Peer Review

Dress Appearance and Diversity

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Reviewed:: Sep 30, 2026 by Sociology

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

This interdisciplinary textbook examines appearance and dressing practices in relation to ethnicity, gender, age, body shape, disability, and class. It introduces fashion and dress-related theories, culture and identity concepts, and social justice concepts related to dress, appearance, and the fashion industry. In this textbook, students are introduced to topics about identity, dress, and the body. We explore how individuals and communities use dress to communicate (i.e., “negotiate,” in fashion studies) their various identities. There is heightened attention to social justice, power, privilege, and oppression. That is, we focus on the experiences of historically marginalized communities and the ways they navigate dress and dressing their bodies in different contexts. Increased awareness of appearances and fashions of individuals historically experiencing oppression and marginalization can aid in developing a more socially just environment and reject past perpetuations of white supremacy, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, fatphobia, and xenophobia. As students enter the workforce with a social justice background, they will better understand and work with others who are different from them. Additionally, a better understanding of diverse consumers could help provide these consumers with the products they desire and avoid public diversity issues that are far too common in the fashion industry.

Type of Material:

Open (Access) Textbook

Recommended Uses:

This book would be well-suited on a sociology course centered on Appearance, Dress, and Diversity. Which is the descriptive title of the text.

This text offers many resources that may be of interest to others - podcasts, readings.

Module Topics include:

Dress, Appearance, and Identity
Identity, Social Justice, and Dress
Social Science Theories (reviewed)
Culture (reviewed)
Subculture and Group Membership
Fashion Theories
Sex and Gender
Sexuality
Beauty and Attractiveness
Disability
Religion
Race and Ethnicity
Dress Codes

Individual modules could be used as supplemental material in other courses (Intro to Sociology).

Technical Requirements:

Tested on Firefox

Identify Major Learning Goals:

The book contains two distinct parts.

Part 1: Dress Theories and Concepts introduces readers to concepts and theories related to fashion, clothing, dress, and/or accessories.

Part 2: Dress and Marginalized Communities asks readers to examine the role fashion, clothing, dress, and/or accessories play in identity development for individuals in marginalized communities in the United States.

Course Learning Objective:

Define the role of dress and appearance in the development and understanding of the self and others.
Describe and explain foundational concepts and theories related to dress, identity, fashion, and culture and how they intersect with sex, gender, sexuality, attractiveness, disability, religion, race, and ethnicity.
Analyze the experiences and the role of fashion, clothing, dress, and/or accessories for identity development.
Critique social justice issues within the fashion industry.

Each module/chapter identifies the specific learning objectives.

Target Student Population:

College Upper Division, Graduate School

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

Most of the terminology and concepts are defined within the text itself. Little prerequisite knowledge is necessary.

Content Quality

Rating:

Strengths:

The content is very concise, and termminology if immediately and well defined.

The variety of material is impressive. The videos offer unique opportunities for students to listen to the experiences and reflections of others. This can help develop critical thinking and communication skills. Content (pictures, videos) are appropriately cited.

Concerns:

Some of the material was relatively basic (ethnocentrism). Often, people highlight the negatives of ethnocentrism without recognizing the universality of ethnocentrism to provide social order, group solidarity/cohesion, and a sense of belonging in societies.

Each chapter is quite short. It would be a good idea to supplement this course with other materials.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

The course and module learning objectives are clearly stated. The beginning module offers some basic background knowledge to help students understand social science research.

The material are arranged in a logical way, rationally presented, and complete. Every module (chapter) starts with an overview. The general flow of the material is logical.

Concerns:

There are a lot of interesting resources. Some of the explanations of concepts and theories might need more detailed information to capture the complexity of the concepts/ideas.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

The formatting is consistent across the modules, making navigation easy. Instructions are given for viewing supplemental material (videos, transcripts, articles).

Anyone familiar with websites should have no difficulty with the materials.

Concerns:

There are no alt-tags or image descriptions. It would be beneficial to have some reflective questions/activities at the end of each module to help students reinforce learning objectives.

Other Issues and Comments:: There were no other issues.
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