Call for Papers: ‘Veteran & Post-Military Appearance & Dress’
Special Issue: ‘Veteran & Post-Military Appearance & Dress’
Guest Editor: Matt Porter, Social Redress, USA
Inasmuch as fashion is a vehicle for self-expression and individuality, fashion also operates as a regulatory force. While the fashion system and everyday styles can function in this regulatory capacity, sartorial regulation can best be understood through examining uniforms – namely military uniforms. Military dress has long-since had a significant impact on fashion in the development of both functional staples and luxury garments. However, such examinations often lack insights into the self-fashioning of the individuals who wore the uniform. Thus, scholarship has limited insights into how former military personnel (veterans), contend with and negotiate fashion and therefore a sense of self-craft and social belonging after leaving the military. From the perspective of military studies and veterans’ studies, while inquiries into identity and civilian integration are heavily explored, examinations into how style-fashion-dress contributes to aspects of psychosocial reintegration to civilian life are often overlooked.
Veteran identity, perception and social reception are heavily context dependent. By nature of their work, veterans have a particular connection to the enactment of State power (i.e. war). In some cases, public perception of veterans can be skewed through partisan or dramatized lenses that may conflict with how veterans view or seek to present themselves which has critical implications regarding gender, race, behaviour, and of course appearance.
In this issue, we centrally ask: What does a veteran look like? And how do veterans choose or refuse to present themselves post-military? We invite papers that explore how veteran and post-military identities are shaped, mediated, and/or produced through style, fashion, and appearance. Potential topics may include but are not limited to:
- Veteran negotiations with civilian dress as a part of the transition process
- Covering, passing or obscuring veteran identity
- Sartorial displays of veteran status (e.g. through ballcaps, pins or other insignias)
- Body modifications and transgressions of uniform norms post-service (especially regarding hair or grooming)
- Feminine expression and beauty
- Career-wear charities for veterans
- Fitness and the post-military body
- Veteran self-fashioning around physical disability
- Repurposing or reclamation of military uniforms
- Veteran-owned or veteran-targeted fashion brands
- Veteran fashion designers
Deadline for submissions: 1 July 2028
Manuscripts should be approximately 5000–7500 words and prepared using the Intellect House Style, which may be accessed at: https://www.intellectbooks.com/asset/3182/intellect-house-style-guide-8th-ed..pdf.
Please submit via the journal page: https://www.intellectbooks.com/fashion-style-popular-culture
Manuscripts are accepted on a rolling basis and reviewed as they arrive. All manuscripts are double-anonymized peer reviewed. For questions regarding submissions or enquiries regarding the journal please contact Joseph Hancock: joseph.hancockii@gmail.com.