Style
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Drowning in Wool
By Zach Stafford In high school, I was obsessed with planning what I was going to wear to school every day. The nights before classes...
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A Black Crip’s Perspective on Fashion and Embodied Resistance
My mentor Darnell L. Moore’s recent piece, Black Freaks, Black Fags, Black Dykes: Re-imagining Rebecca Walker’s “Black Cool” jolted my consciousness about the ways in...
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Black Freaks, Black Fags, Black Dykes: Re-imagining Rebecca Walker’s “Black Cool”
Enter Scene: I am walking in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn—where we do more than die, by the way—rocking a close fade with two parts on the side,...
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Conversation Piece: Queer Fashion on Campus
During the 2012 presidential election, there was much conversation among journalists, bloggers, and activists about the innovative ways students were using social media to mobilize...
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TFW: The Year in Review
With the intertwined mission of fostering feminist, anti-racist, and anti-imperialist perspectives, 2012 gave our contributors no shortage of topics about which to write. We saw...
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My Hair: Threat to National Security
By Ashanté Reese The first time a TSA agent probed my hair I was flying from Atlanta to Washington, D.C. sometime in November 2011. My sister-friend-stylist Shana...
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You Betta Werk!: Professors Talk Style Politics
By Tanisha C. Ford In recent years, appropriate attire for professors has been a hotly debated topic. Scholars from various disciplines have offered instruction, fashion...
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In Remembrance of Helen Gurley Brown: A Complicated Feminist Hero
By Mandy Van Deven Media icon and cultural pioneer Helen Gurley Brown passed away August 13 at the age of 90. Although I saw her name on...
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The Hijab on the Pitch
By Laurent Dubois On Friday, July 6, the French Football Federation announced that it would ban the wearing of hijab during all organized competitions held...
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Adidas Cancels Release of Controversial Shackle Sneaker
“Got a sneaker game so hot you lock your kicks to your ankles?” This was the caption beneath the picture of Adidas’ JS Roundhouse Mid...
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Race, Mad Men, and Nostalgia
By Claire Oberon Garcia Like three million other Americans, I eagerly looked forward to the return of Mad Men. I love the show. But as...
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Black Women Take Back Style: How Technology has Changed the Game
By Naomi Extra As a black girl growing up in the suburbs of New York there were three visible black female icons that I saw...
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Criminal Fashions: The Hermeneutics of Hip-Hop Aesthetics
The hip hop aesthetic has recently made its way to the cover of Vogue Italia, one of the most influential magazines of the fashion world....
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H&M Chooses Cyborgs over Humans
The bodies of most of the models H&M features on its website are computer-generated and “completely virtual,” the company has admitted. H&M designs a body that can better display...
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Fitting In, In Beijing
My decision to go to Beijing, China for a summer literature institute provoked a variety of responses in those with whom I shared my plans. ...
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Spanx and The Marketing of "Normal" in a Fatphobic Culture
By now you’ve likely heard of Sara Blakely’s 21st century girdle alternative, Spanx. Perhaps you’ve even tried them out, or like me, don them religiously—with...
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Less Is Not More
When I was growing up in the 1970s, my parents worked for a magazine distribution company in Chicago. My dad was a diesel mechanic and...