1981
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Queer Studies in Media & Popular Culture
  4. Volume 5, Issue 2
  5. Article
Fashioning Queer Identities
  • ISSN: 2055-5695
  • E-ISSN: 2055-5709

Abstract

Often revered as one of pop culture’s most erotic and sexually charged beings, Prince’s influence within fashion and gender expression is now being fully realized academically. Many fans have long linked their admiration to the Purple One with their own personal sexual awakenings, citing the musician’s overt displays of sexual liberation as being key within their own development. Although Prince never self-identified as queer, his fearless expression of self through fashion, performance and lyrics continued to defy traditional hegemonic masculinities throughout his career spanning across four decades. This article will discuss Prince’s varying disruptions of masculinities through his career. It must be noted that this study is not an expansive critique; rather, this article will focus upon three pivotal sartorial moments within Prince’s career that have played a defining part of his legacy as one of popular culture’s most revered and celebrated gender non-conforming stars. All three outfits represent a defining moment within Prince’s career from his emergence into pop stardom, mainstream success and the comeback following an arduous relationship with his record company. Through examining the musician’s wardrobe, this article will underpin the many ways in which Prince slashed gender assumptions through clothing and paved the way for many performers within the queer community after him.

© 2020 Intellect Ltd
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/qsmpc_00037_1
2020-09-01
2023-05-29
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. BBC ( 2016;), ‘ In his own words: 10 things Prince taught us. ’, BBC, 22 April, https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/articles/22854083-5fbd-462a-8736-6844c3afee10. Accessed 6 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Beaulieu, A.,, Dickerson, D.,, Walsh, J., and Lasanta, E.. ( 2018), Prince: Before the Rain, Minneapolis:: Minnesota Historical Society Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Bowstead, J.. ( 2018), Menswear Revolution: The Transformation of Contemporary Men’s Fashion, London:: Bloomsbury Visual Arts;.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Brass, T.. ( 1979), Caligula, Italy:: Guccione;.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Bream, J.. ( 1980;), ‘ World of music gets a sexy Prince. ’, The Minneapolis Star, 6 February, https://sites.google.com/site/prninterviews/home/the-minneapolis-star-6-february-1980. Accessed 5 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Britt, B.. ( 2017;), ‘ How Michael Jackson rebranded himself for his first solo album. ’, The Undefeated, 3 February, https://theundefeated.com/features/michael-jackson-off-the-wall-album-cover/. Accessed 26 October 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Brownie, B.. ( 2018), Acts of Undressing: Politics, Eroticism, and Discarded Clothing, London:: Bloomsbury;.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Clifford, N.. ( 2020;), ‘ Re-imagining masculinity: Prince’s impact on millennial attitudes regarding gender expression. ’, in M. Alleyne, and K. Fairclough. (eds), Prince and Popular Music: Critical Perspectives on an Interdisciplinary Life, London:: Bloomsbury Academic;, pp. 117–28.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Ellison, J.. ( 2020;), ‘ When were you mind? Prince’s legacy in the context of transgender history. ’, in M. Alleyne, and K. Fairclough. (eds), Prince and Popular Music: Critical Perspectives on an Interdisciplinary Life, London:: Bloomsbury Academic;, pp. 149–57.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Entwistle, J.. ( 2015;), ‘ Fashion and the fleshy body: Dress as embodied practice. ’, Fashion Theory, [online] 4:3, http://doi.org/10.2752/136270400778995471. Accessed 4 December 2019.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Foreman, K.. ( 2014;), ‘ Prince: He’s got the look. ’, BBC Culture, 22 September, https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20140929-prince-hes-got-the-look. Accessed 6 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Funk U Magazine ( 2017;), ‘ Interview: Andre Cymone “We never lost a battle of the bands”. ’, Funk U Magazine, 21 April, http://www.funku.fr/en/2017/interview-andre-cymone-we-never-lost-a-battle-of-the-bands/. Accessed 5 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Garcia, M.. ( 2017), My Life with Prince: The Most Beautiful, London:: Trapeze;.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. George, T.. ( 2020;), ‘ The queer and dirrty history of chaps. ’, ID, 4 August, https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/v7gx4a/the-queer-and-dirrty-history-of-chaps. Accessed 4 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Hanh, A., and Tiebert, L.. ( 2017), The Rise of Prince 1958–1988, Boston:: Mad Cat Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Hollander, A.. ( 2016), Sex & Suits: The Evolution of Modern Dress, Bloomsbury:: London;.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Horner, C.. ( 1979a;), ‘ A rendezvous with a Prince. ’, Right On!, December, https://sites.google.com/site/prninterviews/home/right-on-december-1979. Accessed 5 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Horner, C.. ( 1979b;), ‘ Unknown. ’, Right On!, January, https://sites.google.com/site/prninterviews/home/right-on-january-1979. Accessed 5 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Irwin, C.. ( 2019;), ‘ Remembering Prince’s appearance on Muppets Tonight. ’, Ultimate Prince, 13 September, https://ultimateprince.com/prince-muppets/. Accessed 5 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Julien’s Auctions ( 2018), Music Icons: Prince 18 May 2018, Beverly Hills:: Julien’s Auctions;, https://www.juliensauctions.com/auctions/2018/prince/prince-flipping-book/40/.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. McDaniel Stone L., and Shannan Wilson. ( 2020;), ‘ “We can’t hate you, because we love you”: A look at Prince, queerness, misogyny and feminism. ’, in M Alleyne, and K. Fairclough. (eds), Prince and Popular Music: Critical Perspectives on an Interdisciplinary Life, London:: Bloomsbury Academic;, pp. 129–36.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Morris, W.. ( 2016;), ‘ Prince knew what he wanted: Sex, soul and you. ’, New York Times, 22 April, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/23/arts/music/prince-sex.html. Accessed 4 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Nama, A.. ( 2019), I Wonder U: How Prince Went Beyond Race and Back, New Brunswick:: Rutgers University Press;
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Penney, J.. ( 2012;), ‘ “We don’t wear tight clothes”: Gay panic and queer style in contemporary hip hop. ’, Popular Music and Society, [online] 35:3, http://doi.org/10.1080/03007766.2011.578517. Accessed 3 February 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Perry, S.., ( 1988;), ‘ Prince: The Purple Decade. ’, Musician Archive: The Vogue Archives, https://archive.vogue.com. Accessed 2 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Potts, A.. ( 2020;), ‘ “Flying the Seduction 747”: Prince, humour and horizontal erotics. ’, in M. Alleyne, and K. Fairclough. (eds), Prince and Popular Music: Critical Perspectives on an Interdisciplinary Life, London:: Bloomsbury Academic;, pp. 137–48.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Prince ( 1978), For You, CD, Los Angeles:: Warner Bros. Records;.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Prince ( 1979), Prince, CD, Los Angeles:: Warner Bros. Records;.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Prince ( 1980), Dirty Mind, CD, Los Angeles:: Warner Bros. Records;.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. The Prince Podcast ( 2017;), ‘ Stacia Lang: Designing outfits for Prince and the NPG. ’, Podcast Juic, https://podcastjuice.net/stacia-lang-designing-outfits-for-prince-and-the-npg/. Accessed 4 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Ritchie, C.. ( 2020;), ‘ Before the rain, 1979–1984: How Prince got “the look”. ’, in M. Alleyne, and K. Fairclough. (eds), Prince and Popular Music: Critical Perspectives on an Interdisciplinary Life, London:: Bloomsbury;, pp. 34–44.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Schildcrout, J.. ( 2008;), ‘ The Performance of nonconformity on the Muppet show—or, How Kermit made me queer. ’, The Journal of Popular Culture, [online] 41:5, http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5931.2008.00551.x. Accessed 3 February 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Singer, S.. ( 2018;), ‘ See Prince’s legendary outfits from his fashion archives: The greatest Rock’n’ roll closet of all time. ’, Vogue, 21 April, https://www.vogue.com/article/inside-prince-closet-at-paisley-park-fashion-archive. Accessed 1 May 2018.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Smith, N.. ( 2016;), ‘ The Queer Legacy of Prince. ’, Out, 7 June, https://www.out.com/music/2016/4/22/queer-legacy-prince. Accessed 26 October 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Spanos, B.. ( 2016;), ‘ Frank Ocean: “I’m a proud prince fan (Stan) for life”. ’, Rolling Stone, 21 April, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/frank-ocean-im-a-proud-prince-fan-stan-for-life-169712/. Accessed 4 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Steptoe, T.. ( 2018;), ‘ Big Mama Thornton, Little Richard, and the Queer Roots of Rock ’n’ Roll. ’, American Quarterly; College Park, [online] 7:1, http://doi.org/10.1353/aq.2018.0003. Accessed 3 February 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Thatcher, K.. ( 2016;), ‘ Kirk Thatcher’s Prince memories. ’, Tough Pigs, 22 April, http://www.toughpigs.com/kirk-thatcher-prince/. Accessed 5 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Thibault, A.. ( 2020;), ‘ Parental advisory: The secret history of music’s most controversial logo. ’, Numero, 6 July, https://numero.com/en/music/parental-advisory-explicit-content-logo-tipper-gore-daniel-snider-frank-zappa-prince-the-time-ed-sheeran-drake-album-cover-sony-assassin-rockin-squat-sex-drugs-violence-al-gore-alexis-thibault. Accessed 6 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Thompson, E.. ( 2019;), ‘ He’s your Messiah: Prince’s purple rain as an expression of Christianity and internal conflict. ’, Journal of Theology and Culture, 2018–19 , https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/2514623/Theology%20of%20Prince%20Journal%202019%20(II).pdf. Accessed 23 June 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Thorne, M.. ( 2012), Prince, London:: Faber and Faber;.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Till, R.. ( 2010;), ‘ Pop stars and idolatry: An investigation of the worship of popular music icons, and the music and cult of Prince. ’, Journal of Beliefs and Values: Studies in Religion & Education, [online] 31:1, http://doi.org/10.1080/13617671003666761. Accessed 3 February 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Tonic, G.. ( 2016;), ‘ 11 times Prince didn’t care about gendered fashion. ’, Bustle, 21 April, https://www.bustle.com/articles/156165-11-times-prince-didnt-care-about-your-gender-norms-when-it-came-to-style. Accessed 26 October 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Tucker, K. ( 1981;), ‘ Dirty mind album review. ’, New Musical Express, 19 February, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/dirty-mind-248337/. Accessed 5 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  44. Willman, C.. ( 1991;), ‘ POP REVIEW: Pee-wee Herman, Prince the Life of MTV’s Party. ’, Los Angeles Times, 7 September, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-09-07-ca-1656-story.html. Accessed 5 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  45. Woods, S.. ( 2018), Prince and Little Weird Black Boy Gods, Mesa, AZ:: Brick Cave Books;.
     [Google Scholar]
  46. Ritchie, Casci. ( 2020;), ‘ Prince the provocateur: The disruption of masculinities through the style of Prince Rogers Nelson. ’, Queer Studies in Media & Popular Culture, 5:2&3, pp. 221–237, doi: https://doi.org/10.1386/qsmpc_00037_1
     [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/qsmpc_00037_1
Loading
Prince the provocateur: The disruption of masculinities through the style of Prince Rogers Nelson
Queer Studies in Media & Popular Culture 5, 221 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1386/qsmpc_00037_1
/content/journals/10.1386/qsmpc_00037_1
/content/journals/10.1386/qsmpc_00037_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): fashion; gender; masculinity; music; Prince; style

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error