Syracuse University students were bundled in their winter's warmest today as the first snow of the season laid a white blanket over campus. SU Junior, Jared Newman was no exception. I chose to photograph Jared over the throngs of other students I passed walking to class today because his outfit serves one purpose: protection from the elements. While some students sported Northface jackets paired with Uggs or Hunter boots (and I saw A LOT of Northface jackets paired with Uggs or Hunter boots) Jared opted for a less fashionable but equally as cozy option. When I asked him how he picked his outfit for the day, Jared gave a colorful response:
"I don't even know what brands I'm wearing, I just wanted to be warm. Its freaking freezing."
Jared is demonstrating what Malcom Barnard calls the "material function" of clothing. One of the aspects of this function is protection from the elements. In chapter 3 of his book "Fashion as Communication" Barnard quotes Ted Polhemus and Lynn Proctor as they describe the basic need for clothing as protection.
"This basic need for bodily comfort prompts people throughout the world to create various forms of shelter."
Jared's jacket and snow pants function as a shelter from the cold and snow. His L.L. Bean boots envelope his feet from the cold wet ground. His hood is a sort of "roof" over his head.
For these reasons Jared's outfit is a example of Barnard's material function of clothing.
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