Fashion is the prevailing style of the times reflecting the current zeitgeist. And while all of us have style, it is not necessarily in line with or understood by the self as fashion. We have our own methods of grooming, getting dressed, and even altering our appearances. Through a ritual process of self-identity and consumption we create our own personal expression. Each of us, existing in a specific place and time, engages in the circumstance of what it means to be human. Appearance is a key expression of who we are and how we identify with one another. Our personal expressions, styles, and fashions can be guided by our body type, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, religion, workplace, the media, our desires or fantasies, and the impact of new technologies. Fashion and style are dynamic processes and a form of non-verbal communication that is seen and experienced by others. How we construct ourselves and the context in which we are seen and experienced can trigger the emotions of others.

The Lived Places Publishing Fashion & Style Collection seeks authors from academic and practitioner circles with a desire to publish scholarship and narratives that engage readers in fashion, style, and personal expressions of appearance. Lived Places Publishing is focused on producing course reading content that engages the student reader with stories at the intersection of social identity and place or context. For example: our personal attachments to body modifications such as tattooing or body piercing; and regional or national trends of dress or fashion adopted by individuals for political, social or group identity. These can include symbols such as the rainbow flag for LGBTQIA pride, the contemporary Pussy Hat project building awareness of women’s issues, and historical fashions such as T-shirts, jeans, sneaker culture or even the little black dress and their changing meanings over the decades. Proposals can include studies on clothing, dress histories, and contemporary works surrounding style culture. This collection seeks new methods for understanding the ideas of appearance and style that have historically not been told to bring our personal and sometimes marginalized narratives to the forefront telling new stories about fashion history.