Fashion, Beauty and Fame - the Psychology of Being Fabulous

Fashion and celebrity along with beauty are multi billion dollar industries,

consequently an examination of the psycho-social processes at work in

these areas presents itself as an innovative and exciting area.

The aims of the course are to facilitate a familiarity and understanding of

how psychologists have sought to explain beauty and attractiveness, as

well as body modification and adornment and how superficially what is

consider attractive or ‘normal’ has changed. This requires the student to

understand basic face processing and the various theoretical approaches

to beauty as well as up to date integrated theories. The aim is also to

encourage students to engage with appearance in a wide sense including

facial disfiguration and body issues, including cosmetic surgery addiction

or the use of the body as “art” and clothing (fashion). By the end of the

module students will be expected to have an appreciation of the different

types of explanations put forward for dress and adornment including

tattooing and piercing, as well as the fashion cycle and how these

practices and trends have moved from sub culture to main stream.

The course will consider the different approaches to and explanations for

the fashion cycle and process and how this has been accounted for in

psycho-social terms both historically and currently and to gain a

familiarity with the concept of fashion and dress as non verbal

communication and symbolic interaction. The marketing of fashion, and

the motivations of the wearer- self worth, role adoption, luxury and fake

good purchase. Impression management and the study of effects of

appearance on others are examined in terms of the ‘beauty halo effect’,

be it initial evaluations of strangers or even in a legal setting.

The aims of the fame component are to examine the nature of fame and

the effect of celebrities/stars who act as fashion and beauty role models.

Core texts:

− Mair, C. (2018) The psychology of fashion. UK. Routledge (available

as E book)

− Kaiser, S. B. (2002). The Social Psychology of Clothing. Fairchild:

USA- (any edition of this book!)

− Johnson et al (2014) Dress, body and self: research in the social

− psychology of dress. Fashion and textiles. 1;20

− Belk (1988) Meaning of possessions and the extended self. Journal of

Consumer Research. Volume 15, Issue 2,Pages 139–168.

https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article/15/2/139/1841428

− Ashmore et al (1996) Thinking about fashion models looks: a multi

dimensional approach in Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin 22

(11) pp1083

− Barnard, M. (2007). Fashion theory: a reader. Routledge: UK

− Entwistle, J. (2007) The fashioned body Polity Press; UK

− Johnson, T. Attmann, J (2009) Compulsive buying in a product specific

context: clothing Journal of Fashion and marketing 13 (3) 394-406

− Steel, V. (2007). Fetish: fashion, sex and power. Oxford University

Press: UK

− Swami, V. & Furnham, A. (2008) The psychology of physical attraction

UK; Routledge

− Other Journal articles to be confirmed