Queer Style

by Vicki Karaminas, Adam Geczy

Queer Style offers an insight into queer fashionability by addressing the role that clothing has played in historical and contemporary lifestyles. From a fashion studies perspective, it examines the function of subcultural dress within queer communities and the mannerisms and messages that are used as signifiers of identity. Diverse dress is examined, including effeminate 'pansy,' masculine macho 'clone,' the 'lipstick' and 'butch' lesbian styles and the extreme styles of drag kings and drag queens.

Divided into three main sections on history, subcultural identity and subcultural style, Queer Style will be of particular interest to students of dress and fashion as well as those coming to subculture from sociology and cultural studies.

Genres: Nonfiction, Fashion, Queer

208 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2012

Reviews

[Meg]

I thought I had a pretty good english vocab but I clearly have some work to do. Dense text, centers itself around a Western LG(BTQ?) perspectives, not a good treatment/inclusion of trans issues however and I wanted more recent stuff than 2004/5. I haven't heard transvestite used like it was in the Drag section before. Heavier on the male side of things. Could have been balanced better with the 'everyone else in the world' section. I am not really convinced on why they included the BDSM section even though it was interesting to read.

I NEEDED MORE PICTURES - I had to google the difference between breeches and pantaloons and I'm still not convinced that was in any way an important point.

[Mark Bieraugel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over the centuries what did queer style, clothing and accessories, look like, and how did it fit into the societies it existed in? The authors take on this question and work through centuries of queer style to tell a story which hasn't really been told before in one place. Their academic rigor, scholarship is solid. Those interested in a particular slice of fashion history should take a look, along with those folx interested in queer material history.

[Marlo · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. not terrible but not especially well written and quite boring. perhaps the authors thesis was on the dandy figure as that was the strongest and most well-researched part of the book. may serve if you have very limited familiarity with queer fashion or history and a high tolerance for dull prose