Muslim modest fashion is experiencing unprecedented growth in the fashion industry, driven by young Muslim women consumers worldwide expressing interest in this market segment. Yet, few scholars have ...examined women entrepreneurs who created modest Islamic fashion brands and their experiences launching and sustaining their businesses, particularly how their intersectional identities inform their business practices and outcomes. Therefore, we asked, (1) Why and how did Muslim women entrepreneurs start their modest fashion brands? (2) What are their experiences starting and sustaining their modest fashion brands; and (3) How do agency, intersectionality, and oppression intersect with these women’s experiences? To understand the lived experiences of these entrepreneurs, we conducted oral histories with three Muslim women entrepreneurs. Following thematic analysis using open, axial, and selective coding, we identified numerous themes that help explain their entrepreneurial experiences. Overall, the women started their businesses to create the much-needed space for Muslim women in the fashion system as modest fashion was largely non-existent. The women started with a few products and largely one target market in mind, yet expanded to other religions that embody modesty values. In sustaining their businesses, the owners were highly controlling and involved in every aspect of their business. They expressed starting and sustaining their business was difficult due to their lack of experience, the time intensity of running their business, and difficulty in finding funding. Additionally, they had added layers of White supremacy in these experiences as women of color business owners. Yet, they expressed numerous successful strategies including centering the nuanced Muslim woman identity in product design and marketing. Their consumers expressed much ambivalence in that they loved and criticized the brands for various reasons. The entrepreneurs certainly focused their business on Muslim identities, but also had heightened awareness and attention to environmental justice given the state of the fashion system and its negative contributions to the environment. Overall, through this research, we demonstrate how these entrepreneurs navigate the complexities of starting and sustaining their niche businesses amidst the oppressive cultural environment for American Muslim women in a post-9/11 context within a capitalist framework. Individuals looking to develop businesses catering to marginalized communities can utilize our findings to educate themselves on oppressive environments they may encounter in the future and navigate the tightrope of criticism and love from marginalized consumers looking to buy their products.
In this study, we questioned how high school dress codes outlined in official handbooks were written or presented in regard to the gender binary, either/or perspective. We critically analyzed how or ...if they allowed for flexibility in expression of gender and sexual identity and if they supported, encouraged, or affirmed a variety of expressions, in particular transgender and gender non-conforming expressions, throughout the text or images. The content analysis method was used to analyze 735 handbooks from the 2016 to 2017 school year. Three themes emerged from the data: (1) support of fluid gender expression, yet not overt support; (2) passive marginalization of gender non-conforming or transgender identities or expressions; and (3) active marginalization of gender non-conforming or transgender identities or expressions. The "LGBTQ+ Dress Code Analysis Tool" was developed for policy makers to use to analyze their dress codes.
Queerness and Catholicism have historically been at odds with one another. The Church's condemnation of queer individuals was pervasive globally for centuries, yet one way queerness and Catholicism ...converge is via Saint Sebastian depictions. The purpose of this research is to examine how and why Sebastian, a Catholic saint, has come to serve as an icon for the queer community as well as how dress has been used in depicting shifting representations of the Saint from the 15
th
to 21
st
centuries. Drawing upon the historic method, we critically analyze the meanings present in imagery of Saint Sebastian. Through our study of portrayals of the Saint, several key themes have emerged. Several of these contemporary artworks incorporated written language that reifies sainthood and associated suffering. Furthermore, many artworks' overall composition surrounding Saint Sebastian reinforced sainthood through contextual visual elements. Ambivalence in depictions of Saint Sebastian's fleshy body was apparent, with an emphasis on depicting Sebastian within the context of his executions. A gap in time periods and differing artwork styles was observed, with many of our examples being either from the Renaissance or post 1960s. Finally, many of the contemporary artworks surveyed included overt signifiers of queerness, with minimal references to subtle queerness.
Queerness and Catholicism have historically been at odds with one another. The Church's condemnation of queer individuals was pervasive globally for centuries, yet one way queerness and Catholicism ...converge is via Saint Sebastian depictions. The purpose of this research is to examine how and why Sebastian, a Catholic saint, has come to serve as an icon for the queer community as well as how dress has been used in depicting shifting representations of the Saint from the 15
to 21
centuries. Drawing upon the historic method, we critically analyze the meanings present in imagery of Saint Sebastian. Through our study of portrayals of the Saint, several key themes have emerged. Several of these contemporary artworks incorporated written language that reifies sainthood and associated suffering. Furthermore, many artworks' overall composition surrounding Saint Sebastian reinforced sainthood through contextual visual elements. Ambivalence in depictions of Saint Sebastian's fleshy body was apparent, with an emphasis on depicting Sebastian within the context of his executions. A gap in time periods and differing artwork style
was observed, with many of our examples being either from the Renaissance or post 1960s. Finally, many of the contemporary artworks surveyed included overt signifiers of queerness, with minimal references to subtle queerness.
The purpose of this study was to explore Indian LGBT individuals' apparel consumption practices and embodied experiences related to fashion, style, and the body. Specifically, our research questions ...were these: What are Indian LGBT individuals' experiences like when navigating the fashion system, and how do they experience their own embodiment in what they wear and how they appear? A qualitative, phenomenological approach was used to answer the research questions. Three gay men and seven transgender women responded to a solicitation for participation and completed a semistructured interview. In our data analysis, we established four themes that relate to two larger areas of emphasis: embodiment and the fashion system. Regarding embodiment, participants related many experiences with their bodies, including (a) variety and ambivalence with bodily practices and (b) difficulty with clothing fit. The other themes centered around knowledge and desires related to the fashion system. Within the fashion system, participants expressed (a) fashion brand awareness and a need for LGBT-centered brands and (b) affordability as a barrier to clothing purchase. Overall, the essence of fashioning one's body as a transgender woman or gay man in India is that, while there has been a significant amount of gender oppression in India, these participants were interested in and desired gender-neutral or LGBT-focused brands.
The purpose of this study was to explore LGBTQ women's experiences with unwritten or formal dress codes at work. I asked: What are LGBTQ women's experiences in the workplace with appearance ...management, and what are LGBTQ women's experiences navigating the written and unwritten dress codes in the workplace? To answer the research question, interviews were conducted with 24 self-identifying LGBTQ women. Six key themes emerged from the data. Themes included (1) expressed sexual identity in appearance, (2) unwritten dress codes in work environments did not always allow for expression of sexual identity in appearance, (3) motivations for pressure or desire to conceal expression of sexual identity in appearance at work, (4) negotiations of revealing or concealing sexual identity in appearance in the workplace impacted levels of comfort and confidence, (5) verbal and nonverbal negative experiences related to appearance at work, and (6) received compliments about appearance at work.
One group whose positive body image experiences remain under-explored is individuals who identify as nonbinary, gender fluid, and/or genderqueer (including other nonbinary identities). Thus, we ...sought to answer the questions: What does it look like to have a positive body image for a nonbinary person? and How do nonbinary persons form and maintain a positive body image? To answer these questions, we conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 15 nonbinary individuals who were assessed as having positive body image using the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015a). Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Four themes were identified as characterizing the core features of positive body image among nonbinary persons: body appreciation, body- and self-acceptance, bodily appearance embodied their authentic self, and holding flexible ideals for ways of being. Six themes were identified as related to on-going processes that explain how body image is formed and maintained among nonbinary persons: reframing negative body image information, staging resistance, experiencing representation, receiving and giving social support, practicing self-compassion and self-care, and using dress to create a satisfying presentation of self. In keeping with the tenets of queer theory, findings reflected how gender identity set a context for participants’ positive body image experiences.
•Participants described their paths to positive body image as long, uneven journeys.•Gender identity set a context for participants’ positive body image experiences.•Dress/appearance management supported participants’ positive body image.•Challenging cultural meanings supported participants’ positive body image.•Immersion in the queer community helped participants build positive body image.
Jessica Kellgren-Fozard is a British internet and television personality who creates digital content for various social media platforms. Her content focuses on vintage dressing and a variety of other ...intersecting subjects. In consideration of the recent rise in popularity of vintage dressing and the need for continued research about people with historically marginalized identities, she is a notable subject for sartorial study. We utilized netnography to examine 3 months of Facebook posts and 1 month of YouTube posts until we reached saturation. After analyzing the online sources using the coding and the constant comparison method, we identified celebrating deafness, disability, and chronic illness through dress and challenging stereotypes of dress surrounding her queer label as prominent themes. Feminist queer crip and the (k)notty model guided our interpretation, with close attention paid to Kellgren-Fozard's privileged identities and space within a capitalist system. Broader shifts toward inclusivity and intersectionality in the fashion industry and society overall are demonstrated through the study's examination of Kellgren-Fozard's online presence, yet with critical attention to capitalism and commodity activism.
Drawing on institutional theory, we examined New York Times readers' views on fashion's environmental impact by analyzing and interpreting comments posted in response to a sustainability and ...fashion-focused opinion article. Based on our interpretations, we developed a model to think through new opportunities in the mechanics of the organizational field of fashion. Collectively, readers identified multiple actors responsible for fashion market's environmental footprint: consumers, industry, and governing institutions. Further, readers offered various approaches for addressing the fashion environmental footprint-from conscious consumption practices to industry shifts and governmental regulations. We discovered two fashion logics-the logic of dress codes and the logic of planned obsolescence-that extend our understanding of the fashion system. The two fashion logics operate within the larger, overriding logic of capitalism that defines the behaviors of and relationships between the actors in the fashion marketplace. Recognizing societal norms, or institutional logics, that serve as barriers to a sustainable future of the fashion market has profound implications for realizing this future. We demonstrate how the fashion logics are being challenged for their moral legitimacy as the logics' materialistic values are at odds with sustainability values and centering environmental justice.
Styling-fashioning-dressing, which involves embodied and material articulations of style, is one way that trans and nonbinary individuals negotiate, produce, and perform their gender identities. ...Chest binding is a practice that involves compressing chest tissue to achieve a flattened esthetic. In this paper, we examined the spatiotemporal production of chest binding-that is, we considered bodies, space, and time as mutually constitutive and explored the when and where of why people choose to bind their chest. We created and administered a comprehensive 120-item cross-sectional questionnaire that included demographic, open-ended, closed-ended, Likert-type scale, and multiple-choice questions. In total, 61 usable survey responses were collected and analyzed. The participants' nuanced experiences offered insight into new ways to conceptualize the public, private, and secret self-model, particularly for trans and nonbinary individuals who are assigned female at birth. We offer a new interpretative model, Dress Snarl, that incorporates different spaces and dress types. Of great importance is the inclusion of garments that continuously cross space, time, and place but remain intimate and typically invisible to the public. It is within this intimate space we theorize and interpret and binder and binding practices.
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