25th January 2023, 16:00 – Jarman Studio 5, Hybrid format (in-person and online)
Rosie Findlay (Lecturer in Media Studies, University of Kent)
In this paper I examine the changes wrought to women’s/lifestyle media during the coronavirus pandemic. Closely analysing several issues of Grazia UK from the first UK lockdown, I argue that the societal and affective disorientation of the pandemic allowed this magazine to do genuine political work – critiquing the government, advocating for non-capitalist subjectivities and forms of community work – which is normally absent from such publications due to their imbrication in commercial logics and industries.
At the same time, fashion was reframed as a tool to navigate the affective uncertainties of the pandemic, offering levity (comfort, play) and escape (dreaming of better days to come) which shows us how closely woven fashion is with affect and mood.
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This seminar will be available to attend via Teams. Link to be added shortly.
Those intending to attend in-person are asked to please email mss@kent.ac.uk in advance.