Sonic Fashion Library

Sonic Fashion Library (SFL) is a part of the doctoral research practice Wearing Sound: Foundations of Sonic Design (2020). SFL consists of 400 sound records of various fashion items: fabrics, materials, clothing, accessory, footwear, and ensembles. You are invited to explore the fashion from a sonic perspective via digital platform here.

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Although identity in fashion is visually dominated, sound adds another layer and can be considered to be another part of the construct of the self. If you close your eyes you can hear people talking, breathing, walking, etc. Fashion also comes into play: the bouncing of metal bracelets is audible as an arm moves, as are the zipping or unzipping of a synthetic sports jacket, electrostatic rasp of someone taking off a knitted sweater during winter, and clacking of high heels and squeaking of sneakers. The steps of individual people are even identifiable aurally due to their gait. As sonic objects that we “wear” everyday, mobile phones add various sounds to our sonic identity, e.g. those of communication tools (Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, etc.), each of which utilizes a unique sound for a new message, a call, hanging up, etc. Thus, we are emitting the sonic composition of this ensemble of wear and it is an extension of the sonic self within the social-cultural context (Bull and Cobussen, 2020).

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We seldom think about the ‘voice’ of materials and garments, and yet the diversity of their sonic expressions is unique and inspiring. The sonic expressions created by brushing, rubbing, tearing, rustling, caressing, and so on fabrics provide a rich sound world that is capable of focusing our ear on a deep level of attention to detail
(Beilharz and Vande Moere, 2008). “The squeaking of silk, the crackling of faille, the rubbing of wool, the purring of velvet, without mentioning the tinkling of embroideries are all different sounds made by fabrics, in movement” (Ibid., p. 112). Yvon Marciano’s feature film Le Cri de la Soie (1995), depicts the noise of silk as it moves and tears, treating the subject in an erotic way by paralleling the tearing of cloth with the tearing of skin (Ibid.). Another example is the movie Play Time (1967), directed by Jacques Tati, in which we find many instances of amplified sounds of body-material interactions. Therefore, the investigation into sonic expressions began with this potentially interesting area of material exploration. The strategy was to start by considering sound as a single element, meaning that sonic expressions were not layered or dominated by several other sounds. This would have been the case if the explorations had begun with clothing, which generally consists of several different materials and sonic expressions.

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The study of sonic expressions is presented through four sound recording sessions and one workshop. The complexity of sound was investigated within the deconstruction process: deconstructing the outfit into a single element—material. Sound recording session 1 analysed material sounds and explored sound as a single and complex element. Sound recording sessions 2 and 3 introduced the investigation of sounds of dress, and analysed sound as a single composition. Sound recording session 4 and the workshop explored the sounds of different clothing objects—ensembles—as complex compositions. The analysis of these acts generates the foundational definitions of sonic expression.

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sound recording session 1

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During the first recording session, sound was investigated as a single element by recording fabrics and other materials, such as fastenings, linings, and decorative elements at the Auditory sound studio. The material exploration was broadened during the investigation of the spatiality of sound, which was undertaken using a special setup. The sonic expressions of objects were investigated with regard to different interactions, including touching the material with the hand (body-material) and rubbing it against itself (material-material). These two interactions, which are common body-dress interactions, were chosen for later comparisons of sonic expressions. A supplementary investigation with rubber bands facilitated the study of the rhythm and tempo of the interactions. The investigation with zippers and bells deepened the knowledge of the relationship between shape, size, and length, and their influence on the overall sonic expression of a material. The selection of recorded objects was based on differences regarding sound expression. Each recording was 20–40 seconds; these were later edited down to 10-second clips of the most signifying, unique sound.

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The recording of the sound of fabrics involved two primary steps: (a) body-fabric interaction, i.e. a hand touching a fabric and (b) fabric-fabric interaction, i.e. when a fabric is rubbed against itself. These two moving-touching modes reflect everyday body-dress interactions. The sounds of other materials (fastenings, lining elements) were recorded while enacting fastening and unfastening interactions.

 

The method for recording a surrounding sound involved ‘broader’ movement around the dummy head in different directions: up, down, left, right, above, and below. The idea of ‘moving sound’ and its spatiality was demonstrated by the bell attached to the stick. The movement was recorded at fast, medium, and slow tempos.