“PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY OF FASHION” BY EDMUND BERGLER: EXPERIENCE OF CONTEXTUAL READING

The article is devoted to one of the early attempts to conceptualize fashion made in the field of psychoanalysis, which was presented in the book of the American psychoanalyst Edmund Bergler “Fashion and the Unconscious” (1953). Attained high professional prestige in the mid-twentieth century, Bergler subsequently has become one of the marginalized figures in the history of the psychoanalytic movement, and his research on fashion has undergone several criticisms. The article deals with introducing Bergler’s work into the up-to-date scientific discourse via the contextual reading, which suggests establishing connections between the ideas running through his book and the psychoanalytic theories contemporary to him. The article also aims, having estimated psychoanalysis as a methodological tool for Fashion Studies, to introduce Bergler's investigation into the interdisciplinary dialogue between Fashion Theory and psychoanalysis.