This special issue of Women’s History Review seeks to position women as makers, in addition to consumers of fashion. The trope of the frivolous fashionista is a common means by which
women are dismissed. But fashion is an economically and culturally powerful force. Far from passive consumers of dictated trends, women have mobilised fashion as a route towards financial freedom, self-expression, and political power. Women, throughout history, have shaped fashion.
This special issue looks holistically at the myriad ways in which women have made fashion, both literally and conceptually. Manual labour within the clothing trades is routinely overlooked and
undervalued. While the skill of (male) tailors has generally been admired and prized, the sartorial hand work which is most associated with women’s labour has been dismissed and cast as
unskilled. Similarly, the first fashion designers are often identified as men, and yet there is a long and nuanced history of women shaping fashions and setting trends. Articles are sought which
explore women’s sartorial labour at any point in history or geographical location. Sartorial labour is defined broadly, relating to any making work which is associated with the adornment of the
body. Possible article topics might include women in relation to:
• Labour in the sartorial trades (milliners, seamstresses, mantua-makers, dressmakers etc.)
• Sartorial businesswomen
• The local and global transmission of women’s garment-making skill and knowledge
• Fashion leaders and trend-setters
• ‘Designers’ of fashion (especially before Worth)
• Fashion activists
• Home sewing and the amateur making of fashion
• Fashion as a means of gaining independence
• Magazines and media

Articles should be of 7,000 to 10,000 words. Further ‘Instructions for Authors’ can be found here. This link includes details about how to format your paper, and how to present referencing.
The deadline for articles is 18th November 2024. In the first instance, they should be emailed to the Guest Editor, Dr Serena Dyer at serena.dyer@dmu.ac.uk. Any queries should also be
directed to serena.dyer@dmu.ac.uk.

Women’s History Review is an international journal whose aim is to provide a forum for the publication of new scholarly articles in the field of women’s history. The time span covered by the journal includes the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries as well as earlier times. The journal seeks to publish contributions from a range of disciplines (for example, women’s studies, history, sociology, cultural studies, media studies, film studies, literature, anthropology, politics, social policy and philosophy) that further feminist knowledge and debate about women and/or gender relations in history. We welcome a variety of approaches from people from different countries and backgrounds. All research articles published in this journal have undergone rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing by at least two anonymous referees.