Cultural Biography of Vintage Products – Sociology
Do people who wear vintage clothing ask themselves where the product comes from and who made it? Who wore the item before and what style it used to be in that period of time? If you are a person who wears vintage do you think about the ‘career’ your items went through? And how does the status of a product change when the product gets older? At the moment I’m working on my Master thesis in Cultural Sociology. I thought it’s about time to give you some insights of what is keeping me busy. I want to share a theory with you that popped up the questions above in my head. It’s about the ‘cultural biography of things’, a theory of Kopytoff.
From a cultural perspective, the production of commodities is also a cultural and cognitive process: commodities must be not only produces materially as things, but also culturally marked as being a certain kind of thing. (Appadurai, 1997)
Kopytoff explains in his theory ‘the biography of things’. In doing the biography of a thing, one would ask questions similar to those one asks about people; Where does the thing come from and who made it? What has been its career so far, and what do people consider to be an ideal career for such things? What are the recognized ‘ages’ or periods in the thing’s ‘life’ and what are the cultural markers for them? How does the thing’s use change with the age, and what happens to it when it reaches the end of its usefulness? (Kopytoff, 1986) I find his theory interesting when you think of secondhand, vintage products. What do you think?
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Those are interesting questions. I do wonder that, as being someone who has a few secondhand/ vintage items in his wardrobe. It would also be interesting to know if people buy clothes based on quality and aesthetic or simply due to the label and the status factor it equates them. With vintage clothing the customer is either buying something due to their specific brand loyalty or due to their aesthetic, it’s a real test of character. In the end they decide what’s more important when making a decision in purchasing an item.
I guess I never think about the history of my thrifted/ second hand/ vintage things, I think only about the future.
But nevertheless – this is very interesting way to think about the things you buy – where it came from? did the previous owner loved it? where this dress/ jacket etc. have been? any big events? why did the person choose to part with it? was she happy wearing it? Yes, definitely interesting.
The textbooks I’ve just started reading for uni are cultural perspective and sociology so this was very interesting to read!!
i love this. i did my undergrad in sociology and anthropology, and ‘things’ as we consume them fascinate me. i have always lusted after vintage jewelry (almost purely), as the story it tells is more important to me than anything else about it.
the way that a fashion item changes in the view of the public – and therefore what it becomes as a result of the way ‘we’ see it – throughout time and space.
love these ideas in relation to fashion… and even more broadly, art, social connection and engagement.
thanks for sharing!