The Language of Fashion

‘Blue is in Fashion This Year’ 45

(two signifieds and two signifiers), linked to each other by a kind of
proportionality.^10 Let us take the example of a velvet hat in oatmeal silk
(the support for meaning); for wearing in the afternoon (signified no. 1)
there are two straw cabochons on it (signifier no. 1); for the evening
(signified no. 2) it has three jet buttons (signifier no. 2)

normally, this variation applies to a contradictory opposition of
signifieds (sensible/amusing); but it can also extend to a range of states
(smart/very smart/less smart), of moments (lunch/dinner/cocktail
party/five o’clock tea/ten o’clock supper), or of circumstances (grand
ball/outdoor dance/private dance/dance at home). here we can see
the signifier defining, very closely, a tiny variant of the signified; and we
can see gradated signifieds (more or less smart) being accompanied
by starkly discontinuous signifiers (dresses with or without their
jacket).
These links are precious because they show in one go the
‘vesteme’ and its paradigm, showing simultaneously the syntagmatic
unit and the systematic opposition that the unit normally implicitly
supports. Let’s say: a cardigan which is sporty or casual depending on
whether the collar is open or fastened (the collar is the support for the
meaning, the cardigan the object it is aimed at). not only am I assured
immediately that there is a ‘vesteme’: the way of wearing an item of
clothing (or, as an abbreviation, the wearing),^11 but also I know that the
paradigm implied by this ‘vesteme’ will include at least the opposition
open/fastened.^12

Afternoon Cabochons

Evening Buttons

Velvet hat in oatmeal silk

for.....................