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Fashionable detachments : wardrobes, bodies and the desire to let go

Mellander, Elias and Petersson McIntyre, Magdalena LU (2021) In Consumption Markets and Culture 24(4). p.343-356
Abstract
Consumers are increasingly asked to “empty out their closets,” to “declutter” or in other ways detach themselves from the textile surplus of their wardrobes. In this article, fashion is examined as a process of detachment. Building on ethnographic wardrobe interviews, wardrobe clearances and group discussions with consumers, detachment is viewed as a fundamental, yet underexamined, process of fashion practices. Drawing on the queer phenomenology of Sarah Ahmed, we observe how the informants express a desire to detach themselves from the fast fashion system and become more sustainable, less dependent on consumption and more oriented toward emotional investment. Being oriented towards specific pieces of clothing allowed for attachment to... (More)
Consumers are increasingly asked to “empty out their closets,” to “declutter” or in other ways detach themselves from the textile surplus of their wardrobes. In this article, fashion is examined as a process of detachment. Building on ethnographic wardrobe interviews, wardrobe clearances and group discussions with consumers, detachment is viewed as a fundamental, yet underexamined, process of fashion practices. Drawing on the queer phenomenology of Sarah Ahmed, we observe how the informants express a desire to detach themselves from the fast fashion system and become more sustainable, less dependent on consumption and more oriented toward emotional investment. Being oriented towards specific pieces of clothing allowed for attachment to that which is already here thus opening up for a relationship with clothing based on joy and care, rather than the unsustainable focus on the newly produced. (Less)
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author
and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Consumption Markets and Culture
volume
24
issue
4
pages
14 pages
publisher
Taylor & Francis
ISSN
1025-3866
DOI
10.1080/10253866.2020.1802258
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
b3e067dc-3fe7-4079-925b-5d16e649ea0f
date added to LUP
2024-06-04 17:11:43
date last changed
2024-06-17 12:54:04
@article{b3e067dc-3fe7-4079-925b-5d16e649ea0f,
  abstract     = {{Consumers are increasingly asked to “empty out their closets,” to “declutter” or in other ways detach themselves from the textile surplus of their wardrobes. In this article, fashion is examined as a process of detachment. Building on ethnographic wardrobe interviews, wardrobe clearances and group discussions with consumers, detachment is viewed as a fundamental, yet underexamined, process of fashion practices. Drawing on the queer phenomenology of Sarah Ahmed, we observe how the informants express a desire to detach themselves from the fast fashion system and become more sustainable, less dependent on consumption and more oriented toward emotional investment. Being oriented towards specific pieces of clothing allowed for attachment to that which is already here thus opening up for a relationship with clothing based on joy and care, rather than the unsustainable focus on the newly produced.}},
  author       = {{Mellander, Elias and Petersson McIntyre, Magdalena}},
  issn         = {{1025-3866}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{343--356}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{Consumption Markets and Culture}},
  title        = {{Fashionable detachments : wardrobes, bodies and the desire to let go}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/188322540/Fashionable_detachments_wardrobes_bodies_and_the_desire_to_let_go.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/10253866.2020.1802258}},
  volume       = {{24}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}