Analysis of a Fashion Vlog by Jennifer Im

An example of communication that I chose to use for my media analysis project is a winter fashion vlog video published to YouTube.com on December 9th, 2014 by a fashion and style YouTuber named Jennifer Im, under the username “clothesencounters” (Winter 2014 Lookbook). A fashion vlog is a two to six minute long contemporary video lookbook that aims to express a stylist’s aesthetic taste in fashion and style to the viewer through the exhibition of created outfits (“looks”), and perhaps even guide the viewer by offering creative style inspiration for the viewer’s self. Jenn Im’s fashion YouTube videos have recently gained eminence, as evidenced by her accumulation of more than one million subscribers and eighty-eight million video views on YouTube. Jenn Im’s self published YouTube fashion vlogs are an example of a “counter hegemonic media activity” because they are used to create and purvey content “independent of the industry,” which helps deconstruct hegemonic norms concerning capitalism, class, and gender (Boateng Lecture: ‘The Culture Industry’ Slide 21).

Jenn Im’s fashion vlogs are counter hegemonic because they aim to deconstruct the capitalistic treatment of fashion and galvanize the democratization of fashion by increasing opportunities for the public to become more involved with fashion culture. In the United States, there is a preexisting social mindset of pursuing democracy and an all inclusive opportunity for involvement of the public—such a mindset is visible in the history of the American struggle for equality of opportunities for African Americans, women, homosexual people, and minorities. This trend of desiring to make the opportunities that are currently only available to white people available to all carries over into the cultural phenomenon of fashion. Since the invent of runway shows, the fashion lookbook has been used to promote a designer’s point of view on style. However, such lookbooks often only feature clothing from high-end fashion brands and have the primary ambition of marketing a designer’s clothing for purchase rather than for the expression of opinion on style, which thus causes its audience to be limited to only those who can afford such garments. This capitalistic model of fashion culture constructed by the profit oriented lookbooks and runway shows is undemocratic because it limits the ability of people to be involved in fashion through economic purchasing power; if one can not afford the garments displayed in such exhibitions, one can not fully participate in the world of fashion and style. Thus, with this older model of fashion culture, only a small percentage of the world, primarily the white upper class, can fully participate in the world of fashion. However, the rise of the online video lookbook, otherwise known as the “fashion vlog,” has helped democratize fashion culture by allowing anyone to partake in the expression of their sense of style or creativity and not be forced to confine themselves to one brand of clothing or aesthetic style in doing so. In today’s society, anyone can express their own opinion on what embodies an aesthetically pleasing style through self published mediums such as video logs on YouTube instead of having to be dictated by the opinions of so called stylists, high-end fashion brands, and designers who didactically over assert their opinions regarding style through lookbooks, magazines, and runway shows. Because of the ability to express opinion through self publishing mediums such as YouTube, the public does not have to face the financial pressures and limits on creativity that designers, stylists, and fashion magazine editors often have to face; the public only needs to be concerned with expressing what it desires to express, whereas the personnel of the fashion media industry need to prioritize the capitalistic objective of maximizing monetary profit.

Aside from democratizing fashion culture by increasing its accessibility, YouTube fashion vlogs have the unique feature of a comments section, which allows for public discussion and involvement with the creator’s interpretation of style, whereas lookbooks and fashion magazines are concrete, definitive pages that are distributed with no expectation of public participation or response. According to Sterne, “if you want democratic participation, you also need a reflective populace […] the participants have to be able to take on some kind of critical perspective on the work in order for it to have any avant-garde potential” (Sterne). The fact that the traditional print lookbook and fashion magazine cannot have “any avant-garde potential” because they do not provide a forum for the public to take a “critical perspective on the work,” reinforces the idea of a culture industry: that the majority of mass media merely maintains hegemonic ideologies and “offers audiences narratives to help them accept” such hegemonic ideologies (Boateng Lecture: ‘The Culture Industry’ Slide 16). In the case of the lookbook, examples of narratives provided to the public that preserve dominant ideologies are the romanticization of the upper class white lifestyle and propagation of gender specific fashion. These examples will be further elaborated later in the paper. However, in contrast to the hegemonic media that is traditional lookbooks and fashion magazines, fashion vlogs are examples of counter hegemonic media because they provide the audience with opportunities to critically discuss the work, which helps reveal the ideologies prevalent in fashion culture and thus aids in uncovering the reality of fashion culture.

When analyzing Im’s fashion vlogs specifically, it becomes apparent that her vlogs help propagate a more democratized and accessible fashion culture. Her vlogs do so because the clothes she uses to create her looks are from accessible and affordable retail and thrift stores, which means that anyone who desires to achieve a similar style or attain clothes inspired by those featured in Im’s videos, not just those of the upper class who can afford high fashion garments, can do so and thus fully participate in the enriching and expansive cultural form of expression that is fashion.

In terms of how the fashion vlog differs from other forms of communication related to fashion culture, such as the fashion magazine, the fashion vlog promotes democratization of style more than fashion magazines. Fashion magazines are often ridden with ads: “MediaRadar reports that six of the seven top women's fashion magazines sold more advertising pages for their big September issues than they did a year ago,” and have the primary purpose of creating profit and gaining revenue through the advertisement of clothing or beauty related products rather than inspiring creativity of style (Taube). The existence of advertising in the fashion magazine mars the primary goal of the dissemination of opinion on style as well as reader involvement in fashion culture because at the end of the day, fashion magazines are “commercial platforms” that “monetize their users’ participation either directly or indirectly” (Sterne). So while fashion magazines may promote participation, they do so for the sake of monetary gain rather than for democratization—on the other hand, the fashion vlog promotes involvement of the public without a monetary incentive. Although the fashion vlog appears to be much more beneficial to society in comparison to the traditional lookbook, it is important to note that the possibility of YouTube monetizing popular videos could limit this interpretation of the fashion vlog as a force against the capitalistic treatment of fashion. But overall, the fashion vlog, as well as fashion vlogs specifically created by Im, are counter hegemonic because they deconstruct the capitalistic approaches toward fashion culture manifested in lookbooks and fashion magazines, and promote democratization in a society and fashion culture where “the influence of private money” is significant enough to limit and undermine the intended “democracy” of institutions such as fashion (Zelizer).

Jenn Im’s fashion vlogs are counter hegemonic because they help dismantle the dominant ideology of glamorizing the upper class white lifestyle in mainstream consumer fashion culture. In mainstream fashion, it is not unusual to observe a reverence of the white leisure lifestyle—Abercrombie and Fitch, for example, has a “legacy of an unabashed consumer celebration of [elite] whiteness that, in the face of a nation whose past and present are riddled with racist ideas, politics, and ideology, is not entirely new” (McBride 64). Furthermore, other popular fashion brands such as Ralph Lauren and Banana Republic also “commodify a particular upper-class American lifestyle” (McBride 72). Im’s fashion vlogs invalidate this hegemonic ideal that only clothes associated with the upper-class white lifestyle are acceptable indications of possessing a pleasing sense of style by creating looks for the public that celebrate clothes with non-American cultural influences, such as Middle Eastern influenced tapestry scarves and Indian influenced prints on harem pants, and clothes that are purchased at low-end stores such as thrift stores. Im’s specific focus on creating looks with clothes purchased from low class thrift stores breaks down the norm of glamorizing expensive clothing that only those of the upper class can afford, because the thrift store itself is a conglomeration of clothes from different cultures and styles, unlike a high-end clothing store that purposefully selects the clothes that it wants to sell with the aim of supporting the dominant ideology that only clothes that embody the upper class white lifestyle are satisfactory signs of good style. Im frequently even creates fashion vlogs titled “Goodwill Haul,” where she constructs outfits from clothing and accessories that were entirely purchased at thrift stores like Goodwill. The fact that the public seems to respond positively to this shift in ideology regarding what constitutes “good style,” as suggested by the accumulation of one million subscribers and eighty-eight million video views on Im’s YouTube channel, demonstrates how Im’s videos successfully aid in deconstructing the dominant ideology in consumer fashion that romanticizes the upper class white lifestyle.

Another example of how Im’s fashion vlog serves as a stark contrast to the lookbook can be seen in the comparison of the infamous A&F lookbook and one of her fashion vlogs. The A&F lookbook is an example of hegemonic media because it preserves the dominant ideology of elite white supremacy by “delineating its commitment to whiteness […] in terms of what it deems acceptable in the way of appearance (McBride 70). For example, the A&F lookbook states guidelines for appropriate hairstyle, such as how “dreadlocks” or “any type of ‘fade’ cut is unacceptable” (McBride 70). This authoritative role of A&F in groundlessly deciding what is acceptable and what isn’t directly contrasts Im’s ‘Get Ready with Me: Girls Night Out’ vlog, because in her vlog Im creates an unconventional hairstyle of two buns on her head that she says is “perfect” for the night, but also tells the audience that “if this hairstyle is too wonky or even atrocious […] feel free to not wear your hair like this and style it how you normally would” (Get Ready with Me: Girls Night Out). Im thus merely expresses her opinion on style rather than dictating what is acceptable and what isn’t, which is positive because it helps keep fashion culture mutable and open to public critique, unlike the A&F lookbook.

Jenn Im’s fashion vlogs are counter hegemonic because they serve to refute traditional dominant ideologies regarding gender and help accept broader gender norms in fashion. There is already an “increasingly tolerant attitude towards gender identity” in society, manifested in the fashion world through events such as the launch of the fashion “industry’s first ever unisex label” in 2007 (Cruickshank). However, the hegemony still remains that male and female clothing are separate and that males ought to dress “masculine” and females out to dress “feminine.” Im’s fashion vlog is an example of counter hegemonic media that aids in overturning this hegemonic gender norm of style by creating diverse looks that incorporate both feminine and masculine elements of style and thus promote the idea that anyone can dress in any style that they want to, regardless of gender. For example, in one of her lookbooks titled “Winter Lookbook 2014,” Im exhibits an outfit titled “Tomboy Tough.” In the clip of the video where she presents her outfit, the viewer sees Jenn Im standing in the center of the screen, looking into the camera with her legs crossed and her hands stuck into her pockets, wearing a loose white striped shirt, oversized olive jacket, gray acid wash skinny jeans, black platform boots, and a warriors basketball knit beanie. On the whole, Im’s outfit exhibits muted colors and loose, not form fitting pieces. These colors and form, along with the chunky and square quality of the boots she wears suggests a casual and more masculine style, since loose clothes, muted colors, and square structures are usually associated with masculinity. The olive color and almost shapeless form of Im’s jacket construes the image of a typical army jacket—army jackets are linked to notions of masculinity and toughness. The fact that Im also mentions that the jacket is from a “menswear” line, but that she believes the type of jacket she is wearing shouldn’t “just” be “limited to dudes” also propagates the idea that masculine stylistic elements shouldn’t be prohibited from women’s style because the aesthetic should be able to be appreciated by both genders. Her “acid wash” jeans in the context of fashion connotes rock and roll, masculinity, and toughness, and her use of the word “neutral” to describe the jeans once again attempts to remove gendered stylistic elements from the outfit. Im continues to channel the masculine vibe of the outfit with her Warrior’s basketball game beanie, seeing that sports are often linked to masculinity. However, the skinny jeans and heeled quality of the boots, as well as her curled hair, connotes a more feminine style since tighter clothes and heels are often associated with femininity. Thus, her outfit is a blend of feminine and masculine elements, with a more apparent masculine tone, which relates back to her naming of the outfit as “Tomboy Tough.” The video then cuts to a new scene of Im in a stance where her arms are crossed and she looks straight into the camera with an unapologetic and nonchalant facial expression while twirling a strand of her hair. Here, we see Im propagate her message of eradicating gender boundaries through her body language; she exhibits a mixture of masculine and feminine gestures. In her almost standoff ish stance with strong squared shoulders, arms crossed, and unapologetic facial expression, we can detect a “tough” and masculine aura, that seems to signify someone who knows their worth and doesn’t care what others think of them. On the other hand, the twirling of her hair is a more feminine gesture that softens the overall masculine stance. As demonstrated by not only the choice of clothing for this look, but also by Im’s body language when exhibiting her look in the video, Im’s fashion vlogs allow readers to see that gender is a social construct— masculine and feminine stylistic elements can actually be synthesized to create innovative and creative looks. Thus, through this example, Im’s fashion vlogs deconstruct hegemonic norms concerning gender.

Overall, Im’s video breaks down the “corporate cultural” style and “quasi cultish devotion” that stores like Abercrombie “seem to inspire;” her video is not a “conventional code of expression” since it is not dictated by a capitalistic agenda, and it reveals the realities of fashion culture by deconstructing hegemonic ideologies regarding capitalism, class, and gender norms prevalent in today’s society, and by offering her own ideas of what constitutes good style in a non dictatorial approach (McBride 76). Through her impact on fashion, a societal aspect of culture, Im’s videos thus help dismantle the “deep seated sexism and elitism” pervasive in American society (McBride 87).