Don We Now Our Gay Apparel Gay Men's Dress in the Twentieth Century
Description
Re-issued as part of the Foundations of Fashion Studies series, Shaun Cole's seminal text is an important study of the development and history of gay men's dress – from the subcultural world of the early 20th century to the clubs and bars of the 80s and 90s.
Drawing upon first-hand interviews conducted with men across the UK and US, the author analyzes the trends in dress adopted by gay men as well as the challenge gay style as has posed to mainstream men's fashion. Other sources such as contemporary magazines shed further light on the culture and discourse influencing gay men's dress and, in the newly extended reading list, the author situates his own writing among the landscape of recent writing on queer and gay men's style.
A new preface and afterword also reflect on the value of the research methodology employed by Don We Now Our Gay Apparel as well as the changes in studies related to the central focus of Cole's text.
This re-issued text is a vital introduction for readers interested in gay men's fashion over the last 100 years, whether approaching from a fashion studies, LGBTQ+ studies or sociology background.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Homosexuality Class and Dress
2. Fairies and Queens: The Role of the Effeminate Stereotypes
3. You're Born Naked and the Rest is Drag!
4. Invisible Men?
5. Tight Trousers: Italian Styling in the 1960s
6. Counterculture and Liberation: Gay Men, Beats and Hippies
7. Introduction
8. Hell for Leather: Bikers, Fum and Fetishisation
9. Body Talk
10. Down to Basics: Swimwear and Underwear
11. Trash, Glamour, Punk
12. Express Yourself: Clubbing at the Blitz, the Batcave and Beyond
13. Hard Boys: Masculine Appropriations in the 1980s
14. Are You a Fag? 'Cos You Look Like a Fag!
Afterword
Further Reading
Index
Product details
| Published | 14 May 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (PDF) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 256 |
| ISBN | 9781350462076 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Visual Arts |
| Illustrations | 25 b&w illustrations |
| Series | Foundations of Fashion Studies |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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