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5AAIC014: Fashion, Culture & Identity
Lecture 10: Module Conclusion and Assessment
Workshop (PS)
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• Section 1: Module overview / recap
• Section 2: Essay / assignment questions
• Section 3: Essay / assignment advice
• Section 4: Questions?
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Section 1: Module overview / recap:
1.1: Focus and key themes:
• To examine concepts and debates about the role and place of fashion
in modern culture and the relationship between fashion and identity
• To examine the historical context – or contexts - for its emergence
and development
• To critically engage with relevant theoretical frameworks and
disciplinary approaches to the study of fashion
• Encourage critical analysis of the challenges of the fashion industry in
contemporary society
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1.2: Summary of lecture and seminar topics
• Week 1: Introduction - Fashion Histories (PS)
• Week 2: The Development of the (western) Fashion
Industry (PS)
• Week 3: Fashion, Class and Collective Selection (PS)
• Week 4: Fashion, Feminism and Gender (PS)
• Week 5: Fashion and Subcultural Style (PS)
• (Reading week)
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• Week 6: Fashion, Individualization and Identity (PS)
• Week 7: Diversity, Representation and Digital
Culture (LE)
• Week 8: Research/Industry Case Study:
Approaching the Kimono (CB)
• Week 9: Globalisation, Ethics and Sustainability (LE)
• Week 10: Module Conclusion and Assessment
Workshop (PS)
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Section 2: Essay / assignment questions
(Word limit: 3000 words; due before 12 noon, 2 May 2024)
Answer ONE of the following questions. Do not make up your own question or title.
1. To what extent, if at all, has it ever made sense to regard fashion as a specifically
modern, Western phenomenon?
2. Fashion now is less an expression of class, gender, and other aspects of our social
identities, and more an expression of our own individually chosen identities. Discuss.
3. Critically assess the idea that the rise of digital media platforms, such as Instagram,
has democratised fashion
4. Using real world examples, critically assess whether colonial legacies are challenged
or replicated in the global fashion industry today.
5. How might issues of ethics and sustainability in the fashion industry best be
addressed and are the two sets of concerns and their proposed solutions mutually
compatible?
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Section 3: Essay / assignment advice
• Answer the actual question set - don't make up your own question or title!
• Make sure your answer engages with and demonstrates a knowledge and understanding of the
relevant module material. We think carefully about the core and additional readings, and they
are there for a reason. You are also advised to use the relevant lecture (or lectures) as your initial
guide to this material - we think carefully about what we say in our lectures, too!
• Where a question refers most directly to a particular week's topic, start by thinking about that
material, but think, too, about whether issues addressed elsewhere on the module are also
relevant, and, if there are, bring them into to your argument where appropriate
• Plan your essay carefully before you start writing. What is your overall argument? What is the
best way to set out your various points to make the argument? This is what we mean by essay
structure - it should be clear, logical, and lead the reader/ marker through the essay from the
beginning to the end. Don't just write all the points you want to make in a random or arbitrary
order!
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• Make sure your essay has an introduction (which introduces the topic and indicates how you are
going to address it) and a conclusion (which addresses what you have done and arrives at a set
of overall conclusions based on the argument you've presented)
• Don't use standard dictionary definitions of key terms - think about how the terms are
defined/understood in the relevant academic (i.e., module) literature
• Think carefully about your sources - don't treat journalistic sources as if they are equivalent to or
as authoritative as published academic work
• Make sure that any examples you introduce are relevant, help to advance your argument and
don't overly dominate; your main job is to show that you have engaged with and understood
the relevant module material
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Academic practice and presentation
• Make sure you follow the Department's guidance for referencing and citations: we use HARVARD
style. See:
https://keats.kcl.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/9482245/mod_resource/content/1/CMCI_Referencing%2B
StyleGuide_Aug%202020.pdf
• Ensure you take good notes – it is good practice to rephrase authors/texts in your own words
BUT if you include a direct quote, you must note the details of the publication (author’s name,
date and page number)
• Use double-spacing and number your pages to make your essay easier to read and mark
• Once you've finished writing, proof-read your essay. And remember, if you can't understand the
point you are trying to make, it's unlikely that the reader or marker will either!
• Leave PLENTY of time to complete your work before the deadline to reduce any last-minute
problems with submission
• CHECK your similarity score before you submit on Turnitin!
• Anything close to 30% similarity needs checking to ensure you have not inadvertently plagiarised
• Ensure any similarity is legitimate (a direct quote, properly attributed to the correct
author/publication/page number is fine).
• Don’t use very long quotes (3-4 lines is ok but avoid much longer)
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Section 4: Questions?