Category: Apparel and Textile Design

This open textbook was designed for students studying apparel and fashion studies at an undergraduate level. It draws on the fields of marketing, business, communications, media studies, psychology, sociology, and anthropology. The book invites readers to examine the internal forces that shape consumer decision making, such as perceptions, motivations, personality, and attitudes as well as the external ones, such as social and situational influences, culture, and subcultures, especially those related to our appearances and clothing. This text centers the lived experiences of today’s consumers, specifically, undergraduate students. Following the original author, Andrea Niosi, the adapting author has also made efforts to decenter whiteness and dominant culture perspectives wherever possible to ensure a broader and more accurate representation of diverse consumers.

In this oral history project, we explore the history and contemporary use of Bomba fashions and their related meanings. We interviewed contemporary Bomba practitioners to understand how they engage in meaning making in this practice rooted in significant cultural traditions. This resource is useful for individuals wanting to expand their knowledge on Puerto Rican history and culture and the connections between folkloric fashions in the past and present in the context of 21st century Puerto Rico.

En este proyecto de historia oral, exploramos la historia y el uso contemporáneo de las modas de Bomba y sus significados relacionados. Entrevistamos a practicantes contemporáneos de Bomba para comprender cómo se involucran en la creación de significado en esta práctica arraigada en importantes tradiciones culturales. Este recurso es útil para personas que desean ampliar su conocimiento sobre la historia y cultura puertorriqueña y las conexiones entre las modas folclóricas del pasado y el presente en el contexto de Puerto Rico en el siglo XXI.

The Qashqai community stands as one of Iran’s diverse ethnic groups, boasting its own unique language, customs, and heritage. Spread across various regions of Iran, notably the Fars Province in the south, where the Qashqai tribe predominantly resides, a plethora of Iranian local attire emerges, often labeled as traditional garb, regional apparel, or Turkish attire. Crafted predominantly from indigenous fabrics, these garments are a testament to the tribe’s cultural essence, characterized by distinct motifs and tailored to suit the local climate. Despite historical interventions by the government, which at times favored Western fashion trends over traditional attire during the 20th century, the allure of these indigenous clothing styles endures as a cornerstone of the Qashqai tribe’s cultural heritage well into the 21st century. The purpose of this oral history project is to document contemporary Qashqai women and their experiences with traditional dress through the oral history method.

جامعه قشقایی یکی از اقوام متنوع ایران است که زبان، آداب و رسوم و میراث منحصر به فرد خود را به نمایش می‌گذارد. شامل بیش از 250 طایفه مجزا است و هر طایفه  دارای روایت تاریخی غنی و حماسه مهاجرت است. در مناطق مختلف ایران، در جنوب به ویژه استان فارس، جایی که ایل قشقایی عمدتاً در آن سکونت دارند، انبوهی از لباس‌های محلی ایرانی پدیدار می‌شود که اغلب به عنوان لباس سنتی، لباس محلی یا لباس ترکی شناخته می‌شوند. این لباس‌ها به‌طور عمده از پارچه‌های بومی ساخته شده‌اند و شاهکاری از جوهر فرهنگی این قبیله هستند که با نقش‌ها و طرح‌های متمایز مشخص شده‌اند و به‌گونه‌ای طراحی شده‌اند که با اقلیم محلی سازگار باشند. علیرغم مداخلات تاریخی دولت، که در برخی مواقع در طول قرن بیستم، گرایش‌های مد غربی را بر لباس‌های سنتی ترجیح می‌داد، جذابیت این سبک‌های لباس بومی به عنوان سنگ بنای میراث فرهنگی ایل قشقایی تا قرن بیست و یکم باقی ماند. هدف این پروژه مستندسازی زنان معاصر قشقایی و تجربیات آنها از پوشش سنتی به روش تاریخ شفاهی است.

Queer Fashion & Style: Stories from the Heartland—An Exhibition Catalog analyzes the recent history of fashion through a queer lens by examining how queer identities are negotiated in everyday styles by women in the Midwest part of the United States from the late twentieth century to the present.

In the early part of the 21st century, several LGBTQIA+ focused clothing brands emerged on the market. The purpose of this project is to document the history of each brand using the oral history method. We conducted oral histories with many brands with questions ranging from their own personal histories to how and why they started the brand. We are interested in the lives of the individuals who founded the brands in addition to the entire story of each brand from idea development to today so that way these stories can be a documented as an important part of fashion and retail history. We purposefully make these oral history transcripts available to the community in order to move research beyond the walls of the academy and make knowledge accessible to everyone.

From February 3 to April 17, 2020, Collegiate Fashion & Activism: Black Women’s Styles on the College Campus was mounted in Iowa State University’s Textiles and Clothing Museum. In this catalog, we document the entirety of the exhibition and the associated programming.

Ruth Overman, Lula Smith. Contemporary Handweaving. Ames, IA: Iowa State College Press, 1955.