The Goddess, the Femme Fatale, and the Girlboss: How media (and misogyny) shape our perception

Written by: Asmita Ghosh

Fashion, as an art form, tells the story of who we are and who we want to be— our choices of clothing or accessories are employed to project deeply held convictions onto the viewer. But though the language of fashion is often encompassed in colors, textures, and motifs, the way we talk about it is equally

impactful. As humans, our natural instinct is often to categorize and label what's around us into easily identifiable patterns— and the same can be said for fash-

ion, whether that's "periods" of fashion history or the colloquial titles of "aesthetic"/"-core”. From these labels emerged along history of fashion arche-

types. The archetype as we know it was coined by famed psychologist Carl Jung, though

the general concept had existed for hundreds of years prior. In essence, archetypes are the

characters portrayed by specific symbols and motifs— and consequently, their fashion choices. You may know some popular fashion or style archetypes: the glamorous old Hollywood goddess, the dark femme fatale, the old money prep, the powersuit wearing girlboss, and the quirky thespian. Even major fashion brands market to these same ar-

chetypes: Christian Dior’s New Look, modern YSL’s rocker chic vibe, Chanel’s tweed en-

sembles, Gucci or Balenciaga’s