Lauren Downing Peters
Biographic Data
| ID | 802209 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Lauren Downing Peters |
| GIVEN NAMES | Lauren Downing |
| FAMILY NAME | Peters |
| SIGNATURE | PETERS L D |
| AFFILIATIONS | Stockholm University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2957-553X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 27 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 15 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Repair and Care
On Fat Clothes
This article considers the possibilities and limitations of plus-size clothing— a subcategory of ready-to-wear that is deeply embedded in the history of dieting, exercise, standardized sizing, and the industrialization of clothing manufacturing in the United States. In doing so, it draws on fashion theory and disability theory in exposing how plus-size clothing functions as a normalizing mechanism, thereby inhibiting innovation in this sector. Th…
“Discourses of discontent
This article considers the messy intersections of fat liberation and fashion. In doing so, it analyzes two case studies – Big Beautiful Woman magazine’s “I’M MAD AS HELL!” complaint slips and the more recent “#MakeMySize” social media movement – through the critical lenses of commodity feminism and commodity activism. When viewed through these lenses, these case studies demonstrate that although some critics have deemed fashion a frivolous preocc…
Flattering the Figure, Fitting in
Although a mainstay of popular fashion discourse, the notion of “figure flattery” is an enduringly neglected concept in the fashion literature. In seeking to partially fill this gap, this article engages in a close examination of the slenderizing design discourses of the “stoutwear” industry—the historical precursor to today’s “plus-size” fashions—in order to flesh out a working theory of figure flattery. Drawing upon a close reading of extant ad…
Virgil Abloh
Virgil Abloh: “Figures of Speech”. Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Chicago, Illinois, June 10-Septemebr 22, 2019
Towards a nomadic canon
Rethinking fashion at MoMA
Fashion studies at Parsons School of Design
Teaching Fashion Studies
The idea that fashion studies is “in-becoming” is one that is frequently revisited within the scholarly literature. In her 2002 book, The Study of Dress History, Lou Taylor identifies the 1990s as
Contours of the Nation
In the introduction to her book, Contours of the Nation: Making Obesity and Imagining Canada, 1945–1970, Deborah McPhail observes how, “as a medicalized category of diseased embodiment defined and
Exhibition Review
Exhibition Review: Stephen Burrows: When Fashion Danced, The Museum of the City of New York, March 22‒July 28, 2013
Fashion Plus”
Between 1986 and 1988, American Vogue ran a series of advertorials entitled “Fashion Plus.” Documenting the mid-1980s explosion of designer-led plus-size fashion, the series offers a rare glimpse into an overlooked moment in the history of large-size dress; however, it also stands as a singular foray into plus-size fashion for Vogue—a periodical that marginalizes representations of non-normative bodies. While its mere inclusion within the pages o…
Faking It
If there is one idea that may be taken away from The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology’s exhibition, Faking It: Originals, Copies, and Counterfeits, it is that authenticity in fashion i
You Are What You Wear
This article examines the overlooked market of plus-size fashion and explores the ways in which the fashion industry neglects and marginalizes fat consumers. Faced with limited options in garments colloquially known as “plus-size” or “outsize” that are typically relegated to dark corners of clothing stores and are excluded from the pages of high fashion periodicals, the plus-size consumer lacks options in fashioning her self-identity. Under these…
Performing Vintage
“Vintage” as a fashion term is difficult to pin down. While some scholars argue that vintage only applies to fashion items that are at least twenty years old, others argue that it is also an easily manufactured and commodifiable sensibility. This article offers a revised definition of vintage as performance and bridges the fields of fashion studies, cultural studies, and ethnography. Using the Brooklyn Flea in Brooklyn, New York, as my primary re…
You Are What You Wear
This article examines the overlooked market of plus-size fashion and explores the ways in which the fashion industry neglects and marginalizes fat consumers. Faced with limited options in garments colloquially known as “plus-size” or “outsize” that are typically relegated to dark corners of clothing stores and are excluded from the pages of high fashion periodicals, the plus-size consumer lacks options in fashioning her self-identity. Under these…
Flattering the Figure, Fitting in
Although a mainstay of popular fashion discourse, the notion of “figure flattery” is an enduringly neglected concept in the fashion literature. In seeking to partially fill this gap, this article engages in a close examination of the slenderizing design discourses of the “stoutwear” industry—the historical precursor to today’s “plus-size” fashions—in order to flesh out a working theory of figure flattery. Drawing upon a close reading of extant ad…
Fashion Plus”
Between 1986 and 1988, American Vogue ran a series of advertorials entitled “Fashion Plus.” Documenting the mid-1980s explosion of designer-led plus-size fashion, the series offers a rare glimpse into an overlooked moment in the history of large-size dress; however, it also stands as a singular foray into plus-size fashion for Vogue—a periodical that marginalizes representations of non-normative bodies. While its mere inclusion within the pages o…
Repair and Care
Virgil Abloh
Virgil Abloh: “Figures of Speech”. Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Chicago, Illinois, June 10-Septemebr 22, 2019
Performing Vintage
“Vintage” as a fashion term is difficult to pin down. While some scholars argue that vintage only applies to fashion items that are at least twenty years old, others argue that it is also an easily manufactured and commodifiable sensibility. This article offers a revised definition of vintage as performance and bridges the fields of fashion studies, cultural studies, and ethnography. Using the Brooklyn Flea in Brooklyn, New York, as my primary re…
You Are What You Wear
This article examines the overlooked market of plus-size fashion and explores the ways in which the fashion industry neglects and marginalizes fat consumers. Faced with limited options in garments colloquially known as “plus-size” or “outsize” that are typically relegated to dark corners of clothing stores and are excluded from the pages of high fashion periodicals, the plus-size consumer lacks options in fashioning her self-identity. Under these…
Performing Vintage
“Vintage” as a fashion term is difficult to pin down. While some scholars argue that vintage only applies to fashion items that are at least twenty years old, others argue that it is also an easily manufactured and commodifiable sensibility. This article offers a revised definition of vintage as performance and bridges the fields of fashion studies, cultural studies, and ethnography. Using the Brooklyn Flea in Brooklyn, New York, as my primary re…
Faking It
If there is one idea that may be taken away from The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology’s exhibition, Faking It: Originals, Copies, and Counterfeits, it is that authenticity in fashion i
Exhibition Review
Exhibition Review: Stephen Burrows: When Fashion Danced, The Museum of the City of New York, March 22‒July 28, 2013
Fashion Plus”
Between 1986 and 1988, American Vogue ran a series of advertorials entitled “Fashion Plus.” Documenting the mid-1980s explosion of designer-led plus-size fashion, the series offers a rare glimpse into an overlooked moment in the history of large-size dress; however, it also stands as a singular foray into plus-size fashion for Vogue—a periodical that marginalizes representations of non-normative bodies. While its mere inclusion within the pages o…
Towards a nomadic canon
Rethinking fashion at MoMA
Fashion studies at Parsons School of Design
Teaching Fashion Studies
The idea that fashion studies is “in-becoming” is one that is frequently revisited within the scholarly literature. In her 2002 book, The Study of Dress History, Lou Taylor identifies the 1990s as
Contours of the Nation
In the introduction to her book, Contours of the Nation: Making Obesity and Imagining Canada, 1945–1970, Deborah McPhail observes how, “as a medicalized category of diseased embodiment defined and
Flattering the Figure, Fitting in
Although a mainstay of popular fashion discourse, the notion of “figure flattery” is an enduringly neglected concept in the fashion literature. In seeking to partially fill this gap, this article engages in a close examination of the slenderizing design discourses of the “stoutwear” industry—the historical precursor to today’s “plus-size” fashions—in order to flesh out a working theory of figure flattery. Drawing upon a close reading of extant ad…
Virgil Abloh
Virgil Abloh: “Figures of Speech”. Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Chicago, Illinois, June 10-Septemebr 22, 2019
On Fat Clothes
This article considers the possibilities and limitations of plus-size clothing— a subcategory of ready-to-wear that is deeply embedded in the history of dieting, exercise, standardized sizing, and the industrialization of clothing manufacturing in the United States. In doing so, it draws on fashion theory and disability theory in exposing how plus-size clothing functions as a normalizing mechanism, thereby inhibiting innovation in this sector. Th…
“Discourses of discontent
This article considers the messy intersections of fat liberation and fashion. In doing so, it analyzes two case studies – Big Beautiful Woman magazine’s “I’M MAD AS HELL!” complaint slips and the more recent “#MakeMySize” social media movement – through the critical lenses of commodity feminism and commodity activism. When viewed through these lenses, these case studies demonstrate that although some critics have deemed fashion a frivolous preocc…
Repair and Care
Fashion and Cultural Textiles (13 works) · Art (11 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Art, Politics, and Modernism (7 works) · Aesthetics (6 works) · Crafts, Textile, and Design (6 works) · History (6 works) · Visual arts (6 works) · History (5 works) · Philosophy (5 works)