ABSTRACT
The ‘image and language of the clothed body’ has been credited with wielding enormous social influence. The inanimate objects employed to create the clothed body are physically destitute of life, yet clothes have the conflicting ability to initiate and confirm change; to broadcast the political conflict or status within a community; and to be a metaphor of domination and conversely opposition (McCracken 1990:61). Accessories are not to be forgotten. They are the ‘little magic touch’ deployed by professional and amateur stylists to perfect a desired look. Generally it is the body, that is the torso, that is primed as the place of action for the clothed body (Calafeto 1997). Accessories which dress the head, hands and feet can, in their own right, supply a narrative of cultural and social issues.
