Manipulating surface and producing ‘effortless’ elegance – analysing the social organization of glamour

ABSTRACT

This article explores the social organization of glamour in a specific affective economy. Glamour, a phenomenon often viewed as frivolous and feminine, has been relatively under-explored within organization studies, and, although there have been some relative theoretical engagements, there are few empirical studies on how glamour is produced ‘in the field’. Here, I draw upon ethnographic material to analyse three ways in which glamour is produced within the particular setting of a fashion show – through the clothing collection, throughout the frontstage and backstage spaces stimulating glamour, and finally, through individuals embodying glamour. This article develops glamour as an organizational phenomenon. Specifically, the social organization of glamour, always in flux, is contingent on situated improvisation, manipulative acts and interactions among multiple agents. Finally, the overlooked subject of glamour is of interest in regards to the sociology of organizations more generally, since much of contemporary capitalism relies on its production.

KEYWORDS:

• Glamour
• social organization
• fashion show
• manipulation
• ethnography

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank all the lovely VIDA ladies at the CMS conference in Manchester 2013 for encouraging comments on an early draft of this article. I would also like to thank the two anonymous Culture and Organization reviewers for their excellent suggestions and helpful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Of course, this is not really the case, for everyone, everywhere across the globe. In fact, the majority of the literature on glamour remains culturally specific, bordering on ethnocentric (e.g. Wilson 2007; Moeran 2015).

2 Although I view the strength of an ANT approach in exploring organizing through the interrelations between human and non-human agents, I am well aware of ANT’s somewhat ’naturalizing ontology’ and unreflexive epistemology (Whittle and Spicer 2008), especially when it comes to the ‘naturalizing’ of human embodiment (Dale and Lantham 2015).

3 Starting in January 2013, I followed the fashion label studied in this article extensively, meeting with the designer on a regular basis, researching and helping out with fashion fairs, fashion weeks, sales events and happenings, until August 2015, covering a significantly longer period of fieldwork than the work this paper is based upon.

4 I use the word fashionista as a term referring to a fashion insider.