Cultural Studies
Philadelphia Store-y: Nan Duskin (1927–65)
Ann Duskin Lincoln the founder of the Philadelphia specialty shop Nan Duskin dominated Philadelphia retail for decades and played a significant role in the development of American fashion. At its peak Nan Duskin was one of the leaders of American retail and its founder Mrs Lincoln was internationally recognized for her fashion instincts and was one of the most respected feared and loved retailers in the business. This article will focus on Mrs Lincoln and Nan Duskin from 1927 to 1965 a transformative period for American fashion. It will explore the unique social role of the women’s specialty shop in American retail during the first half of the twentieth century and the critical role they had in the promotion and development of American fashion. Exemplary in every aspect Mrs Lincoln’s career is representative of the many independent female retailers that flourished in the first half of the twentieth century.
When the clothes fit: Exploring the embodied transition to motherhood
Clothing practices can assist women in cultivating a particular body image and thus are sutured with details regarding how they manage their identity and appearance. Clothing can also help women cope with corporeal transitions such as pregnancy. The relationship between clothing and one’s perception of their body shape changes during pregnancy as does how women feel about their clothes as they assume a new maternal identity. However there is a lack of scholarly attention focused on exploring how postpartum mothers manage and relate to their bodies through clothing. Anchored in qualitative data collected from 128 in-depth longitudinal interviews with 32 women at three six nine and twelve months postpartum this article explores how postpartum body image satisfaction and change are intricately linked with clothing across the first year after childbirth. Depicted through six women’s postpartum journeys this article demonstrates that clothing becomes a barometer for bodily recovery following pregnancy and reveals details about maternal struggles successes and spending patterns in the postpartum period.
Relationships among teachers’ emotional competences, emotional labour strategies and self-efficacy in moral and character education: A Hong Kong case
Teachers’ emotions and well-being are critical not only for their personal and professional development but also for facilitating holistic development of students. With increasing risks and uncertainties from sociopolitical changes and the global pandemic teachers are facing tremendous stress which has affected their self-efficacy. This cross-sectional study of 1614 teachers from 50 primary schools in Hong Kong investigates how teachers’ perception of emotional competences and their emotional labour strategies relate to their self-efficacy in moral and character education via confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. The results reveal that both teachers’ emotional competences and teachers’ emotional labour strategies are positively associated with teachers’ self-efficacy in moral and character education. Understanding the relationships among emotional competences emotional labour strategies and teachers' self-efficacy may be the first step in intervention implementation and effective policy development that could improve teachers’ self-efficacy in their provision of moral and character education.
Transdisciplinary reflections on the occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968: Didactic use of the protest song in social science education
Linking the knowledge of related school subjects (history civics and music) transdisciplinary didactics is one of the current trends in education. The aim of this article is to create an analytical-interpretive model for the didactic use of protest songs in social science education supplemented by examples of learning tasks for pupils. The article describes the historical context of the events in Czechoslovakia in August 1968. The research focuses on the analysis and interpretation of the lyrics and music of selected protest songs to create a general analytical-interpretive model usable in school teaching of social sciences. The research into selected protest songs has found both similarities and differences in the motifs and symbols used as well as in the overall character of the lyrics and melodies. The constructed analytical-interpretive model in connection with the didactic use of protest songs includes the level of motivation analysis and interpretation and creative and productive activities. The specific questions and tasks for pupils are applicable in school practice.
Curriculum for Justice and Harmony: Deliberation, Knowledge, and Action in Social and Civic Education, Keith C. Barton And Li-Ching Ho (2022)
Review of: Curriculum for Justice and Harmony: Deliberation Knowledge and Action in Social and Civic Education Keith C. Barton And Li-Ching Ho (2022)
Abingdon and New York: Routledge 228 pp.
ISBN 978-1-00301010-4 e-book £35.09
ISBN 978-0-36744-503-4 p/bk £38.99
DEI representation on Instagram: An analysis of two fast fashion retailers
As fashion retailers have started to emphasize their responsibility in society the significance of diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) in the fashion industry has increased. This study explores the DEI commitments made by two fast fashion retailers (i.e. H&M and Zara) to examine whether they uphold and portray their DEI commitments through their Instagram postings by focusing on the following four DEI subcategories: people of colour size inclusivity LGBTQIA+ and physical disabilities. The study first analysed each retailer’s DEI statement to determine what claims each retailer makes regarding DEI. The data collection process comprised an examination of Instagram posts during the first week of every month from February 2021 to January 2022 utilizing the National Retail Federation (NRF) 4-5-4 calendar. Researchers collected qualitative/quantitative data and used content/comparative analysis to analyse the data. The findings indicated that representation might not be as equitable as their claims state. Based on the findings of this research the study provides practical implications for enhancing DEI representation in retailers’ Instagram posts and marketing to facilitate more effective communication. Further this study contributes to the existing literature on DEI commitments in the fashion industry by highlighting the practices of fast fashion retailers in their Instagram posts and marketing.
Determinants of a shift in consumer values towards minimalistic clothing consumption during global crises
The COVID-19 pandemic as a global crisis has affected the clothing consumption behaviour of consumers and it might create long-lasting changes in the fashion industry. Such behavioural shifts during global crises should be considered for sustainability-related marketing concepts and the way marketers promote sustainable clothing consumption during and after the crisis. This study explores the determinants of a shift in consumer values towards minimalistic clothing consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic in the under-researched country context of Iran. First a literature review was conducted on topics including sustainable fashion consumption and the COVID-19 pandemic the status of sustainable fashion consumption in Iran as well as the influence of demographic characteristics on sustainable consumption behaviour. Second a quantitative survey was administered to a sample of Iranian consumers (N = 382). The results reveal a value shift towards more minimalism and sufficiency in clothing consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic in the country context of Iran. Moreover the findings highlight that age and gender significantly influenced the extent of this shift in values while surprisingly no significant value shift was found because of employment or income changes. This article makes a unique contribution by exploring the value shifts towards minimalistic clothing consumption during global crises. Furthermore the results of the study shed some light on consumption behaviour in an under-researched middle eastern area.
‘The American Look’: The transformation of women’s sportswear in 1930s and 1940s America
This article will suggest that the American sportswear style reflects the unique historical and cultural influences on American dress from the birth of the new democratic nation in the eighteenth century to the dominance of New York City’s ready-to-wear industry in the 1950s. Focusing on the key decades of the 1930s and 1940s this article will explore the marketing campaign of Dorothy Shaver vice-president of the luxury retailer Lord & Taylor who in 1932 coined the phrase ‘the American Look’ to promote American fashion designers’ collections. The legacy of sportswear designer Claire McCardell arguably the best known of the New York-based ready-to-wear designers will be examined. McCardell’s combination of nostalgic American prairie style with the use of everyday workwear fabrics of cotton plaid denim wool and jersey created an unpretentious casual American style based on comfort ease and flexibility which is reflected today in the contemporary American ready-to-wear market. The article will maintain that the promotion of the American Look via photographic shoots magazines advertisements visual merchandising exhibition and film influenced the style and taste of dress that the female American body ought to ‘fit into’. This style it will be argued encouraged the development of a cultural memory of American dress by establishing a material link between national identity and clothing.
Historical Perspectives on Sustainable Fashion: Inspiration for Change, 2nd ed., Amy Twigger Holyroyd, Jennifer Farley Gordon and Colleen Hill (2023)
Review of: Historical Perspectives on Sustainable Fashion: Inspiration for Change 2nd ed. Amy Twigger Holyroyd Jennifer Farley Gordon and Colleen Hill (2023)
London New York New Delhi and Sydney: Bloomsbury Visual Arts 198 pp.
ISBN 978-1-35016-044-6 h/bk $100
ISBN 978-1-35016-043-9 p/bk $34.95
ISBN 978-1-35016-043-9 e-PDF $31.45
ISBN 978-1-35016-047-7 e-Pub $31.45
Textiles and Fashion, 3rd ed., Jenny Udale (2023)
Review of: Textiles and Fashion 3rd ed. Jenny Udale (2023)
London: Bloomsbury 216 pp.
ISBN 978-1-35009-489-5 p/bk $29.95
Fashioning the Afropolis: Histories, Materialities and Aesthetic Practices, Kerstin Pinther, Kristin Kastner and Basile Ndjio (eds) (2022)
Review of: Fashioning the Afropolis: Histories Materialities and Aesthetic Practices Kerstin Pinther Kristin Kastner and Basile Ndjio (eds) (2022)
London: Bloomsbury Publishing 240 pp.
ISBN 978-1-35017-952-3 h/bk $103.50
Crafting Luxury: Craftsmanship, Manufacture, Technology and the Retail Environment, Mark Bloomfield, Shaun Borstrock, Silvio Carta and Veronica Manlow (2022)
Review of: Crafting Luxury: Craftsmanship Manufacture Technology and the Retail Environment Mark Bloomfield Shaun Borstrock Silvio Carta and Veronica Manlow (2022)
Bristol: Intellect Ltd. 187 pp.
ISBN 978-1-78938-580-9 p/bk $45.00
Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: Social Media’s Influence on Fashion, Ethics, and Property, Minh-Ha T. Pham (2022)
Review of: Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: Social Media’s Influence on Fashion Ethics and Property Minh-Ha T. Pham (2022)
Durham NC: Duke University Press 176 pp.
ISBN 978-1-47801-861-2 p/bk $23.95
Costume design in film: Telling the story and creating Malcolm X’s character in Spike Lee’s Malcolm X (1992)
Costume designers collaborate with film directors to bring the characters in the script to life. Film costumes are a visual tool of a narrative nature with which costume designers meet the diegetic needs of each story. Through clothing they make internal aspects of the characters visible such as their transformations their nature and styles their passions aspirations and suffering as well as aspects of the spatial temporal and social context in which the stories take place. This study explores costume design by Ruth E. Carter as a dramatic tool in the biopic Malcolm X (1992) directed by Spike Lee. To that end the function of film costumes is assessed both as a visual and narrative tool that exceeds the aesthetic dimension and is essential to give meaning to any film production.
Food & Fashion, Melissa Marra-Alvarez and Elizabeth Way (eds) (2022)
Review of: Food & Fashion Melissa Marra-Alvarez and Elizabeth Way (eds) (2022)
New York: Bloomsbury Visual Arts 320 pp.
ISBN 978-1-35016-434-5 h/bk $45.00
The ‘look’! Aesthetic labour, aesthetic norms and appearance-based recruitment in the runway modelling industry
Aesthetic labour in the runway modelling industry refers to the practice of recruitment of models-workers on the basis of desired corporeal and facial dispositions. Aesthetic labour theory foregrounds embodiment which situates the value of physical appearance and aesthetic norms in the workplace context showcasing how the models-workers get recruited and stratified based on their looks. The study employs an explanatory sequential mixed-method design to investigate aesthetic norms including the desired corporeal and facial dispositions that are expected from models-workers in the runway modelling industry. The study included two phases a quantitative phase and a qualitative phase. The main objective of the first quantitative research phase was to investigate the aesthetic norms among 609 international runway models who were recruited to perform in designer exclusive fashion shows during seven consecutive annual fashion week seasons from 2013 to 2020 in New York Paris London and/or Milan. The main objective of the second qualitative research phase was to qualify aesthetic norms through a visual content analysis and in-depth exploration of 40 unretouched professional modelling snapshots (photographs of face and body) for the top new model talents in the 2019–20 fashion season. Model photos were extracted from the popular industry website Models.com. The rationale for collecting both quantitative and qualitative data was to form a robust and comprehensive assessment of aesthetic norms in the runway modelling industry. The same level of comprehensiveness would not be obtained by using either type of data individually. This article advances academic research on aesthetic labour in the fashion and modelling industry by showcasing why appearance-based recruitment in this sector represents the practice of occupational segregation that creates social inequalities and negatively impacts the labour market.
Transformative live-action roleplay and Dagorhir costumes: Regulation, consumption and power dynamics, 1977 to the present
Dagorhir is one of the largest and oldest documented live-action roleplay groups. Dagorhir organizers have published multiple game regulations via handbooks with much emphasis on costumes since the 1970s. Dagorhir facilitates community building identity negotiation and creative storytelling that expands beyond the game through transformative play. In our research we examine how these costume regulations have influenced fantasy character and real-world identities how the regulations have influenced perceived costume authenticity over time and how the handbook regulations have engaged with power dynamics related to intersectional identities. We analysed costume-related content in the three handbooks while drawing upon content analysis and historical methods. We found that as the regulations evolved since the 1970s the rules increasingly centred costumes indicating the prominence of costume in this escapist community. However while these spaces centred on the costumed body Dagorhir regulations reinforced oppressive intersectional norms. Our work has implications for society and business that is our findings can help individuals understand why people participate in live-action roleplay which may reduce stigma surrounding this activity. Additionally costume producers and retailers can make informed business decisions based upon our findings. Last live-action roleplay communities can utilize our findings to reject oppressive written and unwritten regulations.
The making of ‘China’s’ first skiing princess: Neo-liberal feminism and nationalism in Eileen Gu’s online presence during the 2022 Winter Olympics
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics birthed a cultural phenomenon in China: Eileen Gu an 18-year-old half-white half-Chinese ‘skiing genius’ who left the United States to join team China. In this article I explore the ways in which Gu’s online presence informs understandings about class women race ‘Chineseness’ and the complex entanglement of the neo-liberal self and collective nation. First I provide an introduction to sports nationalism and neo-liberal feminism to situate Gu in the post-socialist neo-liberal Chinese context. Then I turn to Gu’s social media posts self-made videos and online commercials during the Winter Olympics. I argue that Gu is presented within (1) a neo-liberal feminist moment characterized by individual empowerment and (2) a nationalist and cosmopolitan moment framed by the national pride towards her and her self-framing of a flexible citizenship and ‘apolitical Chineseness’. I conclude that the ‘Eileen Phenomenon’ is an illustrative instance of the shifting demarcations in a global political economic field in which a desirable Chinese identity and a marketable femininity are both crucial for the Chinese state under globalization. Gu’s case shows that the interplay and contradiction of the neo-liberal self and the nationalist collective continue to play out in contemporary Chinese culture and society.
Mediating hegemony through political humour: A discourse analysis of Spring Festival Gala sketches in China
What does humour do to us and our relationship with the society? This article examines political humour in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and asks how hegemony is mediated through political humour in China. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) of two Spring Festival Gala sketches 春晚小品 (‘chunwan xiaopin’) is applied not only for its ontological fit with the literature of hegemony but also because of its potential to unravel the hidden power relations. I argue for the social and psychological significance of xiaopin to the general public because they reveal the fragility of the intellectual hierarchy that places the rural population at the bottom play with the heavy historical episode of the Great Leap Forward and create the illusion of empowerment. Furthermore it reveals that humour can be subversive on the textual level and simultaneously hegemonic on the discursive level.