Makeover media as fashion journalism

What Not To Wear , fashion, authority, and Gonzo subjectivity

Bibliographic Data

ID12780642
AuthorsArlene Oak (University of Alberta, corresponding author), Julia Petrov (0000-0002-8822-8186, Royal Alberta Museum)
Year2020
Volume18
Issue4
Pages313-326
Publication date2020-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePopular Communication (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1540-5702 • E-ISSN: 1540-5710
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/15405702.2020.1839079
OpenAlexW3106644014
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited35

The USA-based television program What Not To Wear (WNTW) was a staple of popular fashion media, informing audiences about acceptable modes of dress and appearance. We consider how aspects of this show and its accompanying book encompass features of traditional fashion reportage – particularly advice literature – and also approaches to fashion communication that overlap with the style and concerns of “New Journalism” (those modes of reporting – sometimes called “Gonzo” – that emphasize informality, emotional engagement, and an interest in “real” people and “real” lives). By examining the text, images, and talk deployed by the book and the TV show, we indicate how WNTW perceives, constructs, and conveys the fashioned subject in ways that link makeover media to broader contexts of cultural commentary

Advertising · Aesthetics · Art · Business · Epistemology · Journalism · Media studies · Sociology · Style (visual arts · Subject (documents · Subjectivity · Visual arts · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Fashion and Cultural Textiles · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Media, Gender, and Advertising

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