Re-fashioning goddesses: Exploring women's archetypal fashion in the classroom

Abstract

Mythological studies deepens and layers the significance of fashion and dress through an archetypal exploration of Greek goddess fashion archetypes--Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis, and Hestia. The research reveals how these archetypes and their shadows influence the fashion industry from the creation of a garment to when it is worn on the body. The production component of the dissertation entails archetypal fashion design curriculum that contains an instructor's guide for an archetypal women's fashion design course at the collegiate level. The study is tailored to expand fashion design students' understanding of fashion silhouettes and design elements that fit certain fashion archetypes and how the fashion archetypes manifest within target markets, consumers' styles, and consumption choices. The theoretical portion of the research examines fashion theory as a multidisciplinary approach through which to investigate why the body is covered. Within fashion theory, mythological studies offers a new perspective through which to study fashion archetypally by canvassing Greek and Roman myths tied to the four goddesses and by exploring depth psychological and Jungian concepts, such as archetypes, shadow, psyche, and the collective unconscious as they relate to fashion.

The research concludes: a woman's fashion identity and personal style convey one or more goddess fashion archetypes; to express identity and style, garments on the body communicate a visual story about oneself to others that relates to one or more of the goddesses' stories (or myths) archetypally; goddess fashion archetypes categorize fashion silhouettes, such as dresses, pants, and gowns, as well as archetypal goddess fashion silhouette themes, such as masculine/structured, feminine/sensual, functional/comfortable, or conservative/playful; and clothing the body is due to an instinctual drive that is informed by Greek goddess archetypes in Western fashion. Further implications for this research include creating a guide for consumers to understand their preferred archetypal style, employing fashion archetypes to retail when merchandising clothing stores and purchasing inventory for consumers, and developing god fashion archetypes, such as Zeus, Hermes, Ares, Dionysus, and Hephaistos for men's fashion.