Page 113 - Cultural Studies A Practical Introduction

Consumer Culture and Fashion Studies 97

their face in imitation of the Beatles, the greasers used oil and combed their
hair back, with a peak in front and a “ duck back ” look behind in imitation
of mid - 1950s Elvis and a host of imitators. Their clothing style was dra-
matically different – black leather jackets with tight black dress slacks and
white shirts. They looked, quite deliberately, like hoodlums. It was all show,
of course; they were some of the sweetest people in the world and were
touching because they were working class and poor for the most part, but
they needed to do something dramatic in terms of dress to add some value
to their lives, some sense of being distinct. They were also of course assum-
ing for themselves a sartorial armor that gave them an aura of toughness
that fended off the implicit insult that came their way from a culture that
favored economic success as an index of personal worth. While the meaning
of their style of dress for themselves was solidarity with others like them as
well as with images of “ outsiders ” from 1950s movies such as Rebel without
a Cause , the meaning it was assigned by the larger society was more sinister.
In school movies about proper dress and behavior, greaser girls were
usually depicted as “ sluts ” who wore pants that were much too tight and

blouses that were much too revealing of flesh. Movies of the era depicted
them as dangers to society, petty criminals who needed discipline and
control.
Mediating these practices of stylistic initiative, invention, and imitation
is the concept of “ cool. ” Cool is both a cultural concept that implies a
comfortable stasis, a sense of being at home with oneself in a calm space

of one ’ s own defining that sets one apart from others and from external

influences that bedevil others, and a mechanism of cultural activity in
the form of a mobile ideal of what is fashionable and what should be
imitated so that one is oneself as cool as the first ones to adopt that

fashion style. Someone begins the process by, for example, starting to
wear Tommy Hilfiger sweatshirts in ostentatious ways that set them apart

from others who have not yet “ caught on ” to the new style and the new
ideal of cool. Because cool implies a constantly process of setting
oneself apart from others in a new cool identity that is different, it serves
well a fashion industry that thrives on mutability and permanent sales
that guarantee income for owners of the industry. The industry must,
however, keep on top of that mutability, and so “ cool hunters ” such as the
L Report are hired to seek out new styles and try out new products on the
streets of cities like New York. Here is what the L Report says of itself on
its website: