Decolonising Fashion Studies Resources: Working list
The Fashion and Race Database - a wealth of resources on decolonising Fashion Studies created by Kimberly Jenkins
The Birth of Cool: Style Narratives of the African Diaspora by Carol Tulloch - a fantastic exploration of how style and dress both create and assert the Black identity and initiate change and resistance in black culture from the 19th century to the present day - and discusses why Black culture has long been associated with the notion of 'cool'.
Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity by Monica L. Miller - 'The figure of the black dandy first emerged in eighteenth-century England as an attempt to control the representation of Africans by imposing upon domestic slaves luxurious uniforms intended to flaunt their masters' wealth. These uniforms were soon manipulated by those who wore them, initiating a struggle between master and slave in which style emerged as a primary means of self-expression'. Essential reading if you are interested in the history of Black dandyism.
Liberated Threads: Black Women, Style and the Global Politics of Soul by Tanisha C. Ford - explores the connections between Black style and activism, focusing on the emergence of the “soul style” movement—represented in clothing, jewelry, hairstyles, and more.
(and you might also want to check out Dressed in Dreams: A Black Girl’s Love Letter to the Power of Fashion by the same author)
Black Designers in American Fashion edited by Elizabeth Way, with articles by Way, Katie Knowles, Jonathan Michael Suqare, Kristen E. Stewart, Joy Davis, Kristen J. Owens, Nancy Deihl, Darnell-Jamal Lisby, Ariele Elia, Tanya Danielle Wilson Myers and Eric Darnell Pritchard.
Fabulous: The Rise of the Beautiful Eccentric by madison moore - a book that 'explores how queer, brown, and other marginalized outsiders use ideas, style, and creativity in everyday life', and why 'being fabulous', as per Prince's definition, can be a political gesture.
“If You Don’t Bring No Grits, Don’t Come”: Critiquing a Critique of Patrick Kelly, Golliwogs, And Camp as A Technique of Black Queer Expression by Sequoia Barnes - an article discussing camp in the work of designer Patrick Kelly - PDF available online
Hair Matters: Beauty, power and black women’s consciousness by Ingrid Banks - draws on over 50 interviews with Black women of all ages, this book unpacks how talking about hair reveals Black women's ideas about race, gender, sexuality, beauty and class
Fashioning the Self in Slavery and Freedom - a curatorial platform created by Jonathan Michael Suqare that explores intersections between slavery and the fashion system on various social media outlets.
Stylin’: African American Expressive Culture from Its Beginnings to the Zoot Suit by Graham White and Shane White.
Fresh, Fly Fabulous: Fifty Years of Hip Hop Style edited by Elizabeth Way and Elena Romero
#FashioningTheBlackBody Reading List compiled by Jonathan Michael Square
Not Your Momma’s History by Cheyney McKnight
How to Slay: Inspiration from the Kings and Queens of Black Style by Constance C. R. White
Black and Beautiful: How Women of Color Changed the Fashion Industry by Barbara Summers
“Open Space: Black Fashion Studies” (International Journal of Fashion Studies) and “On the ‘Black Designers’” (Fashion Studies Journal) by Rikki Byrd
Fashioning Lives: Black Queers and the Politics of Literacy and Abundant Black Joy: The Life and Work of Patrick Kelly by Eric Darnell Pritchard