Knitting groups, blogs, magazines, and fiber arts social media sites (e.g., ravelry.com) have flourished in the last decade as more women (and men) engage in the craft. The popularity of this craft today and the history of fiber arts, in general, deserve the attention of feminist scholars. Beth Ann Pentney has presented evidence for both obvious…

The purpose of this work was to explore the effectiveness of an educational intervention aimed at reducing weight bias. Senior fashion students (n = 11) enrolled in a 16 week special topics course, "plus-size swimwear design," completed assignments of selected obesity related educational readings and guided critical reflection. Student…

Clothing is an integral part of our lives, yet modes of producing, using, and disposing of apparel have significant impacts on the environment. Our research explored the role transformative learning plays in the transition to more sustainable thinking and actions about clothing to illuminate instrumental learning processes and examine the…

This study investigates the effects of formality of dress on ratings of classroom presentations. Participants (N = 65, 66% women) from a Midwestern university in the United States rated three female students giving a presentation designed for a health psychology class in one of four outfits: casual, party, business casual, or business formal.…

This article explores the relationship between students' identities, their ideas about professional appearance and their anticipated transition to the world of work. It is based on a series of semi-structured interviews with 13 students from a vocationally-focused university in England. It was found that participants viewed clothing and appearance…

Italian-schooled Chinese migrant youth in Prato enact a Chinese diasporic identity which develops as a result of the diasporic stance they manifest through Mandarin-speaking practice, in addition to other practices associated with Mandarin. Being children of Chinese migrants with limited Italian literacy, the youth speak a Chinese dialect and…

This case points to the problem of the gendered precariousness of academia. While "a casual observer of academic environments might come to the conclusion that women's problems in higher education have been solved," a second look reveals that "while women in positions of power and authority on American campuses have increased, they…

This study focused on the factors that affect rural male students` participation in Fashion & Fabrics and Food & Nutrition in Zimbabwe. The qualitative research design grounded in the interpretive paradigm was used to generate relevant data. The three data generating instruments used were interviews and observation guides as well as…

To facilitate the design process in every art form, there are certain guidelines that all professional designers should use. These are known as elements and principles of design. This study is a survey carried out to assess the knowledge of dressmakers about basic design in the Ho Municipality of Ghana. Sixty dressmakers were randomly sampled for…

The relative insignificance of fashion to the discipline of sociology, as well as academia writ large, has led to a substantial paucity of theory and scholarship about people dressing their bodies. Despite Aspers and Godart's 2013 plea in the "Annual Review of Sociology" to change the tide and seriously examine of the sociology of…

The 2013 factory collapse at Rana Plaza in Bangladesh is a painful reminder that labor issues in the apparel industry are abundant and troubling. Catholic colleges and universities (CCUs) are confronted with the reality that many apparel manufacturers can operate in stark contrast to the vision of economic justice found in Catholic social thought…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the health care practices for medical textiles in government hospitals Enugu State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study determined the availability and maintenance of medical textiles in government hospitals in Enugu State, Nigeria. A sample of 1200 hospital personnel were studied. One thousand two hundred…

This paper analyses new learning experiences of first year pattern technology students at a university of technology, in the context of selected characteristics of authentic learning theories. The paper contributes to existing knowledge by proposing a method that could be followed for design-based subjects in a vocational education setting.…

The transition from a usually autocratic to generally participative style of leadership has been a process full of frustration, anxiety, and concerns for Nigerian immigrant pastors in The Apostolic Church (TAC) North America. These pastors have brought the values, concepts, practices, and behavior which they learned in Nigeria to lead the American…

Numerous scholars have noted that the majority of prisoners will be reincarcerated within three years of their release. However, while there has been extensive research on recidivism, much less attention has been paid to the reentry process in the sociological and criminological literature. Given the high rates of former prisoners reentering…