This research investigates how strength of ethnic identification influences attitudes toward and ownership of ethnic apparel, importance of product and store-display attributes, and purchase intention among Asian American consumers in Hawai’i. The sample included 167 Asian Americans who visited apparel stores in Honolulu that had Asian-inspired clothing predominantly displayed. The study results showed that those participants who identified themselves strongly with their ethnic group put more emphasis on ethnic features of clothing and window displays than those with a weak ethnic identification. Overall, attitudinal measure of ethnic identification appeared to be a more important variable than the use of ethnic language in understanding importance of product and store-display attributes.

According to symbolic self‐completion theory, people who feel status anxiety may engage in self‐symbolization, resulting in the adoption of symbols used to bolster identity. Self‐symbolization is an idealized condition that occurs when a person's status is legitimized by others who accept these symbols as valid status markers. While some studies support this perspective, others have identified blind spots and suggest revision. The current research suggests that role theory be incorporated with this perspective. In this article, the sorority experience is analyzed as a rite of passage in which high levels of role salience produce role embracement and symbolic self‐completion. Symbolic self‐completion theory is made more robust by analyzing the use of visual symbols as expressions of social roles.

Religions constrain the bodies of their members through dress. In many cases, dress immediately identifies a member of the community to the outside world and separates them from a society that members believe is threatened by evil forces. Dress identifies the wearer's community to other groups and communities, and may also reflect one's status. Most interestingly, perhaps, dress is a measure of one's level of commitment to the community. While communities vary greatly in terms of what is permissible, strict conformity to internal codes invariably is interpreted as a sign of piety, whereas deviation implies at best self-indulgence and at worst contempt for community values. In order to control sexuality, women's bodies in particular are constrained in religious communities in terms of emotional expression, diet, and especially dress. This book investigates dress in American religious communities as a vital component of the social control of cultures, and also examines how people express themselves despite religious constraints. Gender issues feature prominently since the control of female sexuality within religious communities is a matter of vital concern to its members. Drawing on rich ethnographic case studies, this wide-ranging and interdisciplinary represents a major contribution to the study of both religion and dress.

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This study sheds light on dress as it is involved in the social construction of femininity, and in particular how sororities are engaged in this process. As institutions, the sororities in this study trained their members toward a traditional notion of femininity that was visually expressed in appearance. New sorority members (pledges) were actively involved in the social construction of gender as they adopted the sororities' idealized images and roles pertaining to femininity.Enculturation into a sorority began with adoption of the idealized images such as a sorority look. Pledges wanted to at least look like full-fledged members and alleviated status insecurity by adopting the idealized image as they embraced their roles. As competing roles emerged over time, full-fledged members substituted the sorority's idealized images for personal images.Adherence to the sororities' idealized images became a gender role obligation. Benefits of this study to textiles and clothing scholarship include a deeper understanding of the role of appearance in non-verbal communication and in informal social control.