Fashion Studies Research Methods, Sites and Practices

The study of fashion has expanded into a thriving field of inquiry, with researchers utilizing diverse methods from across subject disciplines to explore fashion and dress in wide-ranging contexts. With an emphasis on material culture and ethnographic approaches in fashion studies, this groundbreaking volume offers fascinating insights into the complex dynamics of research and fashion.

Featuring unique case studies, with interdisciplinary scholars reflecting on their practical research experiences, Fashion Studies provides rich and nuanced perspectives on the use, and mixing and matching of methodological approaches – including object and image based research, the integration of qualitative and quantitative methods and the fluid bridging of theory and practice. Engaging with diverse subjects, from ethnographies of model casting and street-style blogging, wardrobe studies and a material culture analysis of global denim wearing, to Martin Margiela's design and archival methods, Fashion Studies presents complex approaches in a lively and informative manner that will appeal to students of fashion, anthropology, sociology, cultural studies and related fields.

Heike Jenss is Assistant Professor for Fashion Studies, School of Art and Design History, Parsons The New School for Design, New York, USA.

Christopher Breward is Principal of Edinburgh College of Art, UK and Vice Principal for the Creative and Performing Arts at the University of Edinburgh, UK.

Figures
Notes on Contributors
Acknowledgements

Preface: Fashion Studies in Flux
Christopher Breward, Principal of Edinburgh College of Art, and Vice-Principal of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Introduction: Locating Fashion/Studies: Research Methods, Sites and Practices
Heike Jenß, Director, MA Fashion Studies, Parsons The New School for Design, New York, USA

SECTION 1: APPROACHING FASHION AND DRESS AS MATERIAL CULTURE

Searching the Archives: Everyday Fashion in New York and London
Cheryl Buckley, Professor of Design History at Brighton University, United Kingdom and Hazel Clark, Research Chair of Fashion, Parsons The New School for Design, New York, USA
Global Denim: A Material Culture Approach to Understanding the Ordinary, Global, and the Personal
Sophie Woodward, Lecturer in Sociology, Manchester University, United Kingdom

SECTION 2: ETHNOGRAPHIES OF FASHION PRACTICES

In Search of the Global Fashion Industry: Ethnography, Narrative and the Intimacies of Global Connections
Christina Moon, Assistant Professor of Fashion Studies, Parsons The New School for Design, New York, USA
Recasting Fashion Image Production: An Ethnographic and Practice Based Approach
Stephanie Sadre-Orafai, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Cincinnati, USA
Urban Fieldnotes: An Auto-Ethnography of Street Style Blogging
Brent Luvaas, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA
Exploring Creativity: An Ethnographic Study of Fashion Design Practices
Todd Nicewonger, Visiting Instructor in Anthropology, Rutgers University/ Research Fellow University of Gothenburg, Sweden

SECTION 3: MIXED METHODS AND THEORY IN PRACTICE

Fusing Qualitative and Quantitative Research: Material Masculinities
Susan B. Kaiser, Professor of Textiles and Clothing, and Women and Gender Studies, University of California, Davis, USA
Tailoring Methods: A Case-Study of Martin Margiela and the Temporalities of Fashion
Francesca Granata, Assistant Professor of Fashion Studies, Parsons The New School for Design, USA
Action! Or, Exploring Diffractive Methods for Fashion Research
Otto von Busch, Professor of Design, Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design, Stockholm, Sweden
Epilogue: Doing Fashion Studies: Reflections on Methodology and Interdisciplinarity in the Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion
Joanne B. Eicher, Regents Professor Emerita, Department of Design, Housing and Apparel, University of Minnesota, USA

Index

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