...In Haitian Vodou, the gods care about how they look. This chapter argues that within the religious and social life of Vodou, fashion accentuates the importance of aesthetic trends to spiritual communal identity formation in the African Diaspora. The primary sites of this ethnographic research...

... for analyzing the role of gender and sexuality as it illuminates the gendered expectations placed on practitioners’ fashion and adornment choices. Additionally, this chapter explores the often-unspoken realities of same gender desire between spirits and practitioners and how this challenges the ritual...

...This book begins with the paradox found in philosopher and satirist Bernard Mandeville's poem “The Grumbling Hive: or, Knaves Turn'd Honest.” It was a paradox that puzzled many Britons during the eighteenth century: How could fashion be at once a social “folly,” a moral “vice” born of envy...

...Youth becomes the defining force in fashion starting in the 1960s. This chapter looks at younger and older men’s adoption of a traditional womanly attitude toward fashion where clothing becomes a signifier or who one is. Stylish older men followed the British peacock look in the late 1960s. Younger...

... of ethnically diverse American college women, all identifying as Muslim and all raised in the United States, construct their identities during one of the most formative times in their lives. The author, an anthropologist of education, focuses on key leisure practices—drinking, dating, and fashion—to probe how...

...In eighteenth-century America, fashion served as a site of contests over various forms of gendered power. This book explores how and why fashion—both as a concept and as the changing style of personal adornment—linked gender relations, social order, commerce, and political authority during a time...

...This chapter describes a new category of actor, performer, and model, described by fashion writer Ruth La Ferla as “ethnically ambiguous,” that appeared, seemingly overnight. “Ambiguity is chic,” La Ferla noted, “especially among the under-25s, members of Generation Y, the most racially diverse...

...The opening chapter of the book outlines a brief history of black fashion. Using Angela Davis as a guiding figure, the chapter discusses how and why soul style became a global phenomenon. Locating the style’s roots in the antebellum period, tracing its development in the interwar period...

...This chapter focuses on Sarah Eve's journal, in which she reflected on the time she had spent with Mrs. Brayen, the wife of a doctor, a “man of fortune” from Trenton, New Jersey. Eve's journal situates the relationship among fashion, social status, character, and gender at the center of a familiar...

...This chapter argues that, in the 1970s, the corset reentered the world of fashion. This is not to say that the midsections of women's bodies had gone unsupported in the decades, even centuries, before. Stays, or “jumps,” and stomachers stiffened by whalebone shaped the forms of many women...

... to the future of the leadership of Manbo Maude’s home in the form of her daughter Manbo Vante’m Pa Fyem and how she continues the legacies of fashion and community building within Vodou in both Mattapan and Jacmel. Anais audience Blackness Black children child communication confidence Dantò Ezili divine...

..., bodily adornment, and spirit possession. Nwokocha spent more than a decade observing Vodou ceremonies from Montreal and New York to Miami and Port-au-Prince. She engaged particularly with a Haitian practitioner and former fashion designer, Manbo Maude, who presided over Vodou temples in Mattapan...

...This chapter describes Kongo Christian fashion. The Kongo elite expressed their status as Christian nobles and participants in the Atlantic world by combining local clothing with imported textiles. The combination of local and foreign regalia gave the kingdom's elite a defined image...

...This chapter introduces the fashion origins of Haitian Vodou practitioner Manbo Marie Maude Evans or Manbo Maude. The term Manbo, meaning female high priestess, is given to Vodou practitioners who have undergone initiatory rites and understand sacred religious knowledges. Manbo Maude has been...

... Miles around the City of Philadelphia Sidney Marginalia Reverie Roach Joseph Shopping Sidney J C Silk Smith John Jay Handkerchief maps “Gigantic ” Winnicott Donald W atlas ephemeral maps almanacs ambulatory maps pocket maps coat fashion map handkerchief souvenir transitional object...

...This chapter argues that the play of fashion in dress would have meant little without an audience. In order to communicate social codes and personal identity, attract attention, and engender desire, attire had to be paraded before other eyes and was often chosen with such reception in mind, even...

...This chapter focuses on the Islamic fashion industry and how some women have adopted fashion as an expression of individuality or as a strategy of resistance toward conservative interpretations of Islam. It examines criticisms against veiling fashions, particularly by conservative Muslims who view...

... have used their clothing, hair, and style not simply as a fashion statement but as a powerful tool of resistance. Whether using stiletto heels as weapons to protect against police attacks or incorporating African-themed designs into everyday wear, these fashion-forward women celebrated their identities...