Question.

Drawing on theories of costume/fashion and its representation in

cinema/television, take one media text and analyse the relationship between costume,
narrative, spectacle and identity. The media text could be visual TV, Film or a Game.

In this essay, I will be drawing on theories of costume/fashion and its representation in

cinema/television, I will be analysing the American TV show Gossip Girl and the relationship
the show has between costume and narrative, focusing on the character of Jenny
Humphrey and the theory of transformation.

Narrated by an ominous character, Gossip Girl is an American teen drama television series
that follows the lives of privileged teenagers of private schools residing in New York City. The
series is primarily based on the book series written by Cecil von Ziegesar under the same
name and is set mainly in the city of Manhattan around the wealthy culture and powerful
families of the Upper East Side social elites. Jenny Humphrey is one of the main characters in
the series and her transformation, both fueled costume and narrative combined, is one of
the most significant part of the show.

Jenny is introduced in The Pilot episode (Season 1, Ep. 1) as an impressionable yet fun loving
14-year-old high school student at Constance Billard with a loving family. She follows
Hollywoods dominant tradition of typage (Akiss and McCabe 2004) of a stereotypical
sweet and innocent girl-next-door and this is done through her appearance and how she
dresses. She wears very little makeup. Although she attends a private school in Manhattan,
her dress sense is very humble, clearly representing her born-in-Brooklyn identity and not the
opulent lifestyle that some of the other characters have in the Upper East Side (See Image
Reference 1).

[1] Dan and Jenny Humphrey in Victor, Victrola Season 1, Episode 7

At the beginning of Season 1, Jennys narrative centers around her infatuation by the elites
wealth, privilege and power dynamics that differ from her life in Brooklyn. She is desperate to
have that lifestyle but due to her not being as financially privileged enough, she finds it
difficult and results to social climbing. According to Malcom Barnard, Clothing and fashion
are often used to indicate social worth or status, and people often make judgements
concerning other peoples social worth or status on the basis of what people are wearing.
(2002, pg. 60) Jennys obsession to obtain changeable status and to become part of the
Upper East Side leads her to modifying how she looks and changing her behavior.
Her initial transformation happens during the episode Dare Devil (Season 1, Episode 4) when
she attends Blairs sleepover. Eager to please the reigning Queen of Constance and to
become part of her inner circle, Jenny gives in to peer pressure and undergoes a visual
transformation; from a goody-two-shoes to a rule-breaking-rebel overnight (See Image
Reference 2 and 3). Social classes are groups of people who have similar relationship to
the means of production in society and, as a result, a common social and cultural position
within an unequal system of property ownership, power and material rewards (OSullivan et
al. 1994:39) The social classes that are assimilated to Gossip Girl are that of the Upper East
Side. The wealthy culture of the Upper East Side becomes one of the main reasons why
Jenny wants to be part of it.

Jennys Visual Transformation in Dare Devil Season 1, Episode 5

Before [2] Left Image, After [3] Right Image

The relationship between costume and its link to class has been the subject of sociological
studies, one in which applies to Gossip Girl. Thorstein Veblen argued that clothes were used
as indicators of social class and wealth (1899) Jennys costume is very much a reflection of
this. There is a stark contrast between Jennys character and the other characters from the
show who are born into wealthy families and this is evident through the items of clothing she
wears when shes on screen. Her outfits are toned down in colour and easy on the eyes. She
doesnt wear bright, bold designer pieces. Sarah Street also highlights the indication of social
class through costume. Costume is a key element for suggesting the mutability of identity
but also exploring an individuals pursuit to fix identity through appearance. (2001, pg. 35).
Jennys character wears clothes that a typical 14-year-old student would wear from frock
dresses with flats to jeans and trainers.

Another discussion surrounding social class and costume and that applies to Jennys
character and her narrative is from Georg Simmel who stated that fashion affects only the
upper classes and it is something that is exclusive only to the upper class. Barnard
elaborates on this by stating, The lower classes are left simply to copy the styles of the upper
classes, to adopt the styles and shapes as soon and as best as they can. (2002, pg. 61) This is
highlighted in Season 1, Episode 2 when Jenny goes to buy a dress to attend an event that is
exclusive to the wealthy socialites of the Upper East Side but, due to the price tag of the
dress, she sews together a dress thats similar instead. The relationship between costume and
narrative in this situation is simple, Jenny is unable to afford it and so results to a handmade
dress.

A discourse discerning the narrative around Jenny

Humphreys character could be self-expression.
Elizabeth Wilson has commented that, fashion can
be seen as ones means whereby an always
fragmentary self is glued together into the semblance
of a unified identity. (1985, pg. 12). In Jennys case,
she is gluing her impressionable and fragmented
self together and dressing herself to impress Blair and
her inner circle. The image on the left [4] is completely
different to the first image [1]. Her transformation is her
characters way of seeking validation from the society
that shes so desperate to be part of. This validity is
fueled by types of relationships she is forming with
other characters who she can benefit from in order to
make her way to the top.

Although there has been evidence supporting that

Jenny in The Blair Bitch Project
Season 1, Episode 14
costume and narrative go hand-in-hand and fashion
in cinema and television is expressive of
characterisation and narrative, previous studies have
shown that fashion has also been excessive in
spectacle and overexaggerating costumes which
hinders the progression of certain narratives (Gaines
1990; Bruzzi 1997; Street 2001).

For example, in one of the episodes of Gossip Girl, Jenny hosts a guerilla fashion show
(Season 2, Episode 8). The scene involved no dialogue and relied heavily on the mise-en-
scene of the models strutting around the venue to diegetic punk music in bright and eye-
catching outfits that Jenny designed. This is somewhat similar to another episode The Serena
Also Rises (Season 2, Episode 5) where another fashion show takes place during New York
Fashion Week. With the heavy use of fashion as mere spectacle in the TV show, it can be
argued that the potential of costume operating against the main narrative trajectory is
demonstrated. Akass and McCabe speculate that, there comes a time when the
prioritization of fashion engulfs and distracts from the unfolding narrative moment, (2003)

Jennys Guerilla Fashion Show in There Might Be Blood (Season 2, Episode 9)

But despite the recurring narrative trends of photoshoots and fashion show in Gossip Girl and
the argument that fashion is deemed as mere spectacle of distraction and causes narrative
disruption, that is not entirely the case. Costume does not work against the narrative. In fact,
costume fuels narrative as fashion becomes the main narrative for Jenny during Season 2
and accompanies her visual transformation.

In the second season, Jenny becomes a fashion

intern at Waldorf Designs and starts skipping
school to dedicate more of her time to the job
and pursue a career in it. There is a change in her
character and this is evident through her
behaviour. This sudden shift in persona can be
linked to her expanding narrative. As Davis states,
Like other identity tensions that seek an outlet in
dress, social status, too, soon succumbs to a
dialectic of endless reflexitivies spawned by a host
of every shifting ambivalences regarding matters
of wealth, worldly attainment and social position
(1994, pg. 57). The reflexivities of her quest to start
her own fashion line results her in further changing
her persona, becoming more rebellious and out of
control to the point that she ends up quitting from
her internships. As the season progresses, her
narrative also becomes more complicated as she
leaves/runs away from home and wants to be
emancipated from her father. With this narrative
affixed in the show, Jennys costume and
appearance also changes. She cuts her blonde
hair short, dyes it lighter and incorporates
highlights to it. Jennys appearance starts embody
a rocker as she starts to wear dark heavy
eyeliner, plaid shirts, leather jacket and biker
boots. Jenny Humphrey in Season 2, Episode 8

But Tamar Jeffers McDonald argues that costume in film, embody character facets and
assist the narrative as story telling wardrobes. (2010, pg. 15) Jennys transformation in
Season 3 is a prime example of this. She is no longer the sweet-and-innocent girl from
Brooklyn and instead, becomes Queen J and takes the role of the Queen Bee of
Constance with her conniving behaviour. With her newly obtained position and wealth,
Jenny sets out to erase her former Brooklyn self, even stating that, if I made the perfect
debut [at the Cotillion Ball] then people would finally forget that Im just a Brooklyn Nobody.
(Season 3, Episode 9). She is further developed into a liar and a manipulator, constantly
sabotaging relationships of other characters in the show resulting in distancing herself from
her friends and family.

Davis states that, through clothing people communicate some things about their persons,
and at the collective level this results typically in locating them symbolically in some structure
universe of status claims and lifestyle attachments. (1992, pg. 4) Jennys drastic changes in
her lifestyle during Season 3 backs up this claim. She throws away her homemade clothes
and her sewing machine. She begins to wear more flashy and expensive designer clothing.
Jennys appearance is completely different to how she was in the first and second season.
Some may sight that its an entirely different person due to the fact that she changes is so
profound. Her hair is a long platinum blonde with varying dark lips and dark eyes. The colour
in her wardrobe seems to disappear altogether, opting for dark and muted colours.
With this narrative and costume attached to her, some could argue to that Season 3 Jenny
embodies that of Hollywoods archetype of a femme fatale. The femme fatale is
characterized by her long, lovely legs (Place 1978: 45) and her image that conveys a
representation of power in an ambivalent light (Bruzzi 1997).

Jenny Humphrey throughout Season 3

Jennys outfits themselves are something that are akin to that of the femme fatale. Stella
Bruzzi made a speculation that, an emerging pattern suggesting that the frequent the
changes of costume on screen suggests a more derange femme fatale and that this
pathology is inscribed in her clothes, somewhat (1997). This applies to Jenny who, throughout
Season 3, can be seen with multiple outfit changes and alterations of appearance in just one
episode despite the episode taking place within one day. For example, in the episode
They Shoot the Humphreys, Dont They? (Season 3, Episode 9), Jenny can be seen wearing
at least three different outfits. This speculation can be further backed up when Bruzzie states
that,

The femme fatales duplicity is traditionally manifested through the persistent

alteration of her look, her changeable wardrobe becoming a straightforward
metonym for her untrustworthiness. (Bruzzi 1997, pg. 129)

It can be argued that Jennys transformation of her need to always portray a different image
can be a mark of psychological and emotional instability due to her surroundings and living
in the Upper East Side. Landscape circulates as medium of exchange, a site of visual
appropriation, a focus for the formation of identity (Mitchell 2002, pg. 2) To Jenny, living in
Manhattan and having the ostentatious lifestyle that she has means everything to her.
Her exposure to the indigenous culture of the Upper East Siders is toxic for her as it eventually
triggered her inevitable downfall. But despite the impact it had on her character which also
led to her downward spiral, Jenny still wants to be part of that world saying that, The citys
all I have. If I leave I have nothing. (Season 3, Episode 22). This can be linked to Joanne
Entwistle contemplates this theory further and applies it to fashion saying that, the
anonymity of the city opens up new possibilities for creating oneself, giving one freedom to
experiment with appearance in a way that would have been unthinkable in a traditional
rural community (2000, pg. 138). This quote suggests that Jenny found herself in the city of
Manhattan amongst the Upper East Siders despite the fact that it the outcome for her
character was a negative one. This can be viewed as merely a plot device, something to
fuel the narrative for her character, but the analysis still applies.

In conclusion, the theoretical discussion of costume and narrative go along side each other.
As Davis concluded in his book, Clothing does indeed communicate, but not in the manner
of speech or writing; what it communicates has mostly to do with the self, chiefly our social
identity as this is framed by cultural value bearing on gender, sexuality, social status, age,
etc. The discourse costume fuels the context of the narrative by setting the scene and
character the appearance of the actors play an important role to the characters that they
and the narrative associated to that character. For Jenny, her transformation is fueled by
both her narrative (changing her persona) to be like the Upper East Siders.
Bibliography

Akass, K. and McCabe, J. [2003] Reading Sex and the City. London, I. B. Tauris,

Barnard, M. [2002] Fashion as Communication. 2nd ed. Routledge.

Bruzzi, S. [1997] Undressing cinema: Clothing and identity in the movies. New York: Taylor &
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Bruzzi, Stella and Church Gibson, Pamela [2004] Fashion is the Fifth Character: Fashion,
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Herzog, C. and Gaines, J.M. (eds.) [1990] Fabrications: Costume and the female body. New
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McDonald, T.J [2010] Hollywood Catwalk: Exploring Costume and Transformation in American
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Mitchell, W. J. T [2002] Landscape and Power. 2nd ed. University of Chicago Press.

Street, S. [2001] Costume and cinema: Dress codes in popular film. London: Wallflower Press.

Simmel, G. [1971] On Individuality and Social Forms. London: University of Chicago Press.

Veblen, T. [1899] The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions. New York:
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Television

Gossip Girl, 2007 [TV] Bad News Blair CW Network (USA). 9 October.

Gossip Girl, 2007 [TV] Dare Devil. CW Network (USA). 17 October.

Gossip Girl, 2008 [TV] The Blair Bitch Project CW Network (USA). April 21.

Gossip Girl, 2008 [TV] Pret-a-Poor-J CW Network (USA). 27 October.

Gossip Girl, 2008 [TV] There Might Be Blood CW Network (USA). 3 November.

Gossip Girl, 2008 [TV] Victor, Victrola CW Network (USA). 7 November.

Gossip Girl, 2008 [TV] The Serena Also Rises CW Network (USA). 29 September.

Gossip Girl, 2008 [TV] Its A Wonderful Life CW Network (USA). 1 December.

Gossip Girl, 2009 [TV] They Shoot The Humphreys, Dont They? CW Network (USA). 9
November.

Gossip Girl, 2010 [TV] Last Tango, Then Paris CW Network (USA). May 17.