“Both Sides Now”: Articulating Textiles and Fashioned Bodies in the Works of Joni Mitchell,1968

Abstract

The singer–songwriter–artist Joni Mitchell (née Anderson, born on November 7, 1943) is recognized in the worlds of music and fashion alike for her creative influences since the late 1960s. In this article, we share the findings from a critical discourse analysis of the lyrics and album art produced by Mitchell between 1968 and 1976. We consider how she represented a philosophy of “Both Sides Now” (i.e., both/and thinking) as she articulated—in words as well as visual art—three dynamic and unresolvable contradictions that provide new insights for fashion theory: (a) domesticity and worldliness, (b) bourgeois capitalism and bohemianism, and (c) beauty and destruction. In the process of articulating ambivalences and contradictions, Mitchell reveals how cultural power relations associated with gender, sexuality, age, and class (and their intersectionalities) intervene through textiles, clothing, and fashioned bodies.

Keywords

ambivalence contradiction fashion theory music lyrics both/and thinking fashion influencer articulation Joni Mitchell critical discourse analysis

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abidin

(2016). Visibility labour: Engaging with influencers’ fashion brands and # OOTD advertorial campaigns on Instagram. Media International Australia, 161, 86–100.

Ayto

Simpson

(2008). The Oxford dictionary of modern slang (2nd ed.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Bucklands

(2000). Fashion as a tool of World War II: A case study supporting the SI theory. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 18, 140–151.

Crane

(1999). Diffusion models and fashion: A reassessment. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 566, 13–24.

Crenshaw

K. W.

(1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43, 1241–1299.

Crowe

(1979). Joni Mitchell defends herself. Rolling Stone. Retrieved from https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/joni-mitchell-defends-herself-19790726

Dass

(1971). Be here now. San Cristobal, NM: Lama Foundation.

Davis

(1992). Fashion, culture, and identity. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Davison

Featherstone

Schwarz

(2017). Introduction: Redefining the political/Stuart Hall. In Davison

Featherstone

Rustin

Schwarz

(Eds.), Selected political writings: The great moving right show and other essays (pp. 1–14). Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

10.

Evans

Thornton

(1989). Women and fashion: A new look. London, England: Quartet Books.

11.

Fairclough

(2013). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

12.

Gates

(2016). “Songs are like tattoos”: Literary artistry and social critique in Joni Mitchell’s Blue. Women’s Studies, 45, 711–725.

13.

Green

D. N.

(2017). The best known and best dressed woman in America: Irene Castle and silent film style. Dress, 43, 77–98.

14.

Grossberg

(1996). On postmodernism and articulation: An interview with Stuart Hall. In Morley

Chen

K. H.

(Eds.), Stuart Hall: Critical dialogues in cultural studies (pp. 131–150). New York, NY: Routledge.

15.

Hall

(1968). The hippies: An American “moment.” University of Birmingham publication. Retrieved from https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-artslaw/history/cccs/stencilled-occasional-papers/1to8and11to24and38to48/SOP16.pdf

16.

Hall

(2017). Familiar stranger: A life between two islands. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

17.

Hip. (2007). Urban dictionary. Retrieved from https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hips

18.

Hoskyns

(2009). Waiting for the sun: The rock ‘n’ roll history of Los Angeles. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Books.

19.

Jahn

(1969, January). Features/articles/people: Where pop music is now. Vogue, 153, 130–130, 131, 178.

20.

Jules-Rosette

(2007). Josephine Baker in art and life: The icon and the image. Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press.

21.

Kaiser

S. B.

(2012). Fashion and cultural studies. London, England: Berg.

22.

Kaiser

S. B.

Nagasawa

R. H.

Hutton

S. S.

(1995). Construction of an SI theory of fashion: Part 1. Ambivalence and change. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 13, 172–183.

23.

Karppinen

(2016). The songs of Joni Mitchell: Gender, performance and agency. New York, NY: Routledge.

24.

Kellner

(1994). Madonna, fashion, and identity. In Benstock

Ferriss

(Eds.), On fashion (pp. 159–182). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

25.

Luvaas

(2017). What does a fashion influencer look like? Portraits of the instafamous. Fashion, Style, & Popular Culture, 4, 341–364.

26.

Marom

(2014). Joni Mitchell: In her own words. Toronto, Canada: ECW Press.

27.

Michelman

Kaiser

S. B.

(2000). Feminist issues in textiles and clothing research: Working through/with the contradictions. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 18, 121–127.

28.

Mitchell

(2017). David Mitchell on Blue by Joni Mitchell: “It’s art, so it’s ageless.” New Statesman America. Retrieved from https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/music-theatre/2017/12/david-mitchell-blue-joni-mitchell-it-s-art-so-it-s-ageless

29.

Mitchell

(1968a). Song to a seagull [Record]. Burbank, CA: Reprise Records.

30.

Mitchell

(1968b). The pirate of penance. On Song to a seagull [Record]. Burbank, CA: Reprise Records.

31.

Mitchell

(1969a). Clouds [Record]. Burbank, CA: Reprise Records.

32.

Mitchell

(1969b). Both sides, now. On Clouds [Record]. Burbank, CA: Reprise Records.

33.

Mitchell

(1969c). Chelsea morning. On Clouds [Record]. Burbank, CA: Reprise Records.

34.

Mitchell

(1969d). The gallery. On Clouds [Record]. Burbank, CA: Reprise Records.

35.

Mitchell

(1970a). For free. On Ladies of the canyon [Record]. Burbank, CA: Reprise Records.

36.

Mitchell

(1970b). Ladies of the canyon. On Ladies of the canyon [Record]. Burbank, CA: Reprise Records.

37.

Mitchell

(1970c). Willy. On Ladies of the canyon [Record]. Burbank, CA: Reprise Records.

38.

Mitchell

(1971a). A case of you. On Blue [Record]. Burbank, CA: Reprise Records.

39.

Mitchell

(1971b). All I want. On Blue [Record]. Burbank, CA: Reprise Records.

40.

Mitchell

(1971c). Blue. On Blue [Record]. Burbank, CA: Reprise Records.

41.

Mitchell

(1971d). Carey. On Blue [Record]. Burbank, CA: Reprise Records.

42.

Mitchell

(1972a). Judgement of the moon and stars (Ludwig's tune). On For the roses [Record]. Burbank, CA: Asylum Records.

43.

Mitchell

(1972b). Let the wind carry me. On For the roses [Record]. Burbank, CA: Asylum Records.

44.

Mitchell

(1972c). Woman of heart and mind. On For the roses [Record]. Burbank, CA: Asylum Records.

45.

Mitchell

(1974a). Down to you. On Court and spark [Record]. Burbank, CA: Asylum Records.

46.

Mitchell

(1974b). Free man in Paris. On Court and spark [Record]. Burbank, CA: Asylum Records.

47.

Mitchell

(1974c). Help me. On Court and spark [Record]. Burbank, CA: Asylum Records.

48.

Mitchell

(1974d). People's parties. On Court and spark [Record]. Burbank, CA: Asylum Records.

49.

Mitchell

(1974e). Raised on robbery. On Court and spark [Record]. Burbank, CA: Asylum Records.

50.

Mitchell

(1974f). Same situation. On Court and spark [Record]. Burbank, CA: Asylum Records.

51.

Mitchell

(1975a). Harry's house; Centerpiece. On The hissing of summer lawns [Record]. Burbank, CA: Asylum Records.

52.

Mitchell

(1975b). Shades of scarlett conquering. On The hissing of summer lawns [Record]. Burbank, CA: Asylum Records.

53.

Mitchell

(1975c). Sweet bird. On The hissing of summer lawns [Record]. Burbank, CA: Asylum Records.

54.

Mitchell

(1975d). The boho dance. On The hissing of summer lawns [Record]. Burbank, CA: Asylum Records.

55.

Mitchell

(1975e). The hissing of summer lawns. On The hissing of summer lawns [Record]. Burbank, CA: Asylum Records.

56.

Mitchell

(1976a). Amelia. On Hejira [Record]. Burbank, CA: Asylum Records.

57.

Mitchell

(1976b). A strange boy. On Hejira [Record]. Burbank, CA: Asylum Records.

58.

Mitchell

(1976c). Blue motel room. On Hejira [Record]. Burbank, CA: Asylum Records.

59.

Mitchell

(1976d). Song for Sharon. On Hejira [Record]. Burbank, CA: Asylum Records.

60.

Mitchell

(1976e). Hejira. On Hejira [Record]. Burbank, CA: Asylum Records.

61.

Mitchell

(1979). A chair in the sky. On Mingus [Record]. Burbank, CA: Asylum Records.

62.

Norwood

(2009). Michelle style: Celebrating the first lady of fashion. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

63.

Paintings. (n.d.). Joni Mitchell. Retrieved from http://jonimitchell.com/paintings/

64.

Pell

(2014). Top twenty singer-songwriters of all time. LA Weekly. Retrieved from https://www.laweekly.com/music/rock-isnt-dead-says-leather-duchess-10025492

65.

People Are Talking About. (1969, February). Vogue, 153, 188–191.

66.

Plunkett

(2003). Queen Victoria: First media monarch. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

67.

Powers

(2018). At 75: Trouble is still her muse. NPR Music. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2018/11/09/666148055/joni-mitchell-at-75-trouble-is-still-her-muse

68.

Saldaña

(2016). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. London, England: Sage.

69.

Schulman

B. J.

(2001). The seventies: The great shift in American culture, society, and politics. New York, NY: The Free Press.

70.

Slack

J. D.

(1996). The theory and method of articulation. In Chen

K. H.

Morley

(Eds.), Stuart Hall: Critical dialogues in cultural studies (pp. 113–129). London, England: Routledge.

71.

Sonenberg

D. M.

(2003). “Who in the world she might be”: A contextual and stylistic approach to the early music of Joni Mitchell and “The art of eating”: Seven songs on texts about food by contemporary women writers (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (Order No. 3083710)

72.

Summers

J. O.

(1970). The identity of women’s clothing fashion opinion leaders. Journal of Marketing Research, 7, 178–185.

73.

The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. (2015). Rolling Stone. Retrieved from https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-songwriters#joni-mitchell

74.

Tulloch

(2010). Style-fashion-dress: From black to post-black. Fashion Theory, 14, 361–386.

75.

Tulloch

(2016). The birth of cool: Style narratives in the African diaspora. London, England: Bloomsbury.

76.

Van Tyne

(2017, December 21). “All the hippies are executives now, and everybody’s sold out”: Late Boomer and Early Gen X cinema in the 1970s and 1980s. Tropics of Meta. Retrieved from https://tropicsofmeta.com/2017/12/21/all-the-hippies-are-executives-now-and-everybodys-sold-out-late-boomer-and-early-gen-x-cinema-in-the-1970s-and-1980s/

77.

Weller

(2008). Girls like us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon – and the journey of a generation. New York, NY: Atria Books.

78.

Willingham

(2015). 11 times Joni Mitchell was our ‘70s style icon, because who better to look to for hippie chic inspiration than the legendary singer. Bustle. Retrieved from https://www.bustle.com/articles/79650-11-times-joni-mitchell-was-our-70s-style-icon-because-who-better-to-look-to-for

79.

Wilson

(2003). Adorned in dreams: Fashion and modernity (revised and updated ed.). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

80.

Witcover

(1997). The year the dream died: Revisiting 1968 in America. New York, NY: Warner Books.

81.

Wodak

Meyer

(2016). Methods of critical discourse studies (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

82.

Workman

J. E.

Johnson

K. K.

(1993). Fashion opinion leadership, fashion innovativeness, and need for variety. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 11, 60–64.

83.

Workman

J. E.

Lee

S. H.

(2017). A critical appraisal of 25 years of research about fashion adoption groups: Part 1. Theories/models and research methods. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 35, 249–271.

84.

Yaffe

(2017). Reckless daughter: A portrait of Joni Mitchell. New York, NY: Sarah Crichton Books.

85.

Yuppie. (2018). Oxford English dictionary. Retrieved from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/yuppie

“Both Sides Now”: Articulating Textiles and Fashioned Bodies in the Works of Joni Mitchell,1968–1976

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References