Vol. 48 No. 2 (2021): Politics of Dress and Appearance

Dress has been a typical subject of ethnological research since the establishment of the field. In recent years, new theoretical discussions, and concepts such as performativity, materiality, and body as well as studies inspired by gender theories and textual, visual, and affective approaches have renewed the study of dress in ethnological research in many ways. At the same time, dress, fashion, and appearance have also become very topical themes in the study of culture and society in fields outside traditional dress and fashion studies. The articles of this theme issue discuss the politics of dress and appearance. They analyse the role of dress and fashion in expressing, formulating, and contesting various political ideas and ideologies, social norms, cultural ideals, and social statuses.