Dress, Fashion, and National Identity in Puerto Rico: Taínos to Beauty Queens

Analyzing dress, costume, and fashion in Puerto Rico, this collection utilizes case studies that explore national identity and nation formation as well as past and current practices in Puerto Rican visual culture.

As the last Spanish-speaking colony with an ever-growing diaspora, Puerto Rico presents a unique opportunity to study national identity and nation formation through dress and fashion. In Dress, Fashion, and National Identity in Puerto Rico, José Blanco F. and Raúl J. Vázquez-López combine new material and previously published essays that review diverse aspects of visual culture in Puerto Rico.

The book is divided into three sections that define and redefine the terms ＂dress＂, ＂costume＂, and ＂fashion＂ through case studies that include the resurgence of native Taíno imagery, the Young Lords’ resistance through dress, the iconic Jíbaro peasants, festival and dance costumes, and the fashion of Puerto Rican Miss Universe contestants.

This much-needed addition to the literature around fashion in Latin America offers incisive and informed discussion for students and scholars of dress and fashion, identity, Latin American studies, and all those interested in the history and visual culture of this fascinating country.

José Blanco F. is Professor in the Department of Fashion at Dominican University. José has contributed chapters in readers including The Fashion Reader, The Handbook of Masculinity Studies, The Fashion Business Reader, The Meanings of Dress, and Transglobal Fashion Narratives. He has published essays in journals including Fashion Theory, Fashion, Style and Popular Culture, Critical Studies in Men’s Fashion, Dress, and The Journal of Popular Culture.

Raúl J. Vázquez-López works in publishing for higher education and is an independent researcher. He has published several articles and book chapters on Puerto Rican dress, costume, and fashion with his husband, José and is currently guest-editing a second special issue on Latin American fashion for Fashion, Style and Popular Culture.