Brief Summary
This article explores the often-overlooked contributions of enslaved people and their descendants to fashion history. It argues that traditional fashion narratives, focused on European monarchs and trends, fail to acknowledge the ingenuity and influence of Black people in shaping fashion. The author highlights how enslaved people, despite limited resources, developed unique styles that subverted European trends and even influenced mainstream fashion. The article calls for a more inclusive approach to fashion history, recognizing the contributions of Black people and challenging the Eurocentric bias in museums and scholarship.
- Enslaved people were trendsetters, often subverting European fashion trends and developing unique styles.
- Black contributions to fashion history are often overlooked, leading to a distorted understanding of fashion's evolution.
- The article calls for a more inclusive approach to fashion history, recognizing the contributions of Black people and challenging Eurocentric bias.
The Fashioning of the Self in Slavery and Freedom
This chapter introduces the author's research on the fashion of enslaved people and their descendants. The author highlights the lack of information about the lives and identities of these individuals, due to the limited historical records and the distorted perspectives of enslavers. The author emphasizes the importance of incorporating Black people into fashion history to disrupt traditional narratives and reveal the richness and complexity of their sartorial choices.
Subverting European Fads
This chapter delves into the ways enslaved people subverted European fashion trends. The author discusses how enslaved people, despite limited resources, developed unique styles that reflected their individual tastes and preferences. The author provides examples of how enslaved people altered clothing, mixed different cultural influences, and embraced vibrant colors and prints, often defying the dominant norms of white society.
Camp and the Exclusion of Black Self-Fashioning
This chapter examines the exclusion of Black self-fashioning from mainstream fashion history, particularly in the context of the Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute exhibition "Camp: Notes on Fashion." The author argues that the tongue-in-cheek self-fashioning of Black people, often characterized as "camp," was largely ignored, despite their significant contributions to this aesthetic. The author highlights the political significance of Black self-fashioning as a form of resistance and subversion of racial hierarchies.
Rethinking Fashion History
This chapter calls for a more inclusive and critical approach to fashion history. The author argues that museums and scholars need to move beyond Eurocentric perspectives and recognize the contributions of diverse communities, particularly Black people. The author emphasizes the importance of examining the full complexity of fashion history, including the experiences of those who were historically marginalized.
The Silences in Collections
This chapter explores the challenges of incorporating slavery into fashion histories, particularly the lack of preserved clothing from enslaved people. The author argues that museums and curators need to move beyond the limitations of existing collections and explore alternative ways of understanding the dress practices of enslaved people, using archival images, textual descriptions, and a more inclusive approach to scholarship.
A Missed Opportunity
This chapter concludes by highlighting the missed opportunities of recent fashion exhibitions, such as "Camp" and "About Time: Fashion and Duration," to showcase the contributions of Black people to fashion history. The author emphasizes the need for museums and scholars to acknowledge the rich history of Black fashion and to challenge the Eurocentric bias that continues to dominate the field. The author concludes by calling for a more inclusive and equitable approach to fashion history, one that recognizes the genius and influence of Black people throughout its evolution.
