being unique supports our sense of self, and the fact that physically we are unique reinforces that feeling. Body awareness provides a focus for differentiation, and the need to maintain uniqueness translates into our feelings about clothes."
(Analysis)
This is something that can be seen everyday from the people in society. But more so in a situation where a common outfit must be worn e.g school uniform. Common differentiation between how different uniform can be worn are:
Length of skirt
Length of ties
Shirt sleeves / short or long/ rolled up or not
Blazer button up or not
"It is suggested that this is a result of faster and more global communication; it may also be a function of the increased need for individualism."
(Analysis)
With access to a wider resource of information and different communities, more ideas are transferred quickly allowing people a greater range of ideas to identified with.
"It is apparent that both body image and clothing operate within the same psychological framework, and that this is related to self-awareness. This awareness is largely unconscious, and therefore so is its communication. Communication of the self, it must be remembered, is both internal, concerned with self-understanding, and external, related to our interaction with others."
"In playing with the boundary, fashion appears to be focusing on its internal/external aspects. This may be because fashion’s function is to overlay the real body with the ideal. The designs of Vivienne Westwood, for example, which appear to reveal the body, are in fact carefully constructed to create what for her is the ideal of an hourglass figure; the real body is artfully concealed. The reveal/conceal aspect is a distinctive theme in fashion. Westwood’s cut, Hervé Leger’s bandage-like stitching, St Laurent’s draping and use of transparent fabric, are all examples of devices that apparently reveal but in reality conceal. Conversely, devices that seem to conceal may be used to reveal. "
(Analysis)
Fashion, is a lens or a method to bring our ideals or concepts of ourselves closer to reality.
"Conclusion
Fashion’s relation to the body appears to be rooted in the ambivalence of both. This ambivalence derives from complex sources of conflict both within the individual and in society. While it is difficult to disentangle the sources of ambivalence, it is nevertheless possible to identify factors inherent in its development, and the following points can be made.
The communication of the self through the interaction of body and clothing occurs as a result of the juxtaposition of various body/clothing elements. Together these elements create a complex and ambiguous message.
The body is experienced as part of the process of selfing, and is also an outward expression of that self. Fashion, in addressing the ambiguities resulting from internal conflict, communicates both aspects of the self.
The presentation of the self through body and clothing is subject to the opposing social-psychological drives of identification and differentiation. The ambivalence engendered by their conflict drives fashion change.
Ambivalence, both within the individual, and in the individual’s interaction with society, appears to be central to the body-clothing-fashion experience. 318 Anne Boultwood and Robert Jerrard
In clothing the body, the individual attempts to create the ideal body: an ideal that both expresses the embodied self and aspires to the cultural ideal. Fashion operates at the level of the latter.
Body and clothing appear to operate together to delineate the self; in so doing they form an interface that is manipulated by fashion, possibly to achieve the ideal."
My Thoughts:
Fashion is a good social tool to interact with others and yourself. Being able to bring ones' ideal closer to reality. In the context of games and character designs, characters can be designed with fashion in mind and how it communicates with the player and how best different ideas are consolidated in the design. Furthermore, games allows an even greater decree of control over self customization as the body can be changed as well.