El comienzo del nuevo enfoque ambiental en la planificación

Clothing is an important part of impression management and of Goffman’s category of ‘personal front’, with Morris et al. discussing that

clothing messages can be intentionally or unintentionally (consciously or unconsciously) communicated by the wearer, as well as intentionally or unintentionally (consciously or unconsciously) interpreted by the observer (1996, p. 136; emphasis in original).

Both within the realm of popular music performance, and in a wider societal context, the terms ‘costume’ and ‘fashion’ are often interchangeably used. Although both terms share a common lexis regarding clothing, Anna Wyckoff suggests that ‘fashion reflects the current vogue in clothing, and costume uses clothing to evoke a

personality to support a plot’ (2010).55 _{This definition, whilst strictly true, causes a} contradiction if the concepts of performing a role and supporting a plotline are

viewed through Goffman’s dramaturgical lens, where everyone is undertaking a role. Although fashion also requires an audience, ‘adornment is altruistic: its pleasure is designed for the others, since the owner can enjoy it only in so far as he mirrors himself in them’ (Simmel, 1997, p. 207). In considering Goffman’s positioning, the term ‘costume’ has been chosen to refer to all discussions on popular music performers and the clothing they wear whilst performing.

55 _{In a traditional sense, there are a number of examples where high-end fashion designers have}

formed collaborative partnerships by creating stage outfits for popular music artists. These alliances include Kylie, and Dolce & Gabbana, and Girls Aloud, and Julian MacDonald. Fisher (2011) explains that in these examples, the partnership was equal, but that a turning point was when Giorgio Armani dressed Lady Gaga; ‘the designer is synonymous with restraint and the colour “greige”; Lady Gaga likes wearing a lobster on her head.’ Proving the power of pop, ‘Armani completely abandoned the style he has developed over 36 years to dress the pop star in spangles.’

Consideration of costume helps to create and link meaning between the performer and the audience, helping to depict a sense of personal identity and aids with the transmission of that identity. Through the above statement by Morris et al. (1996), it is understood that communicative meanings transmitted through a choice of clothing can send messages which are interpreted by an observer, but little research has been undertaken about the communicative power that the clothes we wear have over ourselves. Hajo Adam and Adam D. Galinsky draw on research from embodied cognition in the construction of ‘enclothed cognition’, a theory which designates the ‘systematic influence of clothes on the wearer’s psychological processes and

behavioural tendencies’ (2012, p. 2). The principle of enclothed cognition is that ‘the experience of wearing clothes triggers associated abstract concepts and their

symbolic meanings’ (Adam and Galinsky, 2012, p. 2), so when a person wears particular pieces of clothing, a concept of its symbolic meaning is formed.56 _Adam and Galinsky explain that, although similar, there is a pivotal difference between embodied cognition and enclothed cognition. In the former, the symbolic meaning is created directly through the physical experience whereas in the latter, the symbolic

56 _{Adam and Galinsky (2012) conducted a series of experiments to test their hypothesis of enclothed}

cognition. In the first, 58 undergraduate students were split into two groups. Asked to undertake a test for ‘selective attention based on their ability to notice incongruities’ (Blakeslee, 2012), the first group were assigned to wear ordinary street clothes and the second were asked to wear white lab coats over their street clothes. The results discovered that ‘those who wore the white lab coats made about half as many errors of incongruent trials as those who wore regular clothes’. In a second test, a group of students were each given an identical lab coat to wear, but with different connotations attached to them, and those who believed they were wearing a doctor’s coat (as opposed to thinking they were wearing a painter’s smock) scored more accurate results in a test involving attention – thus affecting both psychological states and performance levels. In the final experiment, students wore the

aforementioned lab coats and were told it was either a doctor’s coat or a painter’s smock but were then told to ‘notice a doctor’s lab coat displayed on the desk in front of them for a long period time’ before writing essays on the thoughts they held on the coats. When tested for sustained attention, the group that thought they were wearing a doctor’s coat showed the greatest attentional improvement meaning that ‘you have to wear the coat, see it on your body and feel it on your skin for it to influence your psychological processes’ (Blakeslee, 2012).

meaning is indirectly created because the symbolic meaning is carried through the clothes. Adam and Galinsky also explain that ‘the symbolic meaning is not

automatically embodied because it stems from the clothes – so it is not realized until one physically wears and thus embodies the clothes’ (2012, p. 2). As such,

the effects of clothing on people’s psychological processes depend on both a) the symbolic meaning of the clothes and b) whether people are actually

wearing the clothes. (Adam and Galinsky, 2012, p. 2)

The principles of enclothed cognition provide a theoretical understanding for the views of musicians such as Stef, who said:

I think what you’re wearing massively affects how you perform. I’ve been in some situations where I’ve done deps for bands, and they’ve worn hideous suits – it was way too big for me. I remember looking in the mirror before I went on stage thinking ‘I hope I don’t know anyone in the audience tonight’ and it does affect your confidence and how you deliver. In another way, I used to be in a glam rock tribute band, and I had a wig and make-up on – full make- up, and a wig, and an outfit – and I used to be more crazy than normal on stage because I would think ‘nobody knows who I am!’. It was such a big part of the character element. I used to go completely nuts in that band because I could! I could also take all the make-up off and the wig, at the end of the night, walk out to the crowd afterwards, have a drink, and nobody knew who I was; it was great! So, I think that it definitely affects how you perform – the way you dress and the way you feel about yourself on stage – to feel good performing, that’s really important.

Debs had similar views:

First of all, I need to feel confident. If I’m wearing something that makes me feel uncomfortable, that’s all I’m going to be thinking about. I can’t focus on the performance, I can’t be spontaneous because I’m going to be restrictive.

5.8.1 Dressing for a Role

Auslander discusses that ‘while symphony players’ costumes are pretty much fixed, jazz or popular musicians are generally able to express a higher degree of

idiosyncrasy in their dress’ (2006a, p. 110). Whilst there is greater variance in the style of clothing worn by popular musicians, aspects such as sub-genres and venues may play a part in the choice made by the performers. Clothing is context dependent because

what combination of clothes or a certain style emphasis “means” will vary tremendously depending upon the identity of the wearer, the occasion, the place, the company, and even something as vague and transient as wearer’s and viewer’s moods. (Davis, 1994, p. 8)

In discussing the costume choices made by professional musicians, Sam said

I tend to dress according to the character of the band. So, for my main project, The Fontana’s, it’s funky, Latin, Brazilian… festival-driven, party music - it’s very energetic so I’ll always wear something that is funky and tropical. You need to try and wear something which defines you differently from the people that are in the audience because people want to buy into your world and they want to see that you’re a little bit different – that you’re presenting something which is a bit different from the norm. For me, it’s a reflection of the mood, and the energy and feel of the music and the band that you’re playing with. I

always make sure that I dress appropriate to that.

Drew, Matt and Pete are three-fifths of The Waletones, a Sixties-inspired pop and rock band. Drew discusses their deliberate choice of matching suits as their trademark look:

Memorability is half the battle with us. If we walk around in suits, people come up and talk to us and say ‘are you in a band?’ We had a management

company scouting around when we were playing Great Escape and they didn’t see our set, but they saw us in the suits so they came up and spoke to us. … They stayed in touch from that so it is kind of one of those things where

it works – it’s effective. … It helps with confidence. I don’t know if it’s

performance, but it’s confidence more than anything. When we put those suits on, it’s like ‘boom!’.

Matt discusses the importance of the chosen outfit having a connection with the musical style of the band:

I was always taught, the minute I started playing in bands when I was fifteen or sixteen . . . whoever I was working with, they said ‘dress like what you’re playing.’ No matter what it is, and they said that it’s not going against who you are as a person, but you are a business. Whatever you’re doing, if you’re performing in front of people, you’re performing as a product or a business, so scrap any kind of thing of ‘oh no, I don’t really like that, it doesn’t suit me’. It’s, like, you’re on stage and you’re playing ‘80s rock, so dress like an ‘80s rock star. It doesn’t matter!

Wearing the suits [with The Waletones] wasn’t just about wearing the suits, it was about getting into the style as a whole. I don’t think I’m going against who I am as a person; it’s just exploring what I’m doing as a career.