Chokers and The Spice Girls in 1990s Britain
This essay seeks to investigate the links between the popular culture surrounding Spice-mania and the choice of many young girls to wear cheap, plastic choker necklaces, whilst also exploring the semiotics of this choice of accessory. It will look into the history and semiology of the choker, and examine the modern interpretations of this, with reference to trend theory and the commercialisation of ‘Girl Power’. This investigation seeks to provide a balanced evaluation of the meaning behind the choker necklace as worn in this decade.
Fig 1. The Spice Girls (Donahue, 2017)
History
As Adam Geczy and Vicki Karaminas (2016:86) state:
Fashion is a tissue of historical references that are both avowed and also repressed
in the name of the ‘just now’.
Therefore to consider the semiology of the choker in the 1990s, it is helpful to consider the discourse of this necklace throughout human history. In an interview piece with Yvonne Markowitz – Curator of Jewellery at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston – Michelle Graff (2016) cites the earliest civilisations as the creators of the choker necklace. Graff points out that these chokers were worn for power and protection, both spiritually and because the neck is an area vulnerable to attack.
As pointed out by Kate Dwyer (2017):
Noblewomen in the Middle Ages wore chokers that featured a pendant stamped with Saint Sebastian motifs to protect themselves from the bubonic plague.
Dwyer also highlights that chokers were adopted by women as a form of protest against the guillotine punishment that participants in the French Revolution faced; and again in the nineteenth century, when the black ribbon choker was adopted by prostitutes to identify themselves on the streets of Paris. In the former, the choker is used as a sign of women’s strength, solidarity and rebellion, in contrast to the submissive nature of the choker in the latter.
The twentieth century brought the choker into the conscious of British fashion, courtesy of Queen Alexandra. Despite the fact that the queen originally wore chokers alongside other necklaces in order to hide an unsightly childhood scar on her neck, Pamela Church Gibson (2012) explains that ‘…emulation of Alexandra amongst the upper-middle classes was pushed to extremes’.
Fig 2. Queen Alexandra, half-plate glass negative, by Alexander Bassano (National Portrait Gallery, no date)
Since, the choker has floated into and out of the fashion consciousness with each passing decade. However, the 1990s could be considered to be the peak of the choker’s popularity. Red carpets throughout the decade were littered with celebrities wearing the short necklaces for their media appearances.
Fig 3. Katie Holmes, photographed in 1998 & Demi Moore photographed in 1993 (Schwiegershausen, May 14 2014)
The trend was quickly adopted by preadolescent girls, who wore them to school and in day to day life.
Cool Britannia
Whereas historically the choker has been worn throughout the world and purposed for anything from protection to disguise and decoration, the 1990s brought the resurgence of the necklace across a changing Britain – this time as a cheap, mass produced item for young girls in the lower-to-middle classes.
As Jon Stratton (2010) explains, as part of Tony Blair’s (the soon-to-be youngest Prime Minister since 1812) transformation of the Labour Party into ‘New Labour’: – was refreshing it’s image in order to increase appeal to youth voters. Stratton (2010:95) quotes Blair as having identified himself as ‘from the rock and roll generation’, a strategic tactic used by Labour in order to appeal to the younger generation of voters. This movement to improve Britain’s image became the ‘Cool Britannia’ campaign. With the younger generation now becoming a key influence in the way that the country was run, it became clear that the youth of 1990s Britain had something to say, and their voices were going to be heard.
Angela McRobbie (2000) reflects upon the impact the New Labour strategy:
As soon as the government attempted to prove its ‘cool’ credentials, the unruly ‘youth’ felt called upon to dissociate themselves from such endeavours.
Thus the youth spawned their own popular culture, as had been the case for decades before, and Britpop appeared. As Stratton (2010:1) writes:
At the height of the Britpop phenomenon, during the mid-1990s, ‘Britpop’ was branded by music journalists and critics alike as a critical resurgence of British popular music.
Stratton cites bands such as Oasis and Blur, who vied for number one spots not only in the UK but also across the globe. Additional British acts driving the culture at the time included The Stone Roses, The Clash, The Kinks (Harris, 2013) and, contrastingly, The Spice Girls.
The Spice Girls
Arguably the most ubiquitous girl group ever, the Spice Girls were formed following open auditions in London, and took both the UK and USA by storm when they released their first single ‘Wannabe’ in 1996 (Leach, 2001).
Immediately garnering an enormous fan base of primarily young girls and women, Dafna Lemish (2003) summarises the activities of the Spice Girl’s fan base:
Girls enthusiastically listen to the group’s latest hit disc or tape, watch their video-clips on MTV, attend to every detail about them in the gossip columns…hang their posters above their beds, wear their T-shirts, watches and wrist bands, collect their memorabilia…
By 1998, Geri, Emma, Victoria, Mel B and Mel C were featured on the January cover of US Vogue (Gibson, 2012) – a testament to the band’s growth. Five consecutive number one singles and two record breaking albums were only part of the Spice Girl’s huge success – as a brand, the Spice Girls were able to sell almost anything to their preadolescent fan base. Erich Boehm (1997) for Variety wrote:
Name it and they have their name on it. There are pink Spice Polaroid cameras, Spice watches, Spice lights, Spice mugs and the obligatory assortment of clothing and posters.
Fig 4. Spice Girls Merchandise Collection (Gerain Chan, 3rd January 2009)
The Spice Girls successfully infiltrated popular culture, generating over $540 million sales by November 1997 (Boehm, 1997).
Commercialisation of Girl Power
Possibly the most written about aspect of the group was their repeated mantra of ‘Girl Power’ throughout their music and merchandise. There are conflicting arguments surrounding the extent to which the Spice Girl’s ‘Girl Power’ message was purely a sales technique.
Rebecca C. Hains (2014:33) discusses two opposing views on whether the Spice Girls’ adopted the feminist message for profit, or whether it was genuine, in comparison to their feminist predecessors, the Riot Grrrls:
Whereas the Riot Grrrls rejected normative femininity, the Spice Girls embraced it… Whereas the Riot Grrrls positioned girls as producers, the Spice Girls positioned girls as consumers.
Although Hains (2014:34) emphasises the ability to see the benefits of what she referred to as ‘Commodity Feminism’, such as the increase in interest around the political feminist movement and the possibility that such discussions boosted young girls’ self esteem, it is apparent from the article that critics believe the band purely used their feminist slogans for popularity and monetary gain, a point seconded by Leach (2001:148):
…they were also accused of insincerity (i.e. inauthenticity) with respect to their feminist ‘Girl Power’ message. How could they really be their own women, carped the press, when they had male songwriters and a male manager ‘pulling the strings’?
Due to the opposing views regarding how feminist the Spice Girls can truly be considered to be, in this circumstance it is more useful to consider the choker separately. Following the arguments of Hains and Leach, the choker’s feminist connotations become part of the commercialisation of the feminist message. However, despite having a diverse range of band merchandise, there is no evidence of an existence of a Spice Girls branded choker.
Semiology
Drawing from Barthes who wrote extensively on the semiology of fashion objects, Paul Jobling (2016:35) highlights the ‘indivisible’ link between the signifier (the object itself) and the signified (the message delivered by the wearing of said object, in this case the choker). It is fair to conclude that whilst the choker may be denoted as simply a short piece of jewellery or decoration worn around the neck, it is likely to have far richer connotations in the context of who is wearing it and how it is worn.
When considering the subconscious factors which influence what each person wears, Janis Miller (2016) references Flügel‘ interpretation of Freud’s theories. Miller (2016:50) summarises Flügel’s psychoanalysis, writing ‘there are three driving factors behind the human activity of dressing: bodily protection, modesty and decoration.’
By using this as a framework, it is possible to explore the popularity of the choker in the late 1990s as a rebellion against modesty, as a direct result of the Girl Power movement and the forward thinking attitudes (whether subconscious or not) of the girls wearing them. Tattoos are generally considered a social taboo, especially those on the face or neck, and so by being coined ‘tattoo chokers’, and being worn around the neck, they carry connotations of rebellion, particularly against the expectation of women to be feminine, dainty or demure.
Trend Cycle
As a phenomenon that was most popular with young teenage girls, there are several possible theories that can be used to consider how the choker trend gained traction.
Firstly, Lillethum (2011: 118) draws attention to Trickle Across Theory, as suggested by C.W. King (1963), who “observed a horizontal flow of fashion change… as styles emerged and disseminated simultaneously across each stratum”. Lillethum credits this to the new ability to mass manufacture products at different prices and the increase of media’s interest in promoting fashion. This meant that trends spread along social groups rather than travelling up or down the classes.
Mary Ellen Roach and Joanne Bubolz Eicher (2007:109) provide an alternative explanation of the driving forces behind chosen jewellery:
The form of a society’s language of personal adornment depends upon environmental resources, technical developments, and cultural standards for judging what is fine or beautiful… The form of what is most or least fine also depends upon the social group from which the standards for judging ‘fineness’ emerge.
In the case of the choker, both theories can be considered to be appropriate, as although the plastic tattoo-style choker would not be considered ‘fine’ by older people from a higher class than the school girls wearing them, they were considered to be cool as part of the rebellious teenage youth, and the trend took off when teens turned up to class wearing them, inspiring others to buy them as well.
Finally, considering the short trend lifecycles of the choker throughout each of its resurgences in history, it is appropriate to consider shifting erogenous zones (Godze Goncu-Berk, 2018) as an influence in the choice to wear jewellery that highlights the neck. Godze explains James Lever’s theory the following way:
…change in women’s dress [is] based on emphasizing certain parts of the female body in order to arouse sexual desire until this loses its effectiveness due to overexposure of the idea.
This explanation gains particular weight when referencing the 1990s, as trends such as the low-waisted jeans and cropped tops were prevalent trends in this decade. This could be seen to work in direct contrast to the idea of Girl Power that had been preached to these young girls by their favourite girl band, as inherently the underlying message of the choker is one of desire to attract men, but Godze’s use of the word ‘exploit’ hints at an alternative meaning. By giving women the power to decide which parts of their body they are drawing attention to, it could be argued that instead it is allowing them to exercise full right to control over their own body and sexuality – in this sense liberating them by allowing them to steer the male gaze in the direction that they choose.
Conclusion
The message of the choker as worn in the 1990s is one of contradiction – not unlike the message of the Spice Girls themselves – at once proclaiming the rebellion of the youth at the time and the value of the feminist message, whilst also drawing upon centuries of female degradation and oppression.
From this investigation it is fair to conclude that many of the youth participating in this trend had little to no understanding of the complexities with which it was worn, and instead were subject to the trend as received through imitation of their idols and other influential young girls around them. Despite the commercialisation of the Girl Power movement, the message introduced a new generation of young women to the concept of fighting for their rights and their own voices to be heard. Therefore the choker can be reflected upon as not only a cliché of the decade, but also a symbol of 90s feminism in its most complex form.
References
Boehm, E. (1997) ‘Spice Lives The Variety Of Hype.’ Variety 368(13) pp. 21-26
Dwyer, K. (2017) The Forgotten History Behind The Choker Necklace. Allure. [Online] [Accessed on 15th November 2018] https://www.allure.com/story/how-to-wear-choker
Eicher, J.B. and Roach, M. E. (2007) In Barnard, M. (eds.) Fashion Theory: A Reader. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 109-121
Geczy, A. and Karaminas, V. (2016) In Rocamora, A. and Smelik, A. (eds.) Thinking Through Fashion. 2nd ed., London: I.B. Tauris, pp. 81-96.
Gibson, P. C. (2012) Fashion and Celebrity Culture. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
Goncu-Berk, G. (2015) Fashion Trends. Bloomsbury Fashion Central. [Online] [Accessed on 18th November 2018] https://www.bloomsburyfashioncentral.com/products/berg-fashion-library/article/bibliographical-guides/fashion-trends
Graff, M. (2016) The History Behind… The Choker. National Jeweler. [Online] [Accessed on 15th November 2018] https://www.nationaljeweler.com/fashion/antique-estate-jewelry/4080-the-history-behind-the-choker
Hains, R. C. (2014) The Significance of Chronology in Commodity Feminism: Audience Interpretations of Girl Power Music. Popular Music and Society. 37(1) pp. 33-47.
Harris, J. (7th May 2003) The Britpop Years. Independent. [Online] [Accessed on 20th November 2018] https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-britpop-years-103571.html
Jobling, P. (2016) In Rocamora, A. and Smelik, A. (eds.) Thinking Through Fashion. 2nd ed., London: I.B. Tauris, pp. 132-148.
Leach, E. E. (2001) ‘Vicars of ‘Wannabe’: Authenticity and the Spice Girls.’ Popular Music. 20(2) pp. 143-167.
Lemish, D. (2003) ‘Spice World: Constructing Femininity the Popular Way.’ Popular Music & Society. 26(1) pp. 17-29.
Lillethum, A. (2011) In. Lillethum, A. and Welters, L. (eds.) The Fashion Reader. 2nd ed., Oxford: Berg Publishing. pp. 117-123
McRobbie, Angela (2000) In Bruzzi, S. and Gibson, P. C. (eds.) Fashion Cultures: Theories, Explorations and Analysis. Abingdon: Routledge. pp. 253-263.
Miller, J. (2016) In Rocamora, A. and Smelik, A. (eds.) Thinking Through Fashion. 2nd ed., London: I.B. Tauris, pp. 48-62.
Stratton, J. (2010) Britpop and the English Music Tradition. London: Ashgate Publishing.
Images
Donahue, A. (3rd November, 2017) You Can Thank The Spice Girls For All Of Your Favourite Beauty Trends. Fashion Magazine. [Online] [Accessed on 1st December 2018] https://fashionmagazine.com/beauty/spice-girls-beauty-trends/
National Portrait Gallery. (No Date) Queen Alexandra. [Online] [Accessed on 1st December 2018] https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw54543/Queen-Alexandra?search=sp&sText=Queen+Alexandra+Alexandra+Bassano&firstRun=true&rNo=9
Schwiegershausen, E. (14th May, 2014) From Beads to Plastic: 50 Celebrities in Chokers. The Cut. [Online] [Accessed on 1st December 2018] https://www.thecut.com/2014/05/from-beads-to-plastic-50-celebrities-in-chokers.html
Gerain, C. (3rd January 2009) Collection Vol. 1. Gerain Chan. [Online] [Accessed on 1st December 2018] http://gerainchan.blogspot.com/2009/01/my-collection-spice-girls.html