Clueless Fashion Psychology: Identity and Social Status

[00:00:00][Music] clueless is an american coming-of-age film centered around a girl named cher an attractive stylish good-natured and popular girl in beverly hills during the mid-90s the film follows her as she is transformed by life experiences romantic adventures social relationships and the psychological development from a clueless materialistic teenager into a mindful and understanding well-rounded individual clueless also showcases her glamorous growing yet close-knit social circle as she and her best friend dion introduce a transfer student into their world the film has become highly recognized and loved for its 90s style that has been considered to be timeless and often referenced even now as it is considered to be one of the best team films of all time through its humor relatability overall visuals and fashion through the development of these characters their fashion tangibly captures and visually communicates who they are who they like to be and what kind of social group they belong to much like in real life clueless is a film where style is not just a variable to serve visually but a reflection of a person's complexity as a unique individual in regards to their identity and social standing this is heightened in adolescence during development so each character even if minor has their style be a part of their personality to capture their spirit attitude and social grouping the psychological developments within coming of age is a universal experience that many undergo in their own way many films focus on this passage because it's the first mission we all have in life to build a personality which conjures up a collective of all these variables into an identity it's ingrained into the human experience and is one that no matter how much we develop and change remains intact the story of clueless captures this pivotal time and development and translates this on screen in a very light-hearted way with a hollywood ending but it is one that has withstood the test of time since it is a loose adaptation of jane austen's novel of 1815 titled emma featuring many mirroring scenes and character counterparts trading off regency era england for 1990s beverly hills yet still holds the wit fun and at its roots human experience that makes these stories so captivating along with the immersive cinematography and a lot of iconic fashion for instance cher's dolce gabbana set is an archetypal take on the decade's aesthetic and does not truly capture the fashion of this era accurately murray wore sean john to set him apart from the other boys to have a look that matches dion's high-end look and christian is meant to have a vintage look very reminiscent of the 1940s as other examples more commonly teenagers would have a look ty most accurately has the costume designer notes that she is dressed in a kurt cobain cobain-inspired grunge an ode to the trends of the period this is because grunge became cool due to pop culture and economical issues so high-end fashion wasn't a common choice for many people bands like nirvana sun garden and pearl jam also had a huge influence as they had this grunge look and were very empowering through their music as a result many people protested and made their own trends have become a huge part of pop culture even making it into one of the most iconic films on the opposite end of the spectrum with some overlap of looks the supermodel era had a huge influence of models such as kate moss naomi campbell chrissy turlington and more becoming fashion icons this era and fashion is when clothing shifted from specific tailoring to mass production this is when it became a norm that people began to change their bodies to fit clothes causing a rise in the beauty and dietary industry this became very trendy as a lot of famous celebrities had this look people admired them and strived to achieve the same runway-ask luck cher and dion fall into this category this is evident with dion's love for avant-garde fashion and all his sporting eye-catching looks while cher turns to many designers where's my white colorless shirt from fred seagull a dress says who calvin klein oh no you don't understand this isn't a liar it's like a totally important designer the costume designer mona may states we wanted to change the trends and give permission for women to be girly i couldn't take that from what the teens were wearing so i truly had to reinvent it these girls were so wealthy that they themselves probably went to runway shows and were able to really choose whatever they wanted i had to think how would they take items from the runways and really make it fit into their world so working with the trends of the times along with a more artistic aesthetic take she created a mixture of designer and vintage pieces that would suit a fashion conscious girl but retain a girlish youthfulness that is very light-hearted this can be found in cher's 60 different outfit changes with inspiration from the 60s and 70s the costume designer created a color hyper feminine take on what the 90s fashion could be eventually creating a new wave of preppy minimalist looks that are now often associated with the decade the film helped make feminine fashion more beloved and embraced again even still holding the sort of influence in today's fashion as many see themselves reference and lovely looks of the characters so they buy pieces inspired by the film buying behaviors are based on personal social cultural and psychological factors that hold great influence on decision making processes it's important to keep in mind that not every buyer is driven by their own self-created belief system there will always be a subset of customers who are more driven by influence and external factors such as trends social or media influences their value system is built by the concept of belonging rather than self-identity in the beginning of the film cher lacks a lot of substance she is quite naive yet very good-natured a loyal friend and looks out for people in her life she is very into fashion beauty and holds these parts of her life to a very high standard even at times valuing it over her down on own ground face down come on oh no you don't understand this isn't a liar cher's fashion conveys her privileged upbringing through her runway inspired looks but still holds a classic aura and innocence because that is who she is as a person she finds this aspirational because of her influences such as her beautiful mother who passed away fashion magazines and educational pursuits which is then validated by the world around her she's my friend because we both know what it's like to have people be jealous of us i must give her snaps for her courageous fashion efforts and hold similar interests they have an overlap of style and often coordinate outfits as well as having similar styling approaches or opting for similar pieces such as pleated mini skirts bold feminine colors and overall monochromatic outfits though in the same social group and having a close friendship for example one trait that shows differences is awareness diondo is more aware of the world around her understands how things work and is very well spoken in comparison to cher why black and white for dion um because it's more sophisticated you know i mean she was always kind of the one up like with with her look she you know she wore the mini skirts she had you know a lot of like um vinyl and uh just brighter and more fun colors leon's looks are much more accessorized and she can work very well with a lot because she's detail-oriented for instance her plaid ensemble of a cropped red cardigan in contrast of cher's simple yellow ensemble dion accessorizes with a hat and elevates of silver chains hoops and a nose ring while cher's look is much more minimal but has a brighter color in terms of saturation and ode to personality as well it's clear that the two are friends have similar backgrounds and are in the same social circle but have unique traits that can be found in their personal style cheryl then goes out of her way to bring tai into the group their friendship grows and the girls become close often holding influence and looking to each other for guidance relationships in life hold great influence over one and their purchases contributing to their social identity this is an individual's concept of self-derived versus perceived relevance within a social group fashion plays a role in this as personal style contributes to the image of a person and can provide a sense of belonging aid and self-esteem and individualism within their social world this is not simple as a person will fall into many social identifications for example cher has multiple social identities daughter best friend student frenemy etc her fashion doesn't just function in relation to one group but within many although there is an overlap her fashion does not work in every role that she falls into go upstairs and put something over it yeah i was just going to in sociology and social psychology an in-group is a social group to which a person psychologically identifies as being a member and clueless shared social circle is the end group while they may not have the same exact look their fashion holds the same essence and the differences lie within differing social identities interest personality types and other factors that make them each very unique christian he always wants things to be beautiful and interesting or dionne and murray when they think no one is watching are so considerate of each other style is a medium of conversation about who we are and who we are not as an individual this aspect of identity is kept in mind as a majority of people belonging to a social group with an overall identity will either sculpt or express their identities to the world in a way that highlights the attributes of the group other groups will either find this aspirational or not be drawn to it at all how one dresses shows the world where they stand in society in terms of social grouping buddies may not be so rigid but rather normalized like workplace attire or school dress code a click often being developmental adolescents will take this to another level as people are striving to find themselves and receive validation about their view of themselves it's not uncommon for people who are friends to dress in a similar style as they usually have similar alignments past experiences economic status educational achievements traits and so on you don't want to start off the wrong foot now do you when in-group bias takes over though people begin to shape themselves based off of other people's perception which reinforces the perception they have on themselves this is the looking glass self a social psychological concept created by charles horton cooley stating that a person self grows out of society's interpersonal interactions and perceptions of others george mead developed a theory of social behavior and relation the central concept is the south the part of the individual's personality is composed of self-awareness and self-image made claims that this is not there fully at birth rather developed through social experience fashion's role in this is that it tangibly collects all the fragments of knowledge and experiences that people gain through the world and then captures this within a single garment no matter how simple or complex clothing can exert dominance and create a sense of control through an instant change to one's physical state let's do a makeover no no oh come on let us cher's main thrill in life is a makeover okay it gives her a sense of control in a world full of chaos when done well there is a systematic influence that a government can have on the aware psychological processes in the case of tai a transfer student who instantly stands out against her peers due to differences of style and appearance as she is a girl from the north who has a very grunge inspired look with the makeover and becoming more in tune with her social environment she adopts the attitudes of the selected group without this being authentic she loses her own traits and replaces them with the main ideals of the group the clothes help her integrate in socially and change how she views herself fashion that doesn't align with one can be very tolling psychologically this is done for a number of reasons like assimilating into a group a form of protection or functional practices this can alter one in a dramatic way for example for ty she develops an overconfident brash attitude and sheds away her more laid-back chill demeanor and to one that is harsh and unkind since she has taken on an identity that doesn't truly align with her being it takes control of her because of this social high she wants to shift to those how she should have but are out of tune with her social group after a fight left alone cher realizes that she hasn't helped ty but rather created a monster out of her own image in the pursuit of becoming altruistic when tai changes back to her quote unquote old style we still see influences of sharon dion's makeover as ty's former identity is now a part of her within social groups people generally strive to maintain positive image and are subject to in-group bias if there is a shared belief people will continue to hold on to these perceptions and upkeep them this usually happens over a lifetime but the makeover in film takes this development and captures it in one sped-up sequence later while we were learning about the pismo beach disaster i decided i needed a complete makeover except this time i make over my soul dr julia wagner states movie makeovers play out a wish fulfillment that we can all with just a little expertise transform into a beautiful confident creature the makeover in film is connected to the relationship of the viewer's desire and fulfillment this is constructed from cultural ideas experiences and subjective viewpoints around appearance beauty and fashion it's been many years since jane austen's emma who she described her heroine as a girl that no one but myself will much like the modern story of clueless celebrates and plays of this concept through the unapologetic hyper-feminine fashion and breaking stereotypes about what it means to have this look in this instance cher is superficial obsessed with appearances and holds onto a lot of traditionally feminine traits which in most media would make her be very disliked viewed in a negative manner or cause assumptions about her personality but she is the most likable kind and positive character in the film despite the typically thought of attributes of her social group the positivity around cher's personality demeanor and actions has aided in bringing this fashion into a more positive light by making it highly coveted after the film's release even to the point that it still holds relevancy today in both the common market and high-end fashion one's inspirations fashion makeover or grooming activities should enhance life and how they feel about themselves not detract what other people think of how others look or choose decile themselves to a point doesn't matter as everyone has different preferences for what is beautiful or fashionable what matters is that you feel comfortable and happy with yourself clueless shows the value in this connection with yourself along with social standing and relationships with others the main message of the film is how easy it is to be caught up in your own world cher overcomes this and develops into a truly thoughtful person through her actions new mindful thought processes true recognition of others and overall relationships her look does not drastically change but her views of it the world around her and relationships do visually confirming that she is truly herself and has worked to improve into a better version of herself the development of one's personal style tangibly attests to the ability to overcome challenges faults and being lost into a celebration of our own individuality unique traits and selves i hope you enjoyed this video if you did please subscribe like turn on notifications and comment thank you so much for watching