Jessica Wolfendale & Jeanette Kennett 
Fashion – Philosophy for Everyone 
Thinking with Style

If you just can’t decide what to wear, this enlightening guide will lead you through the diverse and sometimes contradictory aspects of fashion in a series of lively, entertaining and thoughtful essays from prominent philosophers and writers.

* A unique and enlightening insight into the underlying philosophy behind the power of fashion

* Contributions address issues in fashion from a variety of viewpoints, including aesthetics, the nature of fashion and fashionability, ethics, gender and identity politics, and design

* Includes a foreword by Jennifer Baumgardner, feminist author, activist and cultural critic, editor of Ms magazine (1993-7) and regular contributor to major women’s magazines including Glamour and Marie-Claire

Table of Content

Foreword ix
Jennifer Baumgardner

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction 1
Jessica Wolfendale and Jeanette Kennett

Part 1 Being Fashionable and Being Cool 13

1 What Makes Something Fashionable? 15
Anya Farennikova and Jesse Prinz

2 Fashion, Illusion, and Alienation 31
Nick Zangwill

3 Tryhards, Fashion Victims, and Effortless Cool 37
Luke Russell

Part 2 Fashion, Style, and Design 51

4 The Aesthetics of Design 53
Andy Hamilton

5 Share the Fantasy: Perfume Advertising, Fashion, and Desire 70
Cynthia A. Freeland

6 Computational Couture: From Cyborgs to Supermodels 88
Ada Brunstein

Part 3 Fashion, Identity, and Freedom 103

7 Wearing Your Values on Your Sleeve 105
Daniel Yim

8 Fashion and Sexual Identity, or Why Recognition Matters 120
Samantha Brennan

9 Slaves to Fashion? 135
Lauren Ashwell and Rae Langton

10 Fashion Dolls and Feminism: How Do You Solve a Problem Like Barbie? 151
Louise Collins

Part 4 Can We Be Ethical and Fashionable? 167

11 Sweatshops and Cynicism 169
Matthew F. Pierlott

12 Women Shopping and Women Sweatshopping: Individual Responsibility for Consumerism 18
Lisa Cassidy

13 A Taste for Fashion 199
Marguerite La Caze

Notes on Contributors 215

About the author

Editors

Jessica Wolfendale is Assistant Professor of Philosophy
at West Virginia University, and perhaps a little too fond of
vintage clothing. She is the author of Torture and the Military
Profession (2007) and has published extensively on the ethics
of torture, military ethics, and applied ethics.

Jeanette Kennett is Professor of Moral Psychology at
Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. She is the author of
Agency and Responsibility (2001) and has published widely on
topics including empathy, addiction, self-control, , advertising,
and love and friendship.

Series Editor

Fritz Allhoff is an Associate Professor in the
Philosophy Department at Western Michigan University, as well as a
Senior Research Fellow at The Australian National University’s
Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics. In addition to
editing the Philosophy for Everyone series, Allhoff is also
the volume editor or co-editor for several titles, including
Wine & Philosophy (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007), Whiskey
& Philosophy (with Marcus P. Adams, Wiley, 2009), and
Food & Philosophy (with Dave Monroe, Wiley-Blackwell,
2007). His academic research interests engage various facets of
applied ethics, ethical theory, and the history and philosophy of
science.