Her World, Women and Fashion in Singapore 1974-1989

Accidental Career Girl to Working Mother of the Year

Her World, Women and Fashion in Singapore 1974-1989 cover

Her World, Women and Fashion in Singapore 1974-1989

Accidental Career Girl to Working Mother of the Year

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Pre-order. Available 21 Aug 2025
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Description

Between 1974 and 1989, significant changes were taking place in the lives of Singaporean women and in their local fashion industry. These shifts were not only reflected in but actively shaped by the magazine Her World.

In Her World, Women and Fashion in Singapore, Nadya Wang uses dress as a lens through which to view fragments of the magazine over 15 years. Advocating for a new and decentred understanding of the evolution of the Singapore woman, Wang's writing also traces the creation of a fashion industry that pivoted from seeking validation from global fashion cities to establishing itself as the lead of a Southeast Asian fashion community.

Visual analysis of archival materials is combined with oral history interviews to demonstrate how the women of Singapore engaged with local and global ideas, fashion and beauty commodities, and imagery of models and beauty queens in their self-fashioning. Challenging existing understandings of their agency, this book attests to the creativity and adaptability of Singapore women and Singapore fashion designers.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Between Work and Home: Fashioning Singapore Women, 1974-1979
Duties at Home and at Work
Self-Fashioning in Everyday Singapore
Performing “Masculine” Jobs
Successful Career Women in Domestic Spaces
2. Creative Agency: Creating the Singapore Fashion Identity, 1980-1987
A Collective Fashion Dream
The Fashion Designers' Creative Agency
An Independent “Singaporeanness”
3. Mix and Match: Self-Fashioning Singapore Women, 1980-1988
Diffusion Lines
Boutiques and Department Stores
Shopping and Wearing Hybrid Looks
4. The Racial Politics of Advertising: Selling to Singapore's Career Women, 1978-1985
Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder
Make-Up and Covering Up
5. The Ideal Look of Singapore Women, 1983-1989
The New Ideal Figure
Local Beauty Pageants
Multiracial Models
6. Ageing Together: Her World, Singapore Women and the Fashion Industry, 1986-1989
The Relativity of Age
Working Mother of the Year
Dressing One's Age
The Maturing Fashion Industry
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index

Product details

Published 21 Aug 2025
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 224
ISBN 9781350465046
Imprint Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Illustrations 30 bw illus
Dimensions 234 x 156 mm
Series Fashion: Visual & Material Interconnections
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Nadya Wang

Nadya Wang is a lecturer at LASALLE College of the…

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