Dress Code: Unlocking Fashion from the New Look to Millennial Pink

“Clothes make the person” is perhaps not a statement one usually associates with feminist politics but a concept that fascinates and perplexes feminist historians and gender theorists while also often frustratingly seeming to trap women in a superficial set of standards related to the body. This book by Elle magazine fashion editor Hyland is a welcome addition to this conversation (preceded by the likes of Emily Robinovitch-Fox’s Dressed for Freedom). Here Hyland powerfully argues that to dismiss fashion as something stereotypically feminine and ephemeral, would mean denying its dailiness and its iterative creation of individuals as they engage with the world. Hyland contends that such a dismissal reifies a binary opposition that privileges masculine values over feminine ones. She effectively unpacks why clothing is a political choice and carefully considers the particular scrutiny of the personal appearances of women of color. Calling up her previous research for blogs such as The Cut, along with analysis of primary sources, the author delves into cultural fascination with youth and beauty—a phenomenon that is accompanied by dissection and often criticism of the fashion choices and influences of teenage girls.