The study of theories related to appearance, clothing, and fashion, and their influences on cultural identities, gender perceptions, and fashion product consumption. Examines contemporary dress from cultures outside and within the United States.
Dress is analyzed as a communication system that indicates individuality as well as position within specific social systems of kinship, economy, religion, and polity. Technologies and types of dress of a particular society are analyzed and understood as they link to patterns of behavior such as beliefs about morality, hygiene, ritual, and beauty.
