Based on 'wardrobe interviews', this article studies how young Dutch men dress themselves. We argue that existing sociological studies of clothing have gone too far in emphasizing the symbolic aspects of clothing and have not paid sufficient attention to the role of routines and rules in daily dressing. Moreover, we find that young Dutch men dress rather inconspicuously, and are hardly interested in using clothes as a tool in 'postmodern' identity experiments. Insofar as clothing selection is a matter of reflexivity, it is primarily directed at conformity to meet social and situational requirements. Our respondents use clothing to construct coherent and authentic identities: their dress should express who they think they are. Convincing others of their unique identity is hardly desirable for these men. Finally, for most of them clothing is a negative act: they seek to avoid attracting attention through their dress. Our respondents are aware of the fact that their inconspicuous dress is similar to those of their companions, but this is a source of comfort rather than distress.

Gender models: changing representations and intersecting roles in Dutch and Italian fashion magazines, 1982-2011 Kuipers, G.M.M.; van der Laan, E.C.; Arfini, E.A.G.

This article explores the possibility of cosmopolitics, using the global magazine franchise Vogue as our starting point. Drawing on Saito's conceptualizations of cosmopolitanism, we investigate whether Vogue promotes cosmopolitan engagement, which we define as promotion of human diversity, cultural omnivorousness and cosmopolitics. Our analysis focuses on racial diversity and health, two moral issues recently addressed by Vogue itself. We present a content analysis of Vogue and media coverage of Vogue in China, the Netherlands and the USA. We conclude that Vogue, because of its global basis, high status and reliance on visual materials, has the potential to address and unite transnational publics around global issues. However, the success of such attempts depends on local cultural and institutional contexts and the role of local actors, who may adopt, but also reframe or ignore, attempts to promote cosmopolitan engagement.

No abstract

This article analyzes the creation of value in (semi-)peripheral fields, using interview (N=94) and ethnographic data of creatives, models and cultural intermediaries in Polish and Dutch fashion. Drawing on field theory and center-periphery theories we show that these peripheral fields have a distinct structure—peripheral worlds—marked by the dependence on foreign centers for goods, standards and consecration, in which actors employ field-specific peripheral strategies for pursuing value and success. Workers in the (semi-)periphery develop peripheral selves, marked by a “double consciousness”, simultaneously seeing themselves from a local perspective and through the eyes of “central” others. We theorize “peripheralness” as a dimension of social inequality, a continuum ranging from “most central” to “most peripheral”, that spring from transnational interdependencies; and offer building blocks for a theory of the periphery that connects structural conditions and personal experiences. This theory explains, among others, why peripheries are not the reverse of centers, why centers also need peripheries (though not as much as peripheries need centers), and why peripheral and semi-peripheral actors don’t leave for cultural hubs to “make it there”.