Project title: Fashion Semiotics: The Visual Language of Clothing
Project description: The words “text” and “textile” share the Latin etymological root texere, to weave. My project, titled “Fashion Semiotics”, uses the academic fields of fashion and linguistics to understand the origins and implications of this connection. My project aims to study fashion as a mode of nonverbal communication. Even when not exposed to conventional languages, humans create their own systems of communication. Syntax emerges out of social contact. When one creates a fashion, it has meaning for both the creator of the garment (the designer) and the receivers (the person who wears that clothing and those who view it). It seems fashion also emerges from social context. How do fashion and language both originate and serve the shared purpose of communication? Both language and fashion are entities which are composed of smaller pieces woven together. The final product is something larger than its individual parts. Combining analytical tools, concepts and theories from fashion, linguistics and other fields will enable me to weave together ideas to form novel and meaningful conclusions about human communication.
Most important achievement: Endometriosis is a chronic disease affecting 10% of people with female reproductive organs, and is associated with debilitating pain. After ten years of pain, I was finally diagnosed with endo and fortunate enough to undergo a laparoscopic surgery. My greatest accomplishment to date is recovery from this surgery, as it has left me strongly advocating for resources for people suffering from pelvic pain.
Reflections on the College Scholar Program: I love the College Scholar Program because I get to be unapologetically curious. When presenting my ideas to the class and going on tangents about linguistic connections in fashion, I don’t need to stop or silence myself in fear of boring my cohort members. The program has also provided me with every academic resource I could ever dream of. I get to engage with the material that most excites me and really dig into the breadth and depth of the existing body of knowledge, as well as being able to add to it.