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Journal of Consumer Behaviour

J. Consumer Behav. 8: 7183 (2009)


Published online in Wiley InterScience
(www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/cb.274

The meaning of style? Style


ref lexivity among Danish
high school youths
Dannie Kjeldgaard*, y
Department of Marketing and Management, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230
Odense M, Denmark

In much of the cultural theory literature on youth, style has been said to have started as an
expression of subcultural class and transformed into individualized identity projects in
neo-tribal sociality. This article discusses young, Danish consumers discourses on style
and style practice. The key characteristic of their style practice is the reflexivity they bring
to bear on their negotiation of global style expression in local identity projects. This style
reflexivity manifests itself in two themes: style switching and style code reflexivity. The
article shows that consumers reflexivity of style consumption constitutes not only a folk
theory of consumption that reflects the academic and popular vernacular of style, but
also postmodern consumer research scholarships mode of expression about style. How
individual consumers handle style in a reflexive manner through folk theories of the
market is unexplored in previous research on the consumption of style.
Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Introduction
Drop in and Drop Out, Sample and Mix,
Cross Gender Divides . . . Fashion The
Past Style Surfing the Future
(Quote from Polhemus (1996), Style Surfing. What to Wear in the New Millenium)
As this opening quotation is meant to
indicate, style has become an omnipresent
*Correspondence to: Dannie Kjeldgaard, Department of
Marketing and Management, University of Southern
Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M, Denmark.
E-mail: dkj@sam.sdu.dk
y
Associate Professor

Copyright

2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

concept in popular culture and in studies of


popular culture. Style constitutes an example
of the inherent reflexivity of sociological
concepts the concepts circulate in and out
of the reality they are seeking to explain
(Giddens, 1990). In this article, the concept of
style is investigated as it is understood by a
group of young consumers. Hence, the article
explores the meaning of style in consumer
discourse. The article seeks to disentangle the
meaning of style as it is often implicitly
conceptualized in consumer research and
the use of the term in consumer discourse.
Within consumer behaviour research, style has
often been analysed in subcultural settings. It
has also been seen as a way that individual
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Dannie Kjeldgaard

consumers relate to the group dynamics of


consumption. This study shows that, while
individual relation to the group is important in
the construction of self-narratives, style consumption is a practice of reflexive relation to
self-identity. The article argues that consumers
reflexively manage style consumption through
a folk theory of style consumption. This folk
theory is infused with popularized elements of
the cultural studies theoretical points about
style, youth, subcultures and class, as well as
postmodern theories of consumption.

Style
Style, in the context of this article, is understood as the selection of a range of objects that,
through their combination, becomes a style.
Style can be said to have communicative
potential through the basic semiotic processes
of selection and combination (Barthes, 1957;
Hebdige, 1979). The constitution of a style
ranges from a rather broad way of doing
things (Maffesoli, 1996), to the general
selection and combination of objects into
lifestyles, to a narrower understanding of
style as the assemblage of clothing and
adornment objects into a fashion style (e.g.
Murray, 2002).
Scholarly study of style as an expression of
youth subcultures emerged from the work of
scholars at The Centre for Contemporary
Cultural Studies (CCCS), also known as the
Birmingham School, which was established in
1965 at the University of Birmingham. The
CCCS became highly influential in subsequent
studies of youth culture. One of the most
influential texts to come out this tradition was
Hebdiges (1979) Subculture: The Meaning of
Style; the title of this article references this
seminal text. In early CCCS work, subcultural
style was seen as a way of expressing and
managing the frustrations felt by white, male
youth who were members of a specific class
position, namely, the working class. Subcultural styles of fashion and music were
established to break both the parent culture
and the dominant social order. Furthermore, as
Copyright

2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

multiple subcultures marked the youth culture


of postwar UK, for example, Punk, mods and
skinheads, each subculture established a style;
the styles and their meanings differentiated
the groups from each other (Clarke, 1976,
Hebdige, 1979).
Hebdige (1979) defines style as (1) style as
communicative intent styles are meant to
express something; (2) style as bricolage style
is the appropriation, innovative recombination
and ultimately perversion of readily available
signs and material culture; (3) style as
homology style is the combination of certain
ways of dressing, performative practices
(particular dancing styles and musical expression, bodily postures) combined with an
ideological set of values. The concept of
homologies suggests that, to certain groups
of consumers, certain objects, practices and
artistic expressions have a symbolic affinity
that allows the subculture to express a
particular set of values (Clarke, 1976; Hebdige,
1979) and therefore, a coherent identity;
(4) style as signifying practice the novel
assemblage of elements into style is a way of
disrupting existing semiotic sign systems and,
thereby, moving towards a polysemy of both
individual objects and styles. Meanings established through styles are not closed, but open
to interpretation and representation by other
authors/readers. Hebdige points out that
various styles, in his case, subcultural ones,
can be more or less open and polysemic
(1979). The theoretical legacy of the subcultural approach has led to innovative consumer
behaviour research that shows how style
consumption emerges as a creative process
of bricolage and distinction within and
between subcultures and differentiation from
mainstream marketplace orders (e.g. Goulding
stberg,
et al., 2002; Elliott and Davies, 2005; O
2007).
The popular notion of style, thus, has its
contemporary roots in the cultural practices of
youth in the UK in the mid-to-late 20th century
and is spread into the vernacular of the insights
of style and subcultural theorists who were
studying these youth. The notion of style has
diffused into everyday market place discourses,
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The meaning of style?

most obviously in fashion (e.g. Elsa Klenchs


famous fashion program Style on CNN). Style
and the use of style has become a predominant
market place discourse a folk theory of
consumption pertaining particularly to
young consumers. Kjeldgaard and Askegaard
(2006) argue that in both popular market
culture and in theories of youth culture, style
has become a core part of the meaning of
youth as a market place ideology that
young consumers in particular engage in
style-based practices for experimentation with
and establishment of identity. The strong link
between style and identity established in the
seminal sociology of youth work of the
Birmingham School continues in more recent
perspectives, although it can be said to have
undergone a change. In recent contemporary
social theory, the styleidentity link is theorized as an expression of individualized
identity projects (e.g. Giddens, 1991) rather
than the collective class-based identity
projects of counter- and subculture in the
1960s and 1970s.
Consumer culture theories exploring consumption from a postmodern stance look at
style as a significant site for understanding
individual identities and the fragmented nature
of social life. Three of the key tenets of
postmodern perspectives on consumer culture
have implications for style.

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no longer a belief in an essential, continuous


self-identity. Consumers are, therefore,
thought to lead experimental lives in which
multiple roles are tried out (Firat, 1995). The
postmodern consumer is not only thought to
engage in the consumption of disparate styles
but also to comfortably and unproblematically
switch identity roles. Furthermore, consumers
are thought of as increasingly engaging in selfmonitoring of their style and appearance,
leading to self-objectification (or becoming
reflexive Giddens, 1991).

Hyperreality

In a postmodern consumer culture, signs are


understood as surface expressions with no
content. That is, most communication involves
mainly the concoction of imagery in which
signifiers lose attachment to signifieds and,
instead, refer to other signifiers in essence,
communication becomes a carnival of
signs (Baudrillard, 1998). This means signs
no longer have any deep meaning. The
fragmented communication landscape facilitates larger degrees of freedom for symbolic
expression. This postmodernist thought is
well-reflected in popular discourse on style
(Muggleton, (2000) exemplified in the
quotation by Polhemus (1996), which opens
this paper).

Fragmentation

In a postmodern consumer culture, the


disappearance of meta-narratives as a discursive ordering of social life is thought to
fragment social life (Firat and Venkatesh,
1995). Consequently, consumers experiences
are increasingly disjointed and momentary.
Consumers are theorized to live in a perpetual
present, seeking meaningful experiences here
and now (Firat and Schultz, 1997).

The decentered subject

Compared to modern thought, the subject is


no longer centre-stage in the sense that there is
Copyright

2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A market of style
Consumption in the form of style is constructed as a complex interaction between
marketing systems, popular culture and innovative, creative processes in youth culture (see
Kjeldgaard and Askegaard (2006) for a discussion of the global dispersion of the ideology of
youth). Spectacular youth cultures have been
conceptualized as expressions of struggles for
authenticity at collective levels an authenticity that acts as resistance to a dominant
order. However, an attempt to define oneself
as young by establishing and participating in
spectacular youth subcultures is said by some
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Dannie Kjeldgaard

to have become a futile strategy (e.g. Ziehe,


1992). Establishing relatively stable, continuous homologies (of dress-code, music taste,
gesture, grooming, etc.) as a deviant or
rebellious form is argued by some to be
increasingly difficult. The market, through
institutions such as market research most
notably for youth is the emerging industry of
coolhunting instantaneously incorporates
trends and styles from the young (Klein, 2000;
Miles, 2000; Frank, 1997). A point also noted
by Hebdige (1979) who reported that the
summer of 1977 when Punk (and The Sex
Pistols) broke through wider social representations, a fashion magazine ran a reportage
with the headline to shock is chic a perfect
early example of the dialectic and interdependence of youth culture and the market. Hence,
the markets dynamic and rapid incorporation
of youth styles into products available in stores
makes it difficult to maintain such struggles as
expressed through styles and consumer
objects. Indeed, as the market commodifies
styles on a global scale, some scholars point to
the rebellious cultures inherent commercial
character as fuel for a fashion/commodity
market (Heath and Potter, 2005).
The dialectic between the advanced capitalist system in the form of brand strategies and
consumers establishment of individualized
identity narratives has been explored in the
consumer literature on fashion. Thompson and
Haytko (1997) show that consumers manage
the lived hegemony of the fashion system by
engaging in active, individualized appropriation of countervailing cultural discourses in
constructing meaningful, locally situated social
identities. Murray (2002) explicates this argument by demonstrating how sign domination
and sign experimentation frame consumers
discourses on style and fashion, reflecting the
theoretical and popular critical stances to
consumer culture in its capitalist form, and
the postmodern sensibility of the creative and
productive assemblage of signs into individualized styles.
So far, little has been done to uncover the
meaning of style in consumer cultural vernacular in both the emic understanding of the
Copyright

2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

term style by consumers and the etic style


practices engaged in by consumers.

Method
This article is based on data collected among
Danish high school youths as part of a broader,
multi-sited study of global youth culture.
Danish youth culture was one of the two
general cultural contexts. Within this cultural
context, two high school classes were chosen,
each reflecting a rural and an urban setting,
respectively. One was a central Copenhagen
high school, representing students from a
diverse set of city neighbourhoods, and the
other was Svendborg, a country-side city
whose high school has a significant number
of students from rural areas. Data collection
entailed a three-stage procedure: (1) Students
of each class were asked to keep diaries of their
use of money and time. Furthermore, informants were asked to note consumption
favourites food, drink, music and clothing
as well as to note their dreams for the future
(of material objects and/or education/career).
Information from the diaries constituted an
important preliminary understanding of local
knowledge that was leveraged later in depth
interviews; (2) the diaries functioned as a
sampling pool for the next stage, in which six
informants from each class were chosen. Informants were sampled so as to give as much
diversity to the informant group as possible.
Informants involved in particular style subcultures were not particularly sought only
one informant could be said to engage in
subcultural style practices. This was deliberate,
in that the study sought to encompass both
marginal and mainstream identity projects in
order to establish the meaning of style across
social, ethnic, class and subculture categories.
Each informant was given a disposable camera
to document a week in their life; (3) subsequently, each informant was interviewed through
part auto-driving (Heisley and Levy, 1991),
talking about the pictures taken by the informants, and part semi-structured questions. An
overview of informants is found in Table 1.
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2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

M
F
M
F
F
M

Copenhagen
E`variste
Fatima
John
Line
Stine
Tim
Svendborg
Christoffer
Cille
Kris
Lars
Mie
Rosina
#

All informant names have been anonymized but given aliases which reflect their cultural specificities and origins

Moved to Denmark from Bosnia, age 12

From the island of r

At home
At home
At home
Dorm
At home
At home
18
18
18
18
18
19

Copyright

M
F
M
M
F
F

At
At
At
At
At
At
18
17
17
18
17
17

home
home
home
home
home
home

Dwelling

Svendborg (main town, Southern Funen)


Lindelse (village, Southern Langeland)
Lindelse (village, Southern Langeland)
Svendborg (main town, Southern Funen)
Rudkbing (main town on Langeland)
Rudkbing (main town on Langeland)

Lived in Odense (main city on Funen) until age 16

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Age
Sex
Namea

Table 1. Informant Overview

Home

Nrrebro (city neighbourhood)


Vesterbro (city neighbourhood)
sterbro (city neighbourhood)
Brnshj (city-suburb)
Amager (city neighbourhood)
Sydhavnen (city neighbourhood)

Comments

Moved to Denmark from Cote dIvoire, age 10


Moved to Denmark from Pakistan, age 8

The meaning of style?

The analysis was conducted according to


hermeneutic principles of a part-whole dialectic. Each informants data were analysed
intratextually and subsequently related to the
whole of the data set from the particular data
collection site which was then analysed
intertextually (Thompson and Haytko, 1997).
Furthermore, as interpretation began to
emerge from one data collection site, data
collection was initiated in the other site, and a
more macro-level part-to-whole interpretive
process was carried through.
Discourses of style emerged emically in
connection with both auto-driving and during
semi-structured parts of the interview, when
diary entries etc. were discussed.

Findings
In general, consumption among informants is
interpreted to occur in a construction of
reflexive self-narratives (Arnould and Price,
2000; Giddens, 1991). This is predominant
among both urban and rural informants. Style
and consumption opportunities, however, are
understood differently. For urban informants,
consumption is a matter of making choices
among a plethora of opportunities, while for
rural informants, it is a matter of addressing the
lack of opportunities. However, regardless of
whether it means making choices or reflexively managing the lack of choice of style
opportunities, style is, nevertheless, a predominant theme across both urban and rural
contexts. Hence, it constitutes the focal area
for the following data analysis. Two predominant themes of style organized consumers
narratives: style switching and style codes.
Sometimes its nice to be normal
Postmodern (?) Style Switching
For the informants, style is interpreted to
represent a means of expressing various
aspects of their self-perceived identity and as
an opportunity for experimenting with other
identities through role switching.
To informants, styles represent a plethora of
possible expressions. Several informants disJournal of Consumer Behaviour, Mar.June 2009
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Dannie Kjeldgaard

cuss their style switching behaviour, whether


from a subcultural to a mainstream style, or
between various styles. Switching among
styles is internally consistent as a practice;
however, as cultural forms, the styles cannot
be combined. For example, one informant
(Tim, age 17, from Copenhagen) took pictures
of a number of consumption items, including
clothes. The picture on the left-hand side in
Figure 1 shows two pairs of special-brand
jeans he had just bought, characterizing them
as typical hip hop jeans (wide and baggy and a
special import from the US). The picture on the
right-hand side shows a second-hand chalkstripe suit he bought as well as a pair of black
leather shoes. He told me that he and a friend
had bought a suit each because it was fun
once in a while to go out dressed up like that.
Says Tim:
Tim: I guess these are all the things I buy
[referring to the pictures]. Its quite important in my everyday life because . . . new
clothes and I guess Im a bit of a fashionvictim, I always want the latest and I dont
mind the cost. And thats also because I like
hip hop and rap music so it springs from
that. Like this one [points to a picture] this
is a magazine I bought called The Source
and its only about hip hop and hip hop
music and . . . you know, just to keep up
with the latest news, the latest releases and
so on and - and, yes, then the clothes
[switches to the picture of the jeans]. Big
pants, thats what I like and, well, its a bit
more expensive than when you buy
ordinary clothes.
Interviewer: But is it a certain brand?

Tim: Yes. These two are Fubu jeans and


they cost around 800 kroner a piece. So . . .
Interviewer: Is it a Danish brand?
Tim: No, its American. But when my friend
and I get in that special mood [Tim
switches to talk about the picture of the
suit] ... we put on our suits and go out. But
we have actually found a smart deal. Out
on Frederiksberg [a city neighbourhood]
theres a second-hand shop and they have a
lot of different suits and none of them are
more than 200 kroner. And since its not
something you wear that often you dont
want to spend like 1500 or 2000 kroner.
So we bought ourselves a couple of suits
and went out. [. . .] if we suddenly say
tonight we are going to do something
different and a different place then we put
on our suits because its easier to get access.
Interviewer: Its easier?
Tim: Yes . . . and Ive also worn it at a
school party and I only had positive
responses so why not, its quite a laugh.
But I guess you feel a bit more grown-up.
But it looks nice and its quite fun although
you dont feel quite like yourself.
Later in the interview, he elaborated by
stating that sometimes it felt nice to be
normal. Switching to the normal style
signifies enacting a different role for Tim,
not one that he finds altogether comfortable.
The big clothes of the hip hop paradigm
are what he is used to and become a key
signifier for his real identity. However,
putting on the suit, he enacts a different role,

Figure 1. Pictures of two clothing paradigms taken by Tim.

Copyright

2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Journal of Consumer Behaviour, Mar.June 2009


DOI: 10.1002/cb

The meaning of style?

one that is more adult and more mainstream.


Although Tim is clearly relatively closely
attached to the hip hop scene, the style
paradigm is not found suitable for all consumption situations certain clubs, school
parties, etc. The style-switching practice is put
under the umbrella of fun and play. Tims
participation in the hip hop scene is probably
more reminiscent of the neo-tribal form of
sociality rather than a subcultural affiliation
(Maffesoli, 1995; Bennett, 1999). The example
shows that even in leisure time, the subcultural
style-paradigm may be broken in favour of
experimenting with other styles. Furthermore,
Tims use of the hip hop style has little
ideological value, but it has high personal value
in constituting and expressing Tims personal
identity. This switching, although to some
extent exhibiting postmodernist role switching, involves difficult identity transitions that
are not done with ease, since they involve
breaking with a sense of a continuous self.
There is, obviously, a certain homological
relationship expressed by Tim in the close
association between media, music and clothing style. The close attachment between music
and style also appears in the next quotation, in
which Christoffer (male, age 18, from Svendborg) tells me about the role of style and taste
in relation to identity:
Christoffer: I can put it this way that Im
the kind of person who I dont want to be
like all the others. For example, I dont
want to cut my hair just to look like
everybody else I would like to go my own
ways. And not be pressured so much.
Interviewer: How do you do that . . .go your
own ways?
Christoffer: I feel that like, a lot of people
ask me whether I cut my hair and so on.
And maybe Im dressed differently sometimes. A bit more I like the hippie-style,
with long hair and flower power and so on.
And do that clothing style and so on [. . .].
And if people say that Im wearing something ugly I dont care. I think that since I
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2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

77

like it then its my opinion that counts. So


you shouldnt dress like others would but
like you prefer it [. . .].
Interviewer: But . . . you say the hippiestyle, whats . . .
Christoffer: Well, its not something I wear
right now. It differs [. . .] but its also
because I like the Doors and that kind of
thing, so its not just the clothes Im after. I
mean . . . but theres also this thing with
short hair and lots of hair gel and techno
clothes, and that kind of thing . . .
Interviewer: Thats something you distance
yourself from?
Christoffer: No, I wouldnt distance myself
from it, I actually like to wear some of that
clothes but its not . . . I feel that I would
only do it if I felt like it myself. But short
hair, no, I dont want that again. I think I
have tried that enough, so I want to try
something new. And thats the thing, I like
many different things. So its a bit different
what I wear. Maybe I should call myself a
freestyler [not translated].
Interviewer: Say again?
Christoffer: Freestyler.
Interviewer: Okay. You mentioned music
taste, you mentioned The Doors and you
also wrote some other things. Could you
tell me a bit more about your music taste?
Christoffer: Well, it goes back to the sixties
and seventies, mostly music with Jimi
Hendrix, the Doors and what else, let me
see . . .Deep Purple and so on, that kind of
thing . . . and some more recent music as
well, rock and a bit of pop but not so much,
and indie [...].
Christoffer seems to be searching through
the variety of styles available to him in order be
able to express his own preferences and
attempting to express difference from those
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Dannie Kjeldgaard

around him. Like Tim, Christoffer is also


relying on style paradigms that connect music
with clothing style and grooming, etc. And, like
Tim, Christoffer is able to use several stylesources for expressing his identity. His freestyling can be seen as a way of continuously
searching for sources of expression that will
allow Christoffer to differentiate himself from
others. However, unlike Tim, Christoffers
relation to style choice is more free-floating
in that his choices are largely directed towards
standing out, with a willingness to change style
paradigms in order to retain his perceived
uniqueness; Tim, on the other hand, is more
dedicated to one style and experiments with
other styles in a complementary manner. Apart
from this awareness of the judgement of and
differentiation from peers, style switching may
have an identity-formative function in relation
to parents. A recent qualitative market
research report of young consumers style
consumption practices showed that informants often style switched according to
context (as Tims switch between hip hop
and formal wear discussed above), sometimes
several times within one week. Informants
reported that one of the added benefits of this
practice was that their style consumption
appeared confusing and incomprehensible to
their parents (Solgaard, 2008).
Line (female, age 18, from a Copenhagen
suburb) also talks about the multiplicity of
styles that can be appropriate and define an
individual style. A recurring theme was Lines
quest to be(come) an exciting person. This
included being good at cooking, developing a
personal clothing style, and for example, to be
able to meditate. Says Line of her styles:
This thing about style, I dont know . . . its a
bit different what I wear, I mean I have
these high-heeled black boots and then
maybe a skirt I could wear that one day;
and then I have these huge wide purple
corduroy trousers which I wear sometimes
and thats a totally different I mean its
just so different.
Line has no problems using a variety of
styles. However, the seemingly fragmented
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2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

style use is also acknowledged as such by Line


(her acknowledgement of the difference of her
styles). In relation to style theory as outlined in
the introduction of the article, one could say
that Christoffer and Line borrow only the
aesthetic elements from a youth (sub)cultural
style, without necessarily buying into the
values and total homologies originally expressed through the style. Through these style
practices, they, on the one hand, destabilize the
style homology through the retro-appropriation
of the style while, at the same, they reference and
reproduce certain parts of the homology.
This very individualistic expression of preference and identity can be paradoxically
expressed through commonly available style
paradigms. Style categories become personalized and individualized in their usage, pointing
to the polysemy of style (Hebdige, 1979).
Despite the usage of a formerly subcultural
style paradigm such as hippie in very individual
and localized ways, the categories homology
remains, to some extent: for example, certain
types of dress are connected to certain types of
music, although the homological relationship
may have been established about 30 years ago.
Many of these style homologies have now come
to constitute classics of youth culture that can
be referenced by contemporary youth as signs of
good taste and knowledge of the cultural
history of youth (basically, exhibiting high
cultural capital within the field of youth culture,
to use Bourdieus (1979) terms).
The usage of style becomes a matter of
searching for and expressing a personal
(imagined) authenticity rather than a subcultural one. The informants seem to be caught in
an ambivalence of feeling that they merely
express their selves while having to continuously search for a style that is expressive of their
selves. Therefore, style is not important and
meaningful in itself, rather, the choice of style
becomes important in expressing identity.
I didnt make the rules, right? style
code reflexivity
The liberal style switching described above
was mirrored by another core element in
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The meaning of style?

informants discourses of style, namely an


element of style code reflexivity. Informants
were reflexive about how style is communicative about identity and, furthermore,
reflexive about which styles could be consumed and not. Line, female age 18 says about
the communicativeness of style:
Line: [. . .], but it means quite a lot to me
what I wear. I think its quite important . . .
Interviewer: How . . . I mean, whats
important about it?
Line: Because its like your . . . I mean I
judge people, other people, young people at
least, on their clothes, their clothing style
. . . theres this thing about the pop-girls,
sort of prejudices, girls who wear sort of
short blouses and so on its a bit like
blondes, you know. It tells a lot [about
people] whether you have an exciting
clothing style or a bit different [. . .].
Lines fragmented style switching, which
was also described earlier, is complemented by
a style of distaste (Wilk, 1997), namely the pop
style. However, she exhibits an almost
strategic awareness and knowledge of what
style has the potential to do. Another informant, Kristian, age 18 from Rudkbing, Langeland, comments ironically on his style:
Interviewer: In the diary you wrote something about your clothing style. How
would you describe your clothing style?
Kristian: Well, we call it . . . one of my
friends call it, well, the model style. I mean
it is just very ordinary. Like this pink polo
shirt thats just to annoy the others, its
just for fun. But I think its quite nice and it
suits me. But I used to wear the hip hop
style but I dont anymore.
His preferred clothing style is related to what
others think of his style. Thus, he also exhibits
reflexivity over styles communicative aspects,
as Line did. Furthermore, he is able to
recognize the distaste others have of this style,
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2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

79

which in some sense, grants him a clearer


identity position. Hence, reflexivity over social
meaning of style tastes and hence the
signifying practice noted by Hebdige (1979)
acts as key markers of the meaning of his
personal preferences.
As illustrated in the quote from Line, there is
a common reference to the pop-girl/pop-boy
style. This reference was predominant among
informants and the style, with the function of
negation, is a defining basis for the other styles.
Here, distaste (Wilk, 1997) defines which style
options are legitimate in identity practice. In a
sense, there is a mutual respect for all those
styles not belonging to the pop paradigm. The
pop style tight t-shirts, fluorescent colours,
techno music originates due to local systems
of social differences combined with market
place popularity: all informants are at the
general form of high school, which has a long
tradition of preparing students for university
education, rather than as a school for technical
training. Youth culture, in these environments,
has a historical relation to more intellectual
counter cultures a kind of high culture in the
landscape of youth cultures (Stormhj, 2002)
as opposed to more hedonistic street cultures,
such as rockers. The pop image is discursively
positioned in low culture because of this
historical reason and because of its popularity.
In the following quote, Fatima (female age 17,
from Copenhagen) is describing the pop style
as well as her ambivalent feelings towards the
style:
Fatima: [. . .] techno, and fluorescent
clothes and big pants, but its these small
teenage girls now. I dont know how to
explain it. Its really tight clothes and these
colours, red colours so that you really
notice it. I actually like that clothes but its
just that these twelve or thirteen year old
girls are wearing it now, so I dont want to
wear it because Im not twelve or thirteen,
so I choose a style that fits my age.
Interviewer: In order not to look like those
who are twelve or thirteen?
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Dannie Kjeldgaard

Fatima: Yes, because theres something


symbolic in clothes I mean you signal
something about what kind of person you
are from the clothes you wear, and I dont
want to be stamped a pop-girl.
Interviewer: Why is that?
Fatima: Im not really afraid what people
were to think of me but its I mean, I
didnt make the rules, right. But there are
these categories so that people . . . when
people see someone in pop-clothes they
think oh, theres a pop-girl. I dont like
that. I dont want to be stamped as a popgirl.
The fact that younger consumers have
incorporated the style becomes constitutive
of the symbolics of the style for Fatima. At an
aesthetic level, however, Fatima appreciates
the style but refrains from adopting the style
due to social desirability issues. Fatimas
discourse on the pop style is illustrative of
the reflexivity concerning the choice of style
rather than the style itself. The choice of the
style is what becomes constitutive of identity
symbolics rather than the actual shape, colour
and material used for the clothing style. In a
theoretical perspective, it is not surprising that
the relation between signifier and signified is
an arbitrary one; what is more interesting,
however, is the reflexivity regarding the
symbolic meaning of choice that is present
in the style discourses. For Fatima, styles must
be chosen with some caution due to the
perceived gaze of the other and the interpretation of the gaze based on the cultural meaning
of the style (as Fatima imagines it).
Styles can be judged as legitimate on a purely
aesthetic basis (Fatimas liking of the pop
style), but style is also laden with social
meaning that emerges through the appropriation of a style by other groups and
through institutionalized meanings generated
through market representations (as is also
noted by Holt, 1997). Here, personal taste is
given second priority since the social meaning
attached to the style does not fit the image a
person wants others to have of her. Fatima is
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2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

reflexive about certain structural relations


of the styles and peer evaluations of which
styles are thought to be acceptable. Here,
reference to I didnt make the rules, right,
again points to a consciousness about the style
landscape and how style choice is not merely
passively reflecting a given, individual preference.

Conclusion: the meaning of style


The accounts of style consumption analysed
above was organized in two overall thematic
categories: style switching and style code
reflexivity. The analysis argued that the
informants in this study understood themselves as consumers of style. Discursively,
style does not so much express something in
itself informants do not necessarily use the
styles for their semiotic content but, rather,
express identity through the relationship they
have to the styles (Ziehe, 1992). Style
represents a relationship to style, which is a
part of their identity. At the same time, the
styles retain homological, syntagmatic relations. The postmodern meanings of style thus
emerge at the intersection of a seemingly
increasing fragmentation of style symbols and a
continuity of homologies and sign syntagms
that are constituted through the cultural
history of youth. Consumers reflexively manage the social meanings of style and the
implications of their choices of style for selfidentity.
This form of reflexivity, between individuals
and dynamic social structures, is argued by
Giddens (1991) to consist of awareness of
dynamic social structures, constant monitoring of action and correction of individual
action, which in turn influences the social
structures. In relation to the findings in this
study, informants discourses of style consumption can be said to be reflexive through
the awareness of the availability of styles,
awareness of dynamics of style usage and
appropriation by other consumers, as well as
self-monitoring of style consumption and
correction of style consumption behaviour in
Journal of Consumer Behaviour, Mar.June 2009
DOI: 10.1002/cb

The meaning of style?

relation to these dynamics and in relation to


self-narratives of authenticity (Arnould and
Price, 2000). This reflexivity is expressed in
consumers own theory of the dynamics
between the individual and the group, the
individual and social meaning of styles and the
individuals relation to self-narrative. In other
words, informants ways of handling the
relations to choices of style can be said to
constitute a folk theory (Thompson and
Haytko, 1997) of style consumption. This folk
theory has three core elements:
(1) Among consumers, style means identity
expression. Although seeking to establish their
own style of style consumption, informants
are, nevertheless, aware of the typifications
associated with various styles. So, even if
informants express that they style switch, this
switching is done only within a range of styles
that are deemed appropriate. This points to a
reflexivity not only about what styles symbolize, but also about the way style codes
operate, representing certain social types.
An inherent part of style consumption as a
practice is, therefore, using an understanding
of the social mechanisms that operate in the
style landscape and relating that understanding
to what is regarded as authentic style
expressions (Elliott and Davies, 2005).
(2) The choice of style is characterized by
a degree of freedom in which informants
explicitly discuss consumption of disparate
styles, reflecting the postmodern vernacular of
fragmentation. Engaging in fragmented consumption behaviour something which would
be deemed inauthentic in traditional understandings of style as subculture grants
consumers a form of authenticity as they are
able to differentiate their self-narrative from
peers as well as parents. Consumers, then,
consider themselves to have the freedom to
choose among prevailing style expressions
and understand themselves as having such
freedom (elaborating on the way they style
switch).
(3) Consumers are aware that choice of style
is deeply embedded in social relations and that
there are social codes as to which styles can
and cannot be consumed (or which are
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2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

81

deemed authentic or inauthentic cf. Elliott


and Davies, 2005). The social codes, however,
are also, in some instances, available as
resources for playful identity expression (as
when Kristian ironically wears the model
style). The informants hence reflexively
handle these structural limitations on the freedom of choice. The consumers represented in
this article reflexively handle the two, seemingly opposed style logics of style switching
and style codes or what Murray (2002) term
sign experimentation and sign domination,
respectively. However, rather than handling
domination from the capitalist system, consumers in this study handle sign domination
reflexively, in relation to dynamics of the social
meaning of styles.
This study extends previous research on
the consumption of style in several ways. The
discussion of the style-switching practice
questions some of the notions of postmodern
consumption theory. Although styles have,
indeed, become more free floating, decoupled
from ideology and class expression, the
elements of the styles still appear in homological configurations. This indicates that
postmodern consumer culture has not completely become a carnival of signs or a mass of
free-floating signifiers. The media and consumers discursive maintenance of style homologies reproduce structural relations of the
styles. Furthermore, because of the decoupling
of style and ideology, consumers hardly switch
identities with their switching of styles, as is
often claimed (e.g. Firat, 1995). Rather, various
styles are consumed to construct coherent,
individualized identity narratives. From what
may seemingly constitute postmodern fragmentation through the consumption of incommensurate style expressions, a logical (modern) discursive ordering of style consumption
at an individual level emerges (in relation to
informants self-narratives and perceptions of
authenticity as well as in relation to structuring
rules of the market cf. Thompson and
Haytko, 1997).
By exploring consumers folk theories of
style consumption, the study shows that there
is a strong element of reflexivity in how style
Journal of Consumer Behaviour, Mar.June 2009
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Dannie Kjeldgaard

consumption is given meaning. Previous


studies (e.g. Elliott and Davies, 2005) do argue
that consumers show awareness of other styles
and engage in self-monitoring practices, but do
not conceptualize this as reflexivity. Further,
previous studies have focused on self-monitoring in relation to the style group of identification, often rooted in consumers who are
members of style subcultures, and as such
exhibit strong awareness of group acceptance
by practising style as deemed authentic by the
stberg, 2007). While social
group (e.g. O
dynamics and group identification are always
important elements in the establishment and
practice of taste, the informants in this study, at
least discursively, were much more preoccupied with exhibiting style practices that
were deemed authentic in relation to a
reflexive self-hood. The reflexive handling of
styles can be interpreted as technologies of the
self in which consumers handle, manage and
monitor self-identity (Jantzen et al., 2006)
within the network of practices that constitute
the particular power-knowledge field of youth
cultural style consumption. The article contributes to previous research by demonstrating
how individual consumers handle style in a
reflexive manner through folk theories of the
market.
By examining consumers own theories of
consumption, the study points forward to
consumer behaviour research that not only
includes complex structural explanations of
consumer behaviour and discourse but also of
the relative complexity of consumers own
theorizations of consumption and the market
place. Future research, then, may want to
unpack and explain the emergence of the folk
theories of consumption. One might argue for
this study, for example, that the folk theory of
style consumption reflects an historical diffusion and popularization of theories of style
consumption, youth culture and of the postmodern vernacular. This diffusion occurs at
all levels and among many actors of the
market such as through academic curricula,
public opinion leaders, advertising, market
research, style media etc. This can be interpreted as a power-knowledge regime (Foucault,
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2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

1994; Thompson, 2004) of marketing and


consumption.

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