January Monthly Theme: Dress and Structural Power

For the month of January, FRD will be discussing dress and structural power.

Clothing has the utility of both empowering and disempowering the wearer, where color, shape and the overall style of what we wear can define what we want to express about ourselves – or enable others to define our position in society. The prison system, for instance, can be seen as a microcosm for the latter, suppressing individuality through uniforms that reinforce a sense of shame. For the month of January, The Fashion and Race Database is exploring myriad ways in which the body, dress and material objects are used (and have been used historically) as a form of control. Also, how we can use dress and self-presentation as a way to resist the power structures that suppress our sense of freedom and dignity?

- Kim Jenkins

Founder & Principal Researcher, The Fashion and Race Database