Footwear: Transcending the mind-body dualism in fashion theory

The place of footwear in relation to identity has not yet been effectively examined in fashion theory or the contributing fields of sociology, anthropology and psychology. Existing fashion theory can be applied to footwear, however shoes as an aspect of clothing present additional qualities that deserve independent study. 1 Among the few academics who have focussed on shoes, most have been unable to provide convincing explanations as to what these additional qualities are and why shoes continue to hold such a special place in the imagination of the consumer. This paper suggests that this inability reveals inadequacies in fashion theory methodology. Historical, semiotic and postmodern approaches are characteristic of the discipline and translate to studies that use the shoe as metaphor or as a vehicle for intellectual illumination rather than focussing on the shoe and wearer themselves in a contemporary sociological context. Fashion theory tends to be a 'mind' centred discipline that could be seen to fortify binary oppositions of mind and body; structure and agency and this can be seen to constrain analysis of actual experience - this is a central criticism of the discipline. Fashion theory does, however, have the exciting capacity to connect mind and body. What is needed to transcend these unproductive dualisms are metaphors and models that link image and embodiment, that "implicate the subject in the object and lend insight into the constitutive articulation between the inside and the outside of the body". 2 I propose that footwear is an ideal model to fulfil this requirement. In addition footwear, often referred to as the Cinderella of fashion theory (frequently overlooked and underestimated), could be the key to unlock the door between image and experience, mind and body and used as a model by which to advance fashion theory beyond abstract notions of image and representation into a study of how representation is involved in actual experience.