Exploring Caregivers’ Clothing Choices for Individuals With Severe Alzheimer's Disease: An Application of the Theories of Self-Complexity and Choosing for Others

The number of older Americans as well as those living with Alzheimer's is rapidly growing. Alzheimer's dementia is a disease that causes problems with memory, thinking, and behavior. The role of caregivers is important, as they are the individuals who assist those with Alzheimer's in completing not just medical tasks, but fundamental activities of daily living, such as selecting garments to wear and getting dressed. The purpose of this study was to understand how caregivers make such choices. Interviews with twelve caregivers of individuals with severe stage Alzheimer's were conducted in nursing homes in the United States. Four themes emerged: The Role of Proxy, Routine Selections, Gift-Giving for Loved Ones, and Triangular Relationships. In all cases, the recipient's preferences were important to caregivers’ choices. Further research on the outcomes of making choices for others is needed.

“La racaille,” a performed figure in French contemporary youth

In France, la racaille is a stereotyped figure of a young (usually identified as Arab or Black) man who lives in a suburban cité (social housing estate) . I have repeatedly met la racaille during my ethnographic studies on heterosexual romantic relationships among 15- to 20-year-old youngsters from three different social backgrounds—working class in cités (2002–2005), working class in villages (2008–2011), and bourgeoisie in Paris (2016–2020). I encountered it in the form of a performed figure—object of speech, clothing choices, gestures, movements, and ways of speaking. This presence reveals a collective fascination in which various negative judgments are mixed with shared admiration for its high social visibility. Stylish and powerful, la racaille is fascinating, at any rate because it embodies an exaggerated masculinity that is untroubled and unquestionable.

Blogs, identity, stigma and scars: the legacy of self-injury

Purpose This paper aims to explore the experience of living with scars from self-injury; how people who self-injure (SI) make meaning of their scars and how these scars are a part of the identity construction process. Design/methodology/approach It is observed that 60 entries, from 25 online narrative blogs detailing the experience of living with self-injury scars, were analyzed using a contextualized thematic analysis informed by an embodied perspective. Findings The analysis generated two dominant themes: temporal aspects of identity; and social stigma and scars. Originality/value Far-reaching consequences of self-injury scars on the daily lives of people who SI was found. This included a person’s posture, clothing, choices of career, inclusion in family life, leisure activities and relationships; all of which have corollaries in emotional and psychological well-being. Scars were found to be self-narrative with particular salience given to how scars represented healing. Novel findings included the central role scars played in the resistance of self-injury stigma.

Women undercover: exploring the intersectional identities of Muslim women through modest fashion

Significant discrimination is directed toward Muslim women who dress modestly. Despite this Muslims will spend an estimated US$75 billion on modest fashion by 2020, a 70% increase since 2015. Past research in modest fashion has focused on influencers, the industry, or on veiling. Muslim women’s everyday dress practices and their lived experiences have not been studied. Through an intersectional framework, this research uses wardrobe interviews with sixteen Muslim women and digital storytelling with four of them to explore how they embody their identity through modest fashion, how intersectionality impacts their clothing choices, and what contexts influence their sartorial decisions. Three themes emerged: what influences their style; how they shop and style outfits; and what consequences are faced. My research found that by prioritizing modesty as a sartorial practice, these women are diverting the Western gaze, navigating away from superficial and oppressive Western beauty ideals, and challenging narrow Islamophobic stereotypes. Keywords: modesty, female modesty, sartorial agency, dressed bodies, fashion, hijab, Muslim, Islamophobia, intersectionality, fashion diversity, Western gaze, Orientalism

Parenting fashion: an exploration of infant children's wardrobe

This research examined factors that influence parents while building their infant children’s wardrobe. The inquiry centred on a wardrobe study divided into four stages: (a) an interview, (b) inventory documentation, (c) fieldwork, and (d) photographs. Parents build their children’s wardrobe by making clothing selection decisions based on concepts of comfort and design. Gen- der representation, acquisition habits, and sustainability are other factors that influence clothing choices. Findings revealed problems in fit, sizing, and materials (mostly with pants, socks, mit- tens, fabrics, garment construction) as well as the incongruence between the child’s anatomy and the clothing silhouette. Parents need practical, functional clothing that provides ease in donning and doffing. The colour pink was controversial, as were design details. Cost and convenience of shopping are key factors in parents’ choice of retailers. Sustainability related to care, purchasing less, and hand-me-downs are the most preferred acquisition methods.

Parenting fashion: an exploration of infant children's wardrobe

This research examined factors that influence parents while building their infant children’s wardrobe. The inquiry centred on a wardrobe study divided into four stages: (a) an interview, (b) inventory documentation, (c) fieldwork, and (d) photographs. Parents build their children’s wardrobe by making clothing selection decisions based on concepts of comfort and design. Gen- der representation, acquisition habits, and sustainability are other factors that influence clothing choices. Findings revealed problems in fit, sizing, and materials (mostly with pants, socks, mit- tens, fabrics, garment construction) as well as the incongruence between the child’s anatomy and the clothing silhouette. Parents need practical, functional clothing that provides ease in donning and doffing. The colour pink was controversial, as were design details. Cost and convenience of shopping are key factors in parents’ choice of retailers. Sustainability related to care, purchasing less, and hand-me-downs are the most preferred acquisition methods.

Women undercover: exploring the intersectional identities of Muslim women through modest fashion

Significant discrimination is directed toward Muslim women who dress modestly. Despite this Muslims will spend an estimated US$75 billion on modest fashion by 2020, a 70% increase since 2015. Past research in modest fashion has focused on influencers, the industry, or on veiling. Muslim women’s everyday dress practices and their lived experiences have not been studied. Through an intersectional framework, this research uses wardrobe interviews with sixteen Muslim women and digital storytelling with four of them to explore how they embody their identity through modest fashion, how intersectionality impacts their clothing choices, and what contexts influence their sartorial decisions. Three themes emerged: what influences their style; how they shop and style outfits; and what consequences are faced. My research found that by prioritizing modesty as a sartorial practice, these women are diverting the Western gaze, navigating away from superficial and oppressive Western beauty ideals, and challenging narrow Islamophobic stereotypes. Keywords: modesty, female modesty, sartorial agency, dressed bodies, fashion, hijab, Muslim, Islamophobia, intersectionality, fashion diversity, Western gaze, Orientalism

Voices from women’s wardrobes: midlife and self-image

Current fashion research has not explored women’s perceptions of available clothing choices during the biological and physical transformations of midlife. Instabilities such as menopause, family breakups, or a loved one’s death augment women’s diminishing visual presence amid Western society’s beauty ideal. In response, clothing may become vital for self-expression, but also measurable in the terms of dress success, or a wardrobe impasse. A reflective Photovoice approach required participants (n=11) to take 7 full-body selfies over the course of a week, while wearing their favourite daywear outfits. The photographs prompted in-depth discussions during one-on-one interviews. Photovoice’s debut in fashion research reveals the common philosophies and strategies used by women in midlife to navigate a quick-response fashion system and establish a wardrobe that reflects their self-image. Women’s personal perspectives and selfevaluated dressing choices reveal whether their everyday wardrobe supports or compromises their desired self-image, promoting dress success or causing a wardrobe impasse.

What Not To Wear Policing The Body Through Fashion Criticism

Earlier studies investigating reality fashion television revealed that while participants and audiences are aware of mechanisms of surveillance and shame; scholarship also documented that critical distance from the program’s methods are not necessarily ideologically liberating for participants or audience. Indeed, as I argue and document in this current study, participants in reality fashion television shows remain caught in a pernicious power dynamic that is part and parcel of these shows. Specifically, by exploring examples from three popular fashion reality television programs—America’s Next Top Model, Project Runway, and Fashion Police—and by considering theories of fashion, gender, and power, I question the problematic ways in which popular media talk about fashion and clothing choices. Further, by drawing on Michel Foucault’s concepts of disciplinary power, I critically examine the judgments and assumptions that fashion critics impose on participants whose sartorial appearance they may find wanting. More generally, my study investigates the limitations of the widely accepted belief that fashion is a form of self- expression while I end with some more positive examples of fashion advocacy.

Voices from women’s wardrobes: midlife and self-image

Current fashion research has not explored women’s perceptions of available clothing choices during the biological and physical transformations of midlife. Instabilities such as menopause, family breakups, or a loved one’s death augment women’s diminishing visual presence amid Western society’s beauty ideal. In response, clothing may become vital for self-expression, but also measurable in the terms of dress success, or a wardrobe impasse. A reflective Photovoice approach required participants (n=11) to take 7 full-body selfies over the course of a week, while wearing their favourite daywear outfits. The photographs prompted in-depth discussions during one-on-one interviews. Photovoice’s debut in fashion research reveals the common philosophies and strategies used by women in midlife to navigate a quick-response fashion system and establish a wardrobe that reflects their self-image. Women’s personal perspectives and selfevaluated dressing choices reveal whether their everyday wardrobe supports or compromises their desired self-image, promoting dress success or causing a wardrobe impasse.