Dress Me Up! - the Use of Fashion in Identity Formation

Do we ever stop playing dress-up? Sociologist Sarah Jane Clancy investigates how young adults utilize fashion and body presentation to negotiate a sense of identity amidst a postmodern culture which provides multiple options for dress and identity expression. By employing a survey, Clancy first investigates the importance of fashion and body presentation to the sense of self of young adults. Second, Clancy examines the extent to which indulgence in fashion and body presentation reflects both experimentation and hedonism character­istic of postmodernity. Clancy discusses how the postmodern context undermines the former practical and patriarchal concerns of fashion in lieu of variable and experimental identity expression. This research offers a valuable perspective by filling the void in the identity literature which currently focuses on the body itself rather than the use of fashion and clothing to make self-statements. This book is ideally suited for those in the fields of sociology, cultural studies, and media studies or those with an interest in the identity literature, fashion and consumption, and issues of embodiment.