A couple of weeks ago, The Root published an article by Prof. Tanisha Ford (University of Massachusetts Amherst) about the costume design of Ava DuVernay’s Selma. I only found out about it yesterday and rushed to read it. It is a valuable bibliographic reference, as well as an example of academic research applied to journalism. I loved to read it. As a historian of fashion and the …

Today, The New York Times posted the article Hairstyles that Ascend, and Aspire, in Nigeria, about the photographic work of the late J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere. In the course of a career that spanned several decades, the Nigerian photographer, who died a in Febraury 2014 at 83, documented the hair culture of his country, taking portraits of women in elaborate styles and headgear. While most hairdos where popular, …

Whitewashed is a film about racism and whiteness in the US, which could have not come at a more tragic moment in the history of racial relations. It uses amateur footage to show how racial supremacy is constructed, perpetuated, and fought. In a hypothetical “race studies” video playlist it would go with The Black Power Mixtape. Also of interest, an on the same subject, Angela Davis’ …

The Sartists are a couple of “sartorial-artists” from Johannesburg who have been enjoying significant visibility worldwide since appearing in a Coca-Cola commercial in 2013 and on the South African trendsetting page Flux. Their style mixes vintage and contemporary elements, in the fashion of gentleman revivalism made popular by Sam Lambert and Shaka Maidoh of Art Comes first. In their blog, the Sartists collect visual cues of a nostalgic reworking of classic …