The Canon of Style : Fashion in Factual Entertainment

Abstract

In recent years factual entertainment has gained space on Italian television, especially on ‘native digital’ channels such as Real Time, DMAX, La7d and La5. Ordinary people are the main characters in stories that often adopt the makeover format and deal with everyday life, from the home to cooking, from DIY to personal fitness. In this context, fashion occupies a privileged position. This article aims to analyse current examples of fashion factual entertainment in Italy, elaborating on the discursive practices and the thematization of the fashion object. In particular, it investigates the televisual apparatus and the role played by audiences. In doing so, it explores the discursive practices used to deal with fashion content (e.g. divulgation or imposition of a dress code, testimonies, suggestions and lessons) suggesting that the presence of experts and learners in these programmes seems to represent fashion as a space for the negotiation of experience. Yet, as the analysis will show, the idea of fashion that emerges is that of a set of rules rather than a reappraisal of individual competence, thus leading to a stereotypical canon to which the audience should conform.