Fashion, Masculinities, and Social Class
November 1, 2024
Maynooth University, Ireland
This conference seeks to explore the complex and nuanced ways in which fashion, masculinities, and social class intersect and influence each other across various cultures and historical periods.
Fashion serves as a powerful tool of expression and identity, often reflecting and shaping societal norms and individual self-concepts. Masculinities, understood as the diverse ways in which being male is culturally constructed, interact with fashion in ways that reinforce, challenge, and transform traditional and emerging social roles. Social class, with its deep roots in economic structures and cultural capital, further complicates these interactions, offering a rich field of study for examining how dress codes and sartorial choices signal, maintain, or disrupt class boundaries.
This conference aims to bring together scholars, practitioners, and industry professionals from a variety of disciplines to examine these intersections. By fostering a multidisciplinary dialogue, we hope to deepen our understanding of how fashion acts as a medium through which masculinities and social class are performed and perceived. We encourage contributions that offer new theoretical insights, empirical research, case studies, and critical reflections.
Call for Papers
We are pleased to announce a call for papers for our upcoming conference, "Fashion, Masculinities, and Social Class." This conference seeks to explore the complex and nuanced ways in which fashion, masculinities, and social class intersect and influence each other across various cultures and historical periods.
We invite submissions that address a wide range of topics and perspectives, including historical analyses of men's fashion, contemporary case studies of subcultures, media representations of masculinity, and the impact of globalisation and consumer culture on fashion trends. We are particularly interested in papers that explore the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, sexuality, and other social categories with fashion and masculinities, as well as those that consider the ethical and sustainability challenges facing the fashion industry today.
Themes and Topics
Historical Perspectives: The evolution of men's fashion and its relationship to social class across different historical periods.
Masculinity and Identity: How fashion constructs, expresses, and challenges various forms of masculinity.
Subcultures and Fashion: The role of fashion in subcultures and its impact on notions of masculinity and class.
Media Representations: The portrayal of men's fashion, masculinity, and social class in media and popular culture.
Luxury and Fast Fashion: The implications of luxury brands and fast fashion on class distinctions and masculine identities.
Intersectionality: The interplay of race, ethnicity, sexuality, and other social categories with fashion and masculinities.
Global Perspectives: Comparative studies of fashion, masculinities, and class in different cultural and geographical contexts.
Consumer Culture: The impact of consumerism on men's fashion choices and class aspirations.
Fashion Industry Practices: How industry practices and marketing strategies influence and reflect notions of masculinity and class.
Sustainability and Ethics: The role of sustainable fashion in reshaping class and masculinity paradigms.
Submission Guidelines
Abstracts: Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words.
Keywords: Include 3-5 keywords that best describe your submission.
Bio: Provide a brief bio (up to 150 words) including your current affiliation, research interests, and relevant publications.
Format: Submissions should be in Word or PDF format.
Deadline: The deadline for submission is July 31, 2024.
Submission Email: Please send your submissions to angelos.bollas@mu.ie.
Keynote Speaker
Dr Ashley Morgan
Dr Ashley Morgan is a masculinities scholar at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Ashley has published on masculinities in popular culture, including male geek identity, sexual asceticism as a viable form of male sexual behaviour, the presence of mediated toxic masculinity, and social class and gay masculinities.
She is especially interested in the intersections between masculine identity and clothing and has published on rock and rap stars and hybrid masculinity, men in skirts and the relationship between hegemonic masculinity and men’s suits.
Her forthcoming chapter on masculinity, men's clothing and male depressive affect is due to be published in the Intellect Guide to Men's Fashion in late 2024. Ashley has also published contemporary research on punk and running, and is an award-winning Running Punk.