Hello! I am interested in researching queer fashion history. However, I dont know where to start. Id like to get some library books, and if there are some free online resources that would be great too. I havent been able to find anythiny on my own as of yet, so if you could help me that would be great :)
This is a really fun question! The history of fashion is incredibly queer, so there are a lot of directions you could go. I’ve gotten a few book and article recommendation from queer scholars and friends I can offer.
You could look at how fashion was and is used as a sort of code between queer people, with things like the hanky code, femme flagging, and the like. The hankie code revisited: From function to fashion by Andrew Reilly and Erik J. Saethre looks at the hanky code as it was used in the past and how it has evolved today.
You could look at queer people who have made it into mainstream fashion, like Gianni Versace, Yves Saint Laurent, and Alexander McQueen. A Queer History of Fashion: From the Closet to the Catwalk published by Yale University Press is a good start for this.
You could look at how queer fashion is often considered or heavily entwined with various subcultures. Goth Culture: Gender, Sexuality, and Style by Dunja Brill explores gender and sexuality in goth culture.
You could look at leather culture. Ball culture. Beatniks. Punks. Dandies. Pansies.
There are so many more directions you could take your research, and I’m sure I’ll wake up at 3am tomorrow and remember something I should have included, but hopefully, you can get an idea! Here are a few more books you can check out:
Queer Style by Vicki Karaminas
'Don We Now Our Gay Apparel: Gay Men's Dress in the Twentieth Century (Dress, Body, Culture) by Shaun Cole
Gay Semiotics: A Photographic Study of Visual Coding Among Homosexual Men by Hal Fischer
