Meta tags:
Headings (most frequently used words):
2009, december, of, november, the, blog, vintage, on, in, sb, part, about, us, with, fashion, politics, rags, to, 30, 21, 20, 19, 15, 12, 08, 07, 27, 23, 11, 09, 06, 04, 02, follow, this, bloglovin, beauty, culture, arts, theory, archives, search, our, closets, topics, keywords, you, are, her, linkage, thunderhorse, books, for, necks, fashionable, securities, grading, delaying, fuck, yeah, james, franco, starting, series, thoughtful, epigraphs, before, begin, my, own, ruminations, topic, truth, lagerfeld, idea, china, radio, silence, some, noise, film, schmatta, riches, hbo, color, mai, mighty, closet, iii, ambition, ii, machine, democracy, going, postal, style, intro, five, minutes, heaven, more,
Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (547), and (490), #fashion (172), that (150), for (114), are (102), with (92), this (76), style (61), from (59), vintage (54), about (50), you (47), blog (46), but (45), new (43), like (43), what (40), politics (39), her (36), blogs (36), have (36), bloggers (36), blogging (34), not (34), has (32), was (29), there (28), they (27), these (27), also (26), can (26), other (26), cultural (25), our (25), through (25), more (24), clothing (24), women (23), part (23), 2009 (23), their (23), some (22), who (22), because (22), all (21), asian (21), one (21), here (21), were (21), american (20), which (20), them (20), when (20), film (19), lagerfeld (19), she (19), posted (19), been (19), people (19), chanel (19), culture (18), political (18), well (18), most (18), than (18), time (17), how (17), into (17), even (17), much (16), want (16), between (16), its (16), while (16), just (16), democratization (15), research (15), both (15), threadbared (15), things (15), labels (15), industry (14), design (14), wear (14), old (14), many (14), racial (13), post (13), media (13), really (13), might (13), very (13), work (12), designer (12), york (12), consumption (12), history (12), designers (12), gender (12), good (12), clothes (12), world (12), know (12), often (12), though (12), way (12), your (12), minh (11), pham (11), december (11), democracy (11), radio (11), popular (11), does (11), before (11), now (11), those (11), internet (11), where (11), practices (11), something (11), look (11), sketchbook (10), self (10), idea (10), bodies (10), get (10), such (10), first (10), his (10), blogger (10), called (10), social (10), mass (10), would (10), rather (10), being (10), fashions (10), slanderous (10), jen (10), production (9), black (9), race (9), technologies (9), class (9), orientalism (9), color (9), november (9), material (9), two (9), studies (9), out (9), book (9), always (9), over (9), americans (9), love (9), had (9), did (9), right (9), without (9), western (9), racism (8), projects (8), labor (8), magazine (8), art (8), difference (8), writers (8), far (8), click (8), example (8), imagined (8), since (8), see (8), especially (8), make (8), stuff (8), kohgadai (8), nguyen (7), chic (7), shopping (7), high (7), body (7), show (7), beauty (7), punk (7), going (7), china (7), series (7), business (7), communication (7), capitalism (7), thrift (7), within (7), feminist (7), posts (7), become (7), don (7), featuring (7), girl (7), too (7), blogosphere (7), phenomenon (7), moment (7), own (7), least (7), forms (7), particular (7), read (7), any (7), photographs (7), historical (7), white (7), chinese (7), invasion (7), mar (7), 2007 (6), eye (6), sartorial (6), interview (6), model (6), city (6), academic (6), september (6), machine (6), rags (6), network (6), worn (6), based (6), ways (6), stores (6), point (6), public (6), seem (6), day (6), each (6), modes (6), few (6), kind (6), times (6), street (6), desire (6), produced (6), only (6), form (6), paris (6), think (6), power (6), democratic (6), inspired (6), knowledge (6), could (6), then (6), sewing (6), dress (6), dean (6), themselves (6), modern (6), return (6), shop (6), second (6), thing (6), identity (6), zines (5), violence (5), thunderhorse (5), james (5), franco (5), global (5), documentary (5), boots (5), best (5), war (5), sales (5), vogue (5), queer (5), intro (5), postal (5), iii (5), ambition (5), mai (5), mighty (5), hbo (5), fashionable (5), books (5), images (5), home (5), made (5), academics (5), san (5), shops (5), around (5), increasingly (5), discourses (5), consumerism (5), chicago (5), subcultures (5), find (5), critical (5), said (5), makes (5), why (5), course (5), wonderful (5), everyone (5), week (5), anti (5), having (5), formal (5), personal (5), report (5), aesthetic (5), recent (5), take (5), back (5), web (5), sometimes (5), woman (5), market (5), helped (5), will (5), unique (5), whose (5), image (5), men (5), longer (5), meggy (5), absence (5), past (5), shanghai (5), orient (5), goods (5), different (5), hand (5), store (5), crazy (5), mimi (4), thi (4), outfit (4), editorial (4), creative (4), blackface (4), sunday (4), sample (4), teaching (4), order (4), hair (4), counterfeit (4), ethical (4), sexuality (4), exhibit (4), theory (4), photography (4), linkage (4), hijab (4), october (4), may (4), truth (4), starting (4), thought (4), francisco (4), keen (4), writes (4), national (4), traditional (4), neoliberal (4), focusing (4), vietnamese (4), dot (4), maximumrocknroll (4), matter (4), comments (4), films (4), news (4), everything (4), presence (4), favorite (4), thus (4), say (4), academia (4), asians (4), aesthetics (4), histories (4), recently (4), cover (4), focus (4), specific (4), year (4), among (4), effects (4), consider (4), seen (4), rise (4), seems (4), three (4), begin (4), argues (4), school (4), informal (4), systems (4), readers (4), terms (4), young (4), mainstream (4), friends (4), making (4), ago (4), others (4), view (4), questions (4), indeed (4), short (4), invention (4), maintained (4), explains (4), patterns (4), punks (4), structures (4), yet (4), racist (4), massive (4), top (4), term (4), dominant (4), another (4), engage (4), lines (4), reason (4), earlier (4), during (4), female (4), hard (4), century (4), better (4), found (4), garment (4), head (4), days (4), _______________ (4), sapeurs (4), french (4), wearing (4), clear (4), boot (4), comes (4), couple (4), beha (4), try (4), whole (4), universal (4), simply (4), owners (4), skirts (4), should (4), come (4), getting (4), 2010 (3), transnational (3), shoes (3), riot (3), grrrl (3), outpunk (3), manufacturing (3), laundry (3), journal (3), iraya (3), robles (3), hipster (3), university (3), goteblud (3), economy (3), feminine (3), femininity (3), today (3), morton (3), iraq (3), 1990s (3), revolution (3), lipstickeater (3), empire (3), use (3), digital (3), civic (3), thrifting (3), presentation (3), icon (3), sartorialist (3), august (3), january (3), five (3), closet (3), schmatta (3), riches (3), silence (3), fuck (3), yeah (3), grading (3), delaying (3), archives (3), down (3), man (3), working (3), couture (3), costume (3), nerds (3), vikki (3), bubble (3), clotheshorse (3), write (3), discerning (3), organized (3), policies (3), relations (3), scholarly (3), former (3), zinester (3), published (3), commentary (3), scholars (3), artists (3), importance (3), entry (3), invited (3), videos (3), please (3), latest (3), editorials (3), wide (3), focused (3), magazines (3), apart (3), run (3), analysis (3), larger (3), sense (3), particularly (3), awesome (3), across (3), unfortunately (3), mind (3), probably (3), energy (3), place (3), feel (3), conversation (3), period (3), america (3), elsewhere (3), big (3), issue (3), none (3), features (3), check (3), tells (3), museum (3), companies (3), including (3), givhan (3), posting (3), last (3), rock (3), question (3), however (3), answer (3), education (3), family (3), crucial (3), experiences (3), skills (3), lau (3), washington (3), celebrity (3), function (3), miss (3), distinctions (3), understand (3), significant (3), commodities (3), economic (3), everyday (3), despite (3), 2006 (3), subjects (3), interested (3), 2003 (3), taken (3), discourse (3), guard (3), star (3), transformation (3), system (3), status (3), true (3), long (3), decided (3), general (3), puts (3), available (3), anyone (3), signal (3), person (3), amateur (3), fact (3), meanings (3), cross (3), open (3), share (3), easy (3), democratizing (3), ready (3), paul (3), 1960s (3), collection (3), narrative (3), misses (3), classes (3), became (3), 1930s (3), processes (3), fantasies (3), abundance (3), regard (3), hits (3), little (3), expression (3), same (3), against (3), runway (3), reality (3), professional (3), remain (3), someone (3), dressed (3), life (3), bring (3), enough (3), intellectual (3), relationship (3), male (3), periods (3), youth (3), ideal (3), reading (3), area (3), ever (3), featured (3), lot (3), mid (3), archival (3), category (3), similar (3), archive (3), jazz (3), fall (3), district (3), once (3), continues (3), looks (3), dream (3), actually (3), thoughts (3), dandies (3), brazzaville (3), reclaiming (3), sape (3), off (3), vilkeviciute (3), played (3), giabiconi (3), doesn (3), center (3), classic (3), genteel (3), seeing (3), boutique (3), won (3), doing (3), act (3), brought (3), styles (3), got (3), means (3), whatever (3), current (3), oppression (3), girlfriend (3), mountain (3), leisure (3), freedom (3), baghdad (3), davis (3), visual (2), tramp (2), shirt (2), subculture (2), speaking (2), sapeur (2), wave (2), nation (2), salon (2), jumpsuit (2), harem (2), pants (2), fabulous (2), geek (2), feminism (2), candy (2), crochet (2), cowboy (2), catherine (2), wore (2), drag (2), martha (2), television (2), secondhand (2), profiling (2), obama (2), makeover (2), handbag (2), dumb (2), capital (2), future (2), forever (2), video (2), arts (2), standardization (2), dandyism (2), masculinity (2), africa (2), blackness (2), muslim (2), topics (2), search (2), june (2), july (2), february (2), march (2), minutes (2), heaven (2), noise (2), securities (2), necks (2), sociological (2), cultures (2), racialicious (2), muslimah (2), watch (2), collective (2), girls (2), pattern (2), language (2), talk (2), institute (2), wardrobe (2), renegade (2), bean (2), rookie (2), porter (2), nothing (2), elegant (2), morning (2), footpath (2), zeitgeist (2), allure (2), follow (2), publics (2), polities (2), shaped (2), limited (2), concerned (2), complex (2), contradictory (2), outside (2), scours (2), reckless (2), abandon (2), neoliberalism (2), humanitarianism (2), columnist (2), shitworker (2), gmail (2), com (2), planet (2), older (2), interviews (2), seriously (2), dialogue (2), welcome (2), review (2), range (2), reference (2), great (2), mix (2), whether (2), care (2), acknowledge (2), ladies (2), interests (2), pretty (2), equally (2), editor (2), thuy (2), linh (2), duke (2), press (2), below (2), jobs (2), either (2), frankly (2), loose (2), jean (2), malls (2), hate (2), boys (2), photograph (2), brief (2), notes (2), stories (2), revulsion (2), pride (2), sound (2), shifting (2), programs (2), multiculturalism (2), british (2), campaigns (2), alien (2), jezebel (2), discuss (2), names (2), launched (2), timely (2), illustrated (2), london (2), talents (2), addition (2), susie (2), beginning (2), began (2), renowned (2), photographer (2), director (2), major (2), robin (2), pulitzer (2), prize (2), prevalence (2), billion (2), postcolonial (2), anticipation (2), scott (2), schuman (2), release (2), numerous (2), deserves (2), requires (2), friend (2), excerpt (2), manuscript (2), data (2), number (2), helps (2), forged (2), parents (2), worked (2), quite (2), possible (2), generation (2), tavi (2), pernet (2), suggests (2), worldwide (2), masstige (2), numbers (2), single (2), participatory (2), reader (2), promotion (2), marketing (2), several (2), surveys (2), counting (2), abandoned (2), celebrate (2), celebrities (2), critique (2), sites (2), relatively (2), small (2), impact (2), scene (2), journalists (2), meanwhile (2), turning (2), insightful (2), trend (2), cool (2), weekend (2), discovering (2), places (2), doubt (2), executives (2), andrew (2), cacophony (2), description (2), conservative (2), patriarchal (2), absorbed (2), superficial (2), study (2), done (2), perseus (2), teenage (2), uses (2), wanted (2), 2004 (2), again (2), tom (2), hollywood (2), according (2), need (2), hall (2), article (2), live (2), widely (2), shared (2), answers (2), harper (2), bazaar (2), turned (2), living (2), mutually (2), maintain (2), exemplify (2), via (2), offices (2), cafes (2), online (2), real (2), mantua (2), dressing (2), allowed (2), break (2), less (2), moments (2), include (2), middle (2), following (2), him (2), coco (2), mary (2), create (2), kmart (2), michelle (2), articulate (2), entirely (2), existing (2), capitalist (2), hierarchies (2), wider (2), instance (2), similarly (2), jodi (2), describes (2), participation (2), claims (2), inherent (2), fantasy (2), websites (2), likely (2), npr (2), program (2), extreme (2), logic (2), goes (2), consequences (2), every (2), structure (2), majority (2), almost (2), expertise (2), appear (2), opinions (2), independent (2), instead (2), large (2), recognition (2), multi (2), produce (2), promise (2), foucault (2), constitute (2), cosmopolitan (2), context (2), outsider (2), insider (2), privilege (2), accessible (2), familiar (2), operates (2), divisions (2), legitimate (2), blurred (2), retail (2), firms (2), 000 (2), play (2), role (2), demonstrate (2), praxis (2), feelings (2), sociality (2), subject (2), actual (2), agree (2), insignificant (2), disenfranchised (2), etc (2), relation (2), believe (2), struggle (2), pleasure (2), romance (2), lay (2), claim (2), workers (2), itself (2), immensely (2), pleasures (2), difficult (2), 60s (2), dresses (2), demand (2), maggie (2), mason (2), after (2), multiple (2), leather (2), belts (2), photos (2), appreciate (2), wang (2), jenny (2), figures (2), imaginary (2), inspiration (2), advertising (2), feels (2), visible (2), imagine (2), stop (2), looking (2), african (2), sounds (2), lots (2), etsy (2), noticed (2), decision (2), 1950s (2), set (2), increased (2), suffering (2), cold (2), internets (2), tea (2), ponders (2), possibly (2), muse (2), offers (2), apparent (2), next (2), covers (2), months (2), george (2), amponsah (2), spender (2), chang (2), sought (2), define (2), representation (2), gesture (2), bling (2), hip (2), hop (2), projection (2), youths (2), able (2), modernity (2), lower (2), rest (2), faces (2), entire (2), evolution (2), pre (2), minute (2), screen (2), silent (2), playing (2), mao (2), character (2), jacket (2), soon (2), stone (2), yellowface (2), performances (2), reproduce (2), racially (2), marked (2), calls (2), meaning (2), memories (2), european (2), markets (2), orientalist (2), includes (2), oriental (2), otherness (2), note (2), integral (2), display (2), practice (2), blackfacing (2), yellowfacing (2), shows (2), overt (2), multiculturalists (2), prashad (2), japanese (2), cho (2), contrasting (2), personality (2), experience (2), merely (2), moscow (2), topic (2), hopefully (2), normal (2), enjoy (2), era (2), feeling (2), items (2), exactly (2), thinking (2), retro (2), creativity (2), happens (2), garments (2), styled (2), buy (2), carefully (2), fossick (2), individual (2), mine (2), mel (2), coherent (2), hold (2), individuation (2), specialized (2), ____________________ (2), hemlines (2), symbol (2), skinny (2), jeans (2), didn (2), symbols (2), wiggle (2), feminists (2), oppressive (2), initial (2), trumpeter (2), papers (2), semester (2), breasts (2), wrench (2), side (2), toward (2), simple (2), islamic (2), identical (2), majors (2), complete (2), 103 (2), challenging (2), completely (2), went (2), came (2), trade (2), fair (2), town (2), else (2), height (2), wasn (2), collecting (2), crap (2), amazing (2), pick (2), express (2), laugh (2), started (2), perform (2), buffalo (2), exchange (2), weird (2), resources (2), discussion (2), skip (2), contents, copyrighted, yoko, ono, vivenne, westwood, veiling, value, unicorn, trench, coat, transational, tina, chow, joy, ride, sweats, police, sorority, sneaker, slaves, sick, service, sentimentality, esteem, sculpture, science, romper, refugee, referentiality, recessionista, recession, publication, prison, pillowig, patina, panties, pachuca, outlaw, prep, nostalgia, normativity, nail, monumenta, minstrelsy, militancy, memory, memorial, meme, manicure, mammy, liberalism, lederhosen, lawsuit, joo, youn, paek, peterman, industrial, humor, heels, harvard, handmade, girlhood, ghetto, food, narcissism, environmental, justice, emma, tarlo, elitism, crafts, compton, cookout, cleavage, classism, chritian, boltanski, ramirez, bras, branding, border, dysmorphia, athletes, arjun, appadurai, appearance, policy, apparel, alice, bag, yinka, shonibare, venus, williams, uniqlo, south, sotomayor, rupaul, phillip, lim, persian, carpet, pee, wee, herman, neocolonialism, ngo, mentor, mexico, martin, margiela, webber, marc, jacobs, los, angeles, italia, isabel, molina, guzman, givenchy, elaine, showalter, ebony, daphne, guinness, clinton, chloe, angela, mcrobbie, sale, knockoffs, immigration, health, quotes, disability, dignity, colonialism, beth, ditto, classics, asianness, uniform, textile, music, menswear, lifestyle, individualization, philanthropy, copyright, commodification, topshop, spring, iran, france, morality, cheap, nylon, minoo, moallem, homelessness, fat, burqa, keywords, closets, 2008, april, sit, bloody, tragedy, centre, gash, fashioning, engines, adjustment, selection, berg, publishers, nunu, grey, sweatsuit, slice, harvester, communicator, grand, obsessive, lttr, kathleen, hanna, night, dancing, musicking, hacking, frock, cinema, merchandising, exactitudes, bitch, auto, straddle, tights, remix, thread, cut, coveted, selvedge, pour, nypl, coil, kingdom, midnight, fatshionista, fashionist, intelligentsia, incubator, bits, bobbins, garconniere, bloglovin, teach, speak, situating, subscribe, atom, newer, reviews, considers, taking, manufacture, disseminate, queries, relating, talks, commissioned, essays, email, fan, updates, commenting, appeared, outlets, nice, stylish, brainiacs, rush, limbaugh, nfl, sports, prove, manliness, smartest, exuberance, takes, oft, ignored, forces, mediate, junior, faculty, spot, representations, bananas, fiancé, list, totally, pomo, situates, emphasis, speaks, forums, country, addresses, updated, spare, monitor, respond, shouldn, expend, line, comment, rundown, representative, guilty, policing, background, pant, headscarf, billie, madras, brings, yard, unreliable, tell, sneakers, borders, picturing, citizenship, multinational, encounters, collaborators, rejectionist, atoms, arranged, scientists, hua, hsu, atlantic, twitter, facebook, evolving, collaboration, theories, opened, thematically, lushly, quarterly, addressed, established, emerging, illustration, publishing, interviewed, stanley, kowalski, blanche, dubois, date, wondered, seemed, prolific, historian, technology, fixture, regular, staff, winner, australia, asia, continent, 2100, languages, escape, notice, ruminated, privately, informally, trends, problems, moralism, colonial, divergent, impassioned, philosophies, opportune, weeks, levels, tour, concert, pitch, namely, print, version, inaugural, double, lists, compiled, giants, peer, fashionhippo, explore, complicated, surely, super, smart, colleague, incidence, forthcoming, persuasively, embedded, broader, migration, incisively, quantitative, ethnographic, disproportionately, defining, contextualize, roots, routes, effort, situate, appropriately, state, enable, pursue, entrepreneurial, profits, connections, lacking, rely, paths, acquisition, networking, knowledges, passed, handed, lowest, rungs, fostered, ease, familiarity, craft, experiment, beautiful, sun, telegraph, wall, tribune, veteran, gevinson, valerie, steele, diane, streetcar, named, estimate, 100, million, tiniest, fraction, dedicated, luxury, indie, eco, estimates, precise, accepted, definition, referential, link, trackbacks, commercial, devices, information, clearinghouses, restricted, registered, users, incorporate, qualities, usually, host, blogspot, livejournal, accidentally, spam, splogs, account, classificatory, unclear, interchangeably, purposes, genres, overlapping, recognize, criticize, mode, expressed, circulated, undeniable, clearly, incorporation, credentialed, received, invitations, embraced, hiring, photographers, illustrious, led, reigning, queen, recruited, commissioning, forecasters, aggregators, unofficial, promoters, company, iconic, stresses, obligation, reportage, along, criminal, unspoken, contract, institution, lends, credibility, garners, inexpensive, tyler, laswell, disparage, perspective, sloppy, facts, leads, blame, transforming, hints, detractors, denigrate, practitioners, embodying, seriousness, purpose, sensibility, rational, directedness, perceived, masculinist, indicators, intelligence, proper, journalistic, gossipy, silly, development, firm, maker, software, diminishes, import, describing, typical, written, twice, month, update, snide, dismissal, demonstrates, blatant, disregard, 2002, forced, trent, lott, task, praising, strom, thurmond, segregationist, politicians, forgive, forget, transform, air, documents, rathergate, gossip, credit, credited, demise, cruise, altogether, curmudgeonry, case, quo, maintenance, reactionaries, stick, keep, plugging, feed, hungry, beast, revolutionaries, hurtling, legal, financial, barriers, protected, armed, technological, sophistication, positive, citizen, argue, reflect, criticism, winning, writer, weblog, enabled, echoes, grashina, gabelmann, democratized, computer, instantly, interpretation, uniquely, radical, jump, average, estranged, ownership, cult, exhibitionism, sad, immediate, satisfaction, nobody, wants, wait, editors, truly, homework, dazed, esquire, elle, eighty, static, pages, 800, vary, operate, horizontal, distributed, categories, constitutive, dialectic, typically, linkages, blogrolls, dialogic, nature, benefited, collaborative, capacity, virtual, centers, hosting, podcast, webcast, journals, colleagues, sitting, rooms, airports, hundreds, miles, communications, easier, constructive, frenzied, meetings, interactions, departments, classrooms, annual, association, conferences, emerged, unstable, fits, bursts, inception, 1675, popularization, manteau, fitting, housedress, inaugurated, sumptuary, laws, centuries, secured, dictating, joan, dejean, meant, absolute, marker, glance, belonged, spectrum, mechanical, standardized, facilitated, introduction, pret, charles, fredrick, worth, father, haute, prestigious, jeanne, paquin, poiret, madeleine, vionnet, quant, miniskirt, incorporated, low, sensitibilities, dancers, designs, ethos, hippies, neo, cyber, 1970s, 1980s, leaked, yves, saint, laurent, partnerships, teams, retailer, jaclyn, smith, 1985, stewart, 1997, randolph, 1998, mossimo, target, 2000, recognized, preference, emergent, institutionalize, overly, celebratory, uncritical, explanation, configurations, tendency, invest, revolutionary, potential, obscures, integrated, profit, giant, corporations, elite, continue, strengthen, classed, tastes, common, household, celebrated, communicated, audience, sexist, views, xenophobic, ideas, ethnic, minorities, puns, insults, wordplay, susan, douglas, left, celebration, scientist, communicative, related, animating, wholeness, fundamental, validate, occlude, works, weblogs, ones, searches, problem
Text of the page (random words):
ve in the importance of their contributions presuming that there are readers for their blogs and that this communication makes a difference when in fact such practices though pleasurable displace political energy from the hard work of organizing and struggle while dean believes that pleasure and politics are mutually exclusive nan enstad s fabulous study of the ways in which 19th century working women used cultural practices like dressing fashionably and reading romance novels to lay claim to dignified identities as workers and to claim formal political status is exemplary of how cultural practices and political praxis have long been intertwined blogging about fashion and style like fashion itself can be and absolutely has been for us an immensely joyful endeavor because we get to think about fashion and engage with both academic and nonacademic linkers and thinkers across the globe whose intellectual curiosities fuel ours these pleasures and cultural practices are not insignificant even while they are circumscribed and clipped by the hierarchical and capitalist structures of the internet outlined by dean the question may not be whether blogging and the internet is democratic but rather how have fashion style bloggers even within difficult and anti democratic conditions produced meanings and practices about political action self construction material and immaterial consumption in a context of global neoliberal capitalism and the politics of sociality that change or clarify dominant systems of race gender sexuality and class return to on the fashion style blog intro return to of sb part i going postal return to of sb part ii blog in the machine of democracy posted by minh ha t pham at 10 25 am labels politics of blogging of sb part ii blog in the machine of democracy while the form function and meanings of blogs vary widely most operate through horizontal communication or what is sometimes called distributed conversation between bloggers and readers indeed these categories are mutually constitutive rather than dialectic bloggers read other blogs and readers typically have their own blogs or are inspired to begin them in short time reader commentary linkages blogrolls and cross posts maintain the open participatory and dialogic nature of blogging that for many exemplify the internet s democratization of knowledge and communication in our other world of academia we have seen and benefited from the collaborative capacity of blogs as virtual research centers hosting renowned scholars via podcast and webcast as well as digital and public research journals where colleagues can share and discuss new research while sitting in offices living rooms airports and cafes hundreds of miles apart from each other such online scholarly communications can sometimes be much easier to maintain and more constructive than the real and often frenzied meetings and interactions we have within our departments our classrooms or at our annual association conferences in fashion democratization has emerged in unstable fits and bursts since its inception in 1675 the invention and popularization of the manteau or mantua a loose fitting housedress inaugurated the sartorial trend of dressing down which allowed women to break with sumptuary laws that had for centuries maintained and secured class distinctions by dictating who could wear what as joan dejean explains in her book the essence of style the mantua meant that for the first time a woman s outfit did not function as an absolute class marker from then on it was far less easy to know at a glance who belonged where on the social spectrum other democratizing moments in fashion include the invention of the mechanical sewing machine and standardized dress patterns that facilitated the production of clothes for middle class women s mass consumption the introduction of pret a porter fashion or ready to wear clothing by charles fredrick worth the father of haute couture and following him prestigious designers such as jeanne paquin paul poiret madeleine vionnet and coco chanel mary quant s invention of the miniskirt in the 1960s that incorporated the low aesthetic sensitibilities of go go dancers into high fashion designs produced for mass consumption as well as the anti fashion ethos of hippies punks neo punks and cyber punks in the 1970s and 1980s that leaked into fashion s mainstream through designers like yves saint laurent so called masstige partnerships in which a celebrity or celebrity designer teams up with a mass market retailer to create a designer collection like jaclyn smith for kmart 1985 martha stewart for kmart 1997 randolph duke for the home shopping network 1998 and mossimo for target 2000 are also recognized as significant moments in the democratization of fashion and design michelle obama s preference for emergent designers and mass market fashion has helped to institutionalize the narrative of fashion s democratization most recently too often though the democratization narrative is an overly celebratory and uncritical explanation of the social and economic configurations and effects of new media forms the tendency to invest new technologies with revolutionary potential and to articulate them in the language of democracy obscures and sometimes entirely misses the ways in which these technologies are integrated into existing capitalist and cultural structures for the profit of giant corporations and elite classes and as such can continue or even strengthen racial gender and classed hierarchies of aesthetics tastes and knowledge for example when the radio became a common american household good in the 1930s people celebrated radio s democratization of communication yet much of what was being communicated through the radio to a now much wider audience were sexist and patriarchal views of women and racist and xenophobic ideas about ethnic and racial minorities consider for instance the puns insults and wordplay in popular radio programs like the burns and allen show for more on the history of radio see susan j douglas book listening in radio and the american imagination similarly what is left out in the celebration of fashion style blogging as a democratizing phenomenon are the processes of what political scientist jodi dean describes as communicative capitalism and its related animating fantasies of abundance participation and wholeness such fantasies all fundamental to the discourses that articulate and validate claims of democratization with regard to blogging in particular and the internet in general occlude or cover up the anti democratic processes are inherent to internet network structures for example the fantasy of abundance is the idea that everything you want to know is out there on the internet but the way the internet works is that only the most popular websites and weblogs the ones that get the most hits are likely to show up in web searches the problem with this structuring of the internet as dean explains on the npr radio program against the grain is w hatever view is the most extreme o rte newest at one time among the abundance that will be what seems to matter that s a logic of capitalism not democracy she goes on each little specific voice is drowned in the massive flow of commercialized data so that the underside of massive expression is the devaluation of any specific view one of the consequences then of democratization by popularity rather than by equitability is the concentration of the same websites and blogs in the top 3 5 results of every web search rather than a rhizomatic structure where any one point is likely to be reached as any other dean asserts what we have on the web are situations of massive inequality massive differentials of scales where some nodes get tons of hits and the vast majority get almost none the very structure of communication networks goes against democracy an article posted on the website the business of fashion expresses just this concern about the homogeneous content and message of so many blogs are these bloggers really offering any unique expertise or vantage point that adds to the fashion dialogue some though not all of these bloggers appear to be more focused on themselves and on the celebrities in the front row than on the fashions on the runway unique opinions are few and far between in this way blogs are not entirely the independent space of knowledge production and equal access imagined by the term democratization instead they exemplify the integration and saturation of dominant culture into the private spaces of home offices bedrooms and neighborhood cafes from whence bloggers post and read another anti democratic reality of fashion blogging and to a lesser degree style blogging is the fact that a large majority of bloggers post about major fashion events and prominent designers without receiving any compensation or professional recognition from the multi billion dollar global fashion industry whose material and cultural power it helps to secure bloggers produce free labor for the fashion industry without any material benefit and often at a personally absorbed cost of time and energy to themselves but fashion and blogging and blogging about fashion remain popular activities because they both contain and promise the allure of transformation through the care and management of one s body and one s image it is in this way that fashion and fashion blogging are technologies of the self a term foucault uses to describe the everyday processes and practices that individuals engage in to constitute themselves as particular kinds of subjects here fashionable cosmopolitan modern innovative and attractive subjects fashion and blogging are especially appealing technologies of the self because of their democratizing promise that anyone but especially women in the context of fashion can be someone that a fashion outsider can be a fashion insider and that prestige and privilege are available to and accessible by everyone we see this discourse operating in the now all too familiar narrative of the awkward but eccentrically dressed geek turned star blogger these technologies foucault tells us are interlinked with the control and governmentalization of bodies within dominant systems of power like capitalism which operates through commodity accumulation and the desire for the good life which commodities are imagined to bring enough of this gloom and doom read of sb part iii blog ambition for what s wonderful in and about the fashion and style blogosphere return to on the fashion style blog intro return to of sb part i going postal posted by minh ha t pham at 10 05 am labels democratization of fashion politics of blogging 04 november 2009 of sb part i going postal one estimate suggests that there are 100 million blogs worldwide the tiniest fraction of these blogs about 800 are dedicated to celebrity street couture luxury indie mass produced masstige vintage and eco fashion and style but these are only estimates there are no precise numbers because there s no single accepted definition of the form and function of blogs blogs might be personal informal public referential and participatory through link trackbacks and reader commentary or they might be commercial devices of promotion and marketing and information clearinghouses that are restricted to registered users or they might incorporate several of these qualities also surveys of blogs usually miss those that don t use host systems like blogspot or livejournal while accidentally counting abandoned blogs as many as 45 of blogs are static abandoned web pages and spam blogs so called splogs account for about 9 of the blogosphere classificatory distinctions between fashion blogs and style blogs are also unclear many bloggers and readers use the terms interchangeably for our purposes we understand these genres as overlapping but also recognize that there are significant distinctions between their focus and form fashion blogs report on and often celebrate fashion commodities the fashion industry and fashion celebrities style blogs celebrate critique and at times criticize the aesthetic cultural political and economic style or mode by which fashion forms are produced expressed and circulated across a wide range of industry and everyday sites despite the relatively small number of fashion style blogs their impact on the fashion scene is undeniable this is illustrated most clearly in the incorporation of bloggers into the fashion industry today many bloggers are also credentialed journalists eighty bloggers received invitations for new york fashion week in september 2009 up from 40 in 2006 the fashion press has also embraced bloggers featuring them as editorial subjects i e harper s bazaar september 2007 elle uk september 2009 sketchbook october 2009 as well as hiring them as photographers and writers schuman s illustrious blog the sartorialist has led to numerous jobs for gq and esquire for example and the reigning queen of the fashion blogosphere lau was recruited by dazed digital to be their commissioning editor meanwhile fashion and design companies are turning more and more to bloggers as insightful and discerning trend forecasters cool aggregators and unofficial promoters in 2007 the chanel company invited 12 bloggers to paris for a weekend of discovering the history and iconic places of chanel lau stresses on her blog that there was no obligation to do blog reportage but for me along with most of the bloggers i think it would have been criminal not to blog about the wonderful experiences we had no doubt the executives at chanel were counting on this unspoken social contract young and popular bloggers posting about this institution of fashion both lends chanel hipster credibility as well as garners relatively inexpensive and global marketing some like tyler laswell disparage the fashion style blogging phenomenon it s really sad that the fashion business has turned into a world of bloggers everyone has become so taken up with living in a world of immediate satisfaction nobody wants to wait for the beauty in the magazines where the editors truly do their homework and fact check everything the perspective that bloggers are sloppy with the facts and are more interested in self promotion and mass exhibitionism leads andrew keen to blame bloggers for transforming culture into cacophony in his book the cult of the amateur keen s description of blogging as cacophony hints at the conservative gender politics of blogging detractors denigrate blogging and their practitioners for not embodying the seriousness of purpose sensibility and rational self directedness that are perceived by the patriarchal and masculinist mainstream to be indicators of intelligence and proper forms of journalistic work that is to say bloggers imagined as self absorbed gossipy and superficial are silly because they are feminine a 2003 study done by perseus development a research firm and maker of software for surveys diminishes the cu...
|
