The similarities and differences in the uses of nostalgia in film and fashion. Focusing on the influence film has on fashion and its representation of women.
This dissertation investigates the similarities and differences in the uses of nostalgia within film, fashion and its influence on brands. Studying brands constant influence from nostalgia, with “Brands have begun keying into the nostalgic longing customers possess, recognizing ‘the value of nostalgia in advertising, as a way of convincing customers to part with their hard-earned cash” (Harvey 2017). Through the use of nostalgia brands create a sense of reliability and comfort in their products. In turn influencing the customer to invest in the brand. Recent studies have suggested consumers purchase the products to gain an immediate return in the joy of the memory it provides. (Harvey 2017). This has therefore caused brands to notice that nostalgia in marketing helps build a relationship with the customer. Furthermore, the influence of film on fashion will be explored, “cinema and fashion have always had a synergetic relationship, both using the technology of the camera and that of the body and performance. Costume is integral both to the actor’s performance and to the whole cinematic rendition of visual narratives and experience.”(Paulicelli, Drake ,Wallenberg p8 2017)) The use of costume within film helps narrate the story, thus showing how important fashion and clothing is within film. Fashion and film rely on each other, with film promoting different trends and helping to revive past fashions. This can be seen with TV Shows such as Madmen which has caused a huge climb in the desire for the 1960s style. Fashion and film both use nostalgia to attract the customer or audience, the use of clothing to tell a story can be seen within the movie the Stepford Wives, with the working strong minded housewives first appearing in ‘boyish’ attire, then transforming into feminine housewives with inspiration from Dior’s New Look present. The ‘theatrical show ‘created on the catwalk will also be examined, studying designers such as Orla Kiely and Chanel, transforming the catwalk into supermarkets showing the strong correlation between fashion and the influence of film such as The Stepford Wives. Through studying both fashion and films use of nostalgia, the nostalgia for the domestic housewife is evident. This ever-present housewife can be seen throughout “popular advertising and fashion imagery: the familiar 1940s or 1950s “vintage” woman or housewife,” (Bibby L) Questioning if the liberation and progress of females place in society is being shown through fashion and film. Furthermore, examining the uses of the 1950s housewife within fashion and if this is detrimental to the progress of women’s representation in fashion and film. Designers such as Orla Kiely and her inspiration for the domestic chic collections are explored, As stated to the Fashion Telegraph “My inspiration has always been midcentury. I love the way the women dress in all the Kitchen Sink dramas, and films such as Rosemary’s Baby and Barefoot in the Park,” she told fashion.telegraph.co.uk (TYZACK 2013). This not only supports the statement that nostalgia si a source of inspiration for designers but also film, drawing inspiration from the 1950s and 1960s costumes featured in film and translating them into fashion statements. Finally, this dissertation will focus on brands such as Laura Ashley and Cath Kidston who have created their image using nostalgia and the traditional image of the 1950s housewife. Exploring the ways this domesticated image can show the huge stride women have taken, rather than showing females to be oppressed by this position in the home. Through women now having a choice to be a ‘housewife’ are there still oppressive connotations with the name. Within the blogging industry the exaggerated aesthetic of femininity is displayed, however this representation of 1950s housewives are not showing the ‘real lives’ from the time. (Bibby.L) The idea of the housewife is romanticized. The works of Emily Matchar will be studied throughout, with Matchar believing the term housewife has evolved from the derogatory, downgrading term fromt the 1970s to a stylish desired label that many women desire from “the seventies, eighties and nineties, it’s now dirty in the good sense, electric with the shivery delight of taboo-breaking”(Matchar 2015)
‘Nostalgia is a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past’
Nostalgia is a key selling point for many different brands as nostalgia gives us a sense of comfort. “Research shows that nostalgia gives our lives a sense of continuity and meaning as we get older” Brands have begun keying into the nostalgic longing customers possess, recognizing “the value of nostalgia in advertising, as a way of convincing customers to part with their hard-earned cash” (Harvey 2017). The definition for Nostalgia is a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past. The purchasing behavior of the customer can be largely influenced by the customer looking to enhance their mood, “brands can positively stimulate this mood by evoking nostalgic memories.”(Dyck 2014) Customers are searching for “a more authentic, meaningful life in an economically and environmentally uncertain world”, (Matchar 2015 p 3) seeking comfort in the products and clothing purchased. Through the use of nostalgia both fashion and film are creating a connection with their customer or audience. This therefore influences the customer to purchase the product as it will aid in adding meaning to life. This is particularly affective in the present time as so many aspects of society are unstable people seek security in what they know and understand.
The use of nostalgia helps a brand enable the customer to fall in love, as Picard states “Everything we do is designed to make people fall in love with our brand. All the trimmings of our industry – the shows, the advertising the celebrities, the media coverage” (M.Tungate 2014). Nostalgia has associated itself in fashion with ‘Fashionable twenty somethings walk around looking like they popped out of a cosmic wormhole from the 1963 or 1944 or 1922, or even 1890’. (Matchar p. 2 2015) The current highstreets is taking inspiration from all eras, creating a hybrid era from “A-line dresses, dotted-swiss aprons, prairie skirts”.(Matchar 2015) With A-line dresses, dotted swiss aprons and prairie skirts all generating nostalgic memories of the domestic housewife.
A cause for nostalgias growing popularity is the dematerialization in products in society. .’This effort to compensate for dematerialization also takes place on other levels of society: in daily life, we often see the return of past values embodied objects, for example in the clothing of those fashion phenomena known as ‘hipsters’ (Neiyemer 2014 pg44) Young teens and adults like to wear vintage clothing with a meaning and story to them. With an intrigue into their parent’s past, giving a “value of coolness its music, its clothes and its accessories”. Through this vintage phenomenon brands are adopting this aesthetic for the clothing and giving a new life to past trends and garments. Big brands such as Nike and Pepsi are reusing vintage designs and logos from previous years, “announcing them as throwback or retro” items. Along with fashion, shows and movies are also applying “old design features and strategies to tickle the nostalgic nerves of their watchers.” (Harvey 2017). From fashion to film, nostalgia is being used as a key selling point to attract customers and create an emotional connection with their audience. Brands know how important nostalgia and a ‘story’ are to customers, so much so brands create a history for themselves. Through creating a history to the brand, the customer gains a sense of comfort, as familiarity and reliability is generated. As Van Dyck states ‘In the eyes of the consumer, the history of a brand – even if it has disappeared from the scene for a time (like the Mini Cooper) or even if the history is ‘fake’ (like Hollister) – represents a kind of reliability. These nostalgic brands evoke various associations and each association has its own emotional connection. In this way, there is potential for the more effective registration and even activation of brand information.” (Dyck 2014)
A recent study looking into consumer behavior researched into the ways and affects nostalgia has on the customer. Through this study the researchers identified ‘hope’ as a stimulating element for the positive moods created by nostalgic brands. “Hope is a positive attitude, an expectation that something good will happen, even though that something is uncertain and lies in the future. In conclusion the study showed through association nostalgic brands can influence the moods of customers. Many brands have grasped this point represented within nostalgic advertising campaigns “that encourage the consumer to escape from their negative moods by returning to the better times of the past, even if only in their imaginations.” (Dyck 2014) Nostalgia provides a route of escapism to customers, allowing them to delve into their past memories. Escaping the stresses of modern-day society and seeking comfort in the naïve memories of the past.
Designers are increasingly inspired by the past, “drawn to nostalgic aesthetics in order to recreate the sensation of ‘the new’ and reconstruct a romanticized vision of a past rich in meaning, narrative and authenticity” ( Arnold 2017 p50) . As the desire for nostalgia grows major fashion companies are using the trend to sell products “From iconic fashion brands like Vivienne Westwood to famous fast food restaurants, there seems to be room for nostalgia in every industry vertical” {Harvey 2017} Westwood is affiliated with nostalgia, as stated nostalgia is “the return of: vintage brands”, especially that of “that high priestess of punk Vivienne Westwood.”(Illbruck 2014) Vivienne Westwood continues to merge the past with the future keying into the nostalgia customers possess. “Many threads of nostalgia reappear within Vivienne Westwood’s historicism; through her motifs and silhouettes, she finds meaning for today in the clothes of yesteryear.’”(Mclaws 2017) Vivienne Westwood’s use of nostalgia is her unique selling point, stating “We are the past. Where do you get your ideas from, if not from the past?’ through drawing inspiration from the past Westwood creates an alternate reality in which the customer feels a sense of security and comfort in the past. Westwood manages to keep nostalgia relevant through merging it with the present, as Helmut Illbruck states ‘nostalgia can survive and transform itself even into the postmodern”(Illbruck 2014)
https://blog.viviennewestwood.com/history/1988-1992/
Within the above image the accentuation of the female figure can be seen, this is a key characteristic seen within past trends where the hourglass female figure is enhanced with the use of corsets and accessories. The corset is one of the most iconic pieces ‘borrowed’ from history. Transforming corsets into daywear, then further turning them into outerwear. The collections that featured these included the Harris Tweed (Autumn/Winter 1987 – 88) and Time Machine (Autumn/Winter 1988 – 89). (V&A A taste for the past Anon) Although Westwood can be seen to be enhancing the female figure it was not intended to be degrading instead her intentions were to empower women. “Vivienne Westwood’s popularizing of the basque in the 1980s – an outwear garment based on an underwear style from 200 years prior – as a powerful female call-to-arms, of women ironically re-embracing and celebrating the traditional trappings of femininity without feeling denigrated” (Alexander Fury 2016).Through wearing the corsets women are showing how they are no longer trapped and defying all those that attempt to trap them.
Taking inspiration from ‘Tatler’ girls wearing clothes that parodied the upper class’ Westwood drew on a Royal feminine “traditional tailoring, inspired by a young girl Westwood had spotted on the London underground wearing a traditional wool jacket.”(V&A) Enhancing the nostalgic desire for the past and revival of past trends. Fashion will always be influenced and inspired by the past fashions, in modern society the high street is filled with decades of style, from 1960s cinched in waists to the sports leisure of the 1990s.
Westwood clearly represents how brands key into the customers emotions. Brands “know more than they ever have before about what inspires us, scares us, soothes us, seduces us; what alleviates our guilt or makes us feel less alone, more connected to the scattered human tribe; what makes us feel more confident. More beloved, more secure, more nostalgic, more spiritually fulfilled. And they know far more about how to use all this information to obscure the truth, manipulate or minds and persuade us to buy.” (Lindstrom 2011) Brands understand that as humans we seek comfort in the past and therefore search for ways to incorporate it into our future, therefore projecting nostalgia into their products and advertising.
One of the most notable eras reproduced and yearned for are the post-war 1940s and 1950s. Within which women were often placed within the domestic space, the accentuated sexualization of women is also noted. Christian Dior a prolific couturier “created a signature hourglass silhouette of 1947, which displayed a nostalgia for pre-war notions of feminity.” (Arnold 2017 p50) Dior’s The New look is one of fashions most iconic and well-known trends. “The New Look could be – and was- interpreted as a style that emphasized femininity and as such it became immediately ambivalent, able to make the woman who wore it at once sexy and desirable and also matronly and maternal.” (Munich 2011)
In essence The New Look created the “ideal’ woman, sexy and appealing to men yet also the perfect mother. ‘The ideological connotations of the New Look were clear, the ultra-feminine hourglass silhouette chimed directly (in the US and UK particularly) with postwar directives to get women out of work and back into the home” (Munich 2011). Nostalgia again occurs as a form of inspiration for designers, looking back on the past and better times and trying to emulate these happier times again, “Images are continually popularized of a simpler, happier time emerging from the aftermath of the Second World War” (Holt).
For Dior ‘Nostalgia was the order of the day. Society seemed so bent on reliving the brilliance of the prewar years, an era many feared had gone forever, that the beau mode reemerged with a vengeance, throwing huge balls and magnificent soirees with more than a hint of their old splendor’. However, behind The New Look there is a belief that women have been directed back into the homes and kitchens, attempting to make women the ideals men desire. Dior’s quoted saying “I brought back the art of pleasing” (Benaim 2015) showcasing how Dior’s designs were created to please the male gaze, creating the ideal women for their husbands.
Similarly, to Dior, many advertising companies post war can be seen to place women back into the home and continue to do so today. With women’s role within society seen to be within the home advertising companies target women in order to sell products, “Womens main role in society was seen as lying within the family a trend continued into… the economic boom made housewives increasingly important as purchasers and consumers” (Cook 2005 p94) Through Cooks statement women are a key target audience for brands as they are the main buyers for the family home. Furthermore, brands need females within the home to continue to sell their products to and purchase the products. Across almost every discussion of the ‘domestic ideal’ the main formats this image is portrayed to women is through film and magazines. (Holt) In contrasting views, Betty Friedan brought to light ‘The Gal Who Defied Dior’ Claire McCardell, “a small-town American girl’ who became an internationally known fashion designer by developing practical and comfortable clothes for ordinary women to wear at home and at work.”(Butchart 2016 p185) Demonstrating how through clothing women can begin to defy the nostalgic ideological views surrounding society. Up until this point women dressed to please, and Dior’s; New Look was created to “bring back the art of pleasing” (Benaim 2015). Within Levins The Stepford Wives, “Costume plays a key role in the narrative in the film, marking the women transition from human to robot. At the outset, Joanna and Bobbie…wear jeans hot pants, dungarees and midriff baring blouses. The robot wives are dressed in aprons and floral floor length dresses, reminiscent of the pastoral romanticism of Laura Ashley Designs.” (Butchart 2016) This reflection of the defiant females through costume has a similar message to that of Claire McCardell’s’ practical clothing collection, defying the ideological housewife image and wearing clothes that are comfortable and practical for the jobs needed to be carried out. Women are beginning to combat men’s views.
Many modern brands can also be seen to represent women heading back into the homes and pushing ideologies onto society that women belong in the home. Modern designer Orla Kiely’s fond memories of her childhood home were a constant source of inspiration for her designs. Kiely’s’ “taste for the domestic vintage styles echoed in her prints developed early too, helped by her mother’s kitsch kitchen” (The Independent, Anon, 2010) Again this is reiterating how nostalgia affects fashion brands, with designers drawing on fond memories of their childhoods and recreating fashions of the past.
Chapter 2
Film constantly references the past and creates a sense of nostalgia, helping the audience to relate to the storylines. “Our culture is composed of sequels, reruns, remakes, revivals, reissues, re-releases, recreations, re-enactments, adaptations, anniversaries, memorabilia, oldies radio and nostalgia record collections” (Dyck 2014), constantly looking to the past for inspiration and bringing elements from the ‘good ole days’ to the present day. However, “nostalgic memory film itself, which reconstructs an idealised past as a site of pleasurable contemplation and yearning.” (Cook 2004) creating a ‘false memory’. “Media can trigger nostalgic emotions” through this nostalgia it creates a sense of security serving as a ‘cure for viewers longing for a past era, a concept created by the media itself. (Neimeyer 2014) In order for film, media and fashion to sell they must create the notion of longing and desire, enabling them to then create film and products that can fill the yearning. Hollywood films are imperative to sustaining gender stereotypes in Hollywood cinema therefore pushing these ideas onto society. (Dutt 2014)` Through portraying the gendered stereotypes in film and media, society can be seen to be manipulated into believing that it is the ‘correct’ way to live. When studying “Films from 1950s, 1970s and 1990s show how the suburban home continues to be dependent for its existence on woman as homemaker” (Cowan 2000 p.303)
Film can also be seen to use nostalgia to attract their audiences. Svetlana Boym states that “nostalgia; inevitably reappears as a defense mechanism in a time of accelerated rhythms and historical upheavals (p. Xivi) suggesting that it ‘goes beyond individual psychology (p.xvi0 Even though it was initially understood as a longing for a lost place. Boyms proposes that nostalgia should instead be seen as a longing for a different time that results from the rebellion ‘against the modern idea of time, the time of history and progress expressing the desire to revisit time like space refusing to surrender to the irreversibility of time plagues the human condition.” (Primorac Antonija 2015) The desire to revisit past fashions plagues the human mind.
Advertising can also be seen to use nostalgia, carrying the same outdated views on women’s place in the home. Nostalgia is described as “a painful yearning to return home” (Haylena, Holak) in marketing, advertising, and entertainment media. Through creating a sense of nostalgia within advertising and film, the audience gains a sense of comfort in the product, therefore, keeping the beliefs portrayed alive in the present time. ‘Advertising for products may consciously evoke past associations and memories to create or recall positive affective responses” (Haleyna, Holak) By creating a sense of nostalgia within a product, the customer can be influenced into purchasing the product to gain a sense of comfort. An essential “characteristic of nostalgia is the filtering of negative information–the past is almost always remembered as better or happier than it probably was (Davis 1979)”.(Haleyna, Holak) In purchasing the product, the customer is associating it with memories from the past, a past that could be seen to be happier and simpler. ”For customers their connection with the wholesome nature of the past; that is linked to the ;wholesome nature of the product” reassures the customer in the purchase regardless of the actual product..(Nieymayer 2014) This use of nostalgia is called “Retro-typing’ -’ transmogrifying longing for a falsely enchanted past into satisfaction through consumption of the product in the present’ through purchasing the product it emulates the memory of satisfaction from the past” (Nieymeyer p. 130 2014).
Advertising companies not only exploit nostalgia to sell products but also the pressure on women to be the ‘ideal woman’. Betty Friedan believed that through magazines and advertising the companies “had decided to make women better consumers of home products by reinforcing and rewarding the concept of women’s total fulfillment through the role of housewife and mother” (Friedan, 1963) Furthermore “advertising companies identifies women’s goal and greatest creative opportunity is in the home, caring for the family.” (Courtney & Lockeretz 1967) In some cases advertising companies could be seen to suggest ‘that “a good wife and mother would buy this,” or “a good wife would want to protect her
family” (Holt 2015) This intern influences women to purchase the product and emulate the ‘ideal woman’ seen in advertising and film.
As Jennifer Holt states “The concept of the “ideal woman,” is still with us today through film, advertisements and television shows that reminisce about the happier, simpler times that the 1950s supposedly held.” (Holt, 2015) Nostalgia and the ‘rose tinted’ memories society holds keeps alive the pressure of the ‘Ideal Woman’ in the present day.
Orla Kiely can also be seen to be influenced by the nostalgia within media and film. With a direct correlation to The Stepford Wives, “Orla Kiely mixed Stepford wives with the preppy Palm beach styles of Lilly Pullitzer for spring/ summer 2016, resulting in maxi hemlines cotton last dresses and graphic prints” (Butchart 2016 p169)
it is not surprising that the films and advertising from the 1950s and 1960s continue to be renewed as inspiration for fashion today. “Films that were made during the 1960s continue to be referenced and reused for inspiration in fashion design. Their influence can be seen in many a theatrical performance on the catwalks of fashion weeks” ( Paulicelli, Drake,Wallenberg 2017 p8) In the above image the kitsch print deigns are combined with the feminine flowing dress shapes and yet highlighting the repetitive “daily routine mixed seamlessly with leisure activities and cocktail hour”.(Power 2015) can be seen in the golf course layout of the catwalk show. The use of nostalgia by Orla Kiely is emulating happier times, however for some the memory of the 1950s, 1960s and 70s are of women being trapped in the home. Through this catwalk display the mundane lifestyle of housewives can be seen.
A number of designers can be seen to take inspiration from The Stepford Wives, in particular the final scene in which the wives have been turned into robots.
The Stepford Wives, 1975. Photograph: Alamy
These designers are all playing on the female being placed in the home and completing the chores of their male partners. “Hollywood presents these patriarchal role models in the guise of the ‘ideological’ ‘American dream’ as desirable to the audience”(Fol, Juli 2004) Through Hollywood’s creation of the ideal woman, women are continually shown how they are supposed to behave, look and act in society. Leading them to construct their identities around the ideal woman, emulating their ‘proper gender role’ (Holt 2015) Through brands and films creation of the ‘ideal woman’, women in society begin to believe they must mirror the image of proper gender roles seen in film. “the creation of the ‘ideal woman’ highlighted to women the ways in which they should behave and act in order to fulfill their “proper gender role in society.” (Holt 2015) Through taking inspiration from Hollywood movies, fashion is relaying this same message to their customers.
Chanel’s iconic shopping center catwalk can be seen to directly take inspiration from Levins depiction of society. With models gracefully walking through the aisles with products adorned with the Chanel logo, enhancing and glamourizing the housewife status. Along with Chanel, other designers have also embraced the 1950s housewife look, at London fashion week 2013 designer Louise Grey accessorized her models with domestic household items, including plastic shopping bags, custard tart tins and foil trays (Capon 2013). Creating the sense that the feminine look of the housewife is on trend and something to be desired.
Not all designers reminisced the housewife in such a glamourous way. With Phiney Phet emblazoning “Housework Sucks” and “I need a real man.”(Young 2014) onto its pastel pink clothing, the label is anti-housewife, and in favor of women speaking their mind freely.(see below) The illustrations added to the images highlight the change women have made since the 1950s and how even though the styles and fashions are returning, the views on women in the home are changing. Similarly, Clio Peppiatt, is challenging feminine ideals. “Her A/W 14 collection “Cat that’s got the queen” (geddit?) combines her signature illustration style with hand-embroidery, crochet and needlework to pass comment on feminine ideals” (Anon Style Bubble 2014) Showcasing feminine pastel colors, and shapes yet removing the negative connotations surrounding the styles, pushing for female empowerment.
https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/phiney-pet-aw14
(http://stylebubble.co.uk/style_bubble/2014/05/all-drawn-out-again.html)
Through the 1970 film The Stepford Wives the change in women’s desire to work and dress is highlighted. “The Stepford Wives uses fashion to express the social tension that challenges to gender norms had created. The women who question the status quo are seen wearing more masculine tailored or sometimes even ‘boyish’ attire while the ideal women, transformed by the men of Stepford into robots, don frilly pastel colored somewhat Victorian inspired frocks which compliment there enhanced ‘sexy’ physique’ “(Manlow 2018 p50.) This use of costume to translate the change in power of women is strong, with the pastel colored, frilly frocks projecting a weaker more feminine disposition. “The book and film drew heavily on Betty Friedan Book The Feminine Mystique (1963) which shattered the illusion that American housewife’s were in a state of domestic bliss.” (Butchart 2016) Using nostalgia within the film presenting housewife’s back in the home, Levin highlighted the movements women were making. Emphasizing the ‘horror’ society would be in if women were to go back to being contained within the home and controlled by their husbands.
Chapter 3
Through exploring the use of nostalgia in brands and media, the iconography from brands such as Cath Kidston and Laura Ashley emulate a similar message. Using nostalgia within the brand Cath Kidston can be seen to affect the portrayal of women in the home within these brands. “UK, vintage trends have become prominent consumer choices in popular advertising and fashion imagery,” (Bibby. L 2017) As the vintage trend is portrayed in the media and fashion imagery, the target audience adopts these trends and attempts to emulate them in their everyday life. Leading to brands emulating the trend to target society, gaining customers. Nostalgia seen in popular culture “(evoking ‘vintage’ images of wartime- and 1950s-set, domesticated femininity) became increasingly fashionable in 2011 and has continued to grow and be present today.” (Bibby. L 2017) brand synonymous with British nostalgia is Cath Kidston, Kidston had cleverly latched on to the nostalgia trend, known as “the Home of Modern Vintage” (https://careers.cathkidston.com) , keying into people’s nostalgic yearning for the past. Marc Spitz defines the movement as ‘an unabashed celebration of beauty, whimsy and preciousness, a nostalgic fetishization of childhood paired with a wariness of sexuality, and glorification of the awkward and geeky’ Kidston showcases this trend within the whimsical conversational prints, furthermore within the advertising for Cath Kidston the romanticized family life is portrayed, with a typical nuclear family featured heavily through the brand. Again, this use of a traditional family is used to conjure up nostalgic feelings in the customer, thus causing the customer to purchase the products. With family and childhood being a key characteristic for nostalgia, Kidston and Levin appear to refer to childhood influences, as both were brought up in the 1960s, surrounded by the same 1960s advertising. (https:/www.theatlantic.com 16/07/18) Women in the 21st Century “long to put the clock back to the post-war years when life seemed prettier and nicer.” (Mann 2013 p.47) A theme and trend Kidston has adopted, It is necessary however to highlight that these desires to go back to the post war years are all aesthetically derived, when women celebrate the housewife style they are not belittling the huge steps women have made in society.
Through Cath Kidston’s ‘modern vintage’ she’s updating the characteristics of the vintage products. “Updated characteristics are what inherently distinguish a retro brand from a nostalgic brand.
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