Dress, Appearance, and Diversity in U.S. Society

Reviewed by Mary Lanigan, Associate Professor, Governors State University on 2/21/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

Have you ever wondered how various groups and communities in this melting pot called the United States use dress and appearance to express their identities? If so, then Dress, Appearance, and Diversity in U.S. Society is a must-read by Kelly L. Reddy-Best. As an open-source, digital download, this free book’s central theme is how dress, appearance, and identity shape how we look and behave in the United States from dominant and subcultural perspectives. It includes various social science and fashion theories and cultural perspectives from both prevailing and marginalized groups. The information within the chapters contains breadth but sometimes lacks depth. There is neither an index nor a glossary.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The author takes an unbiased approach to discussing dress, appearance, and diversity in the United States, and she reaches across many spectrums, including, but not limited to, transgender, Muslim, Asian, etc., offering a multi-centric perspective that appears to be accurate and unbiased.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The content of the book is contemporary and will be useful throughout the years. The book is written in a straightforward manner. But sometimes the writing is sophomoric and surface-oriented. I wish the author went into more depth, especially in the area of dress. Instead, she skims many topics.

Clarity rating: 5

At the same time, the prose is accessible to all readers, and most undergraduates would be able to breeze through the material without any difficulty.

Consistency rating: 5

The structure of the book is set up nicely. The topics are well organized and flow logically from chapter to chapter and subject to subject within each chapter. Further, the content is consistent in terminology and framework. Each chapter contains videos and an end-of-chapter exercise such as a case study or reflective assignment. Each exercise is well written and includes a detailed grading rubric.

Modularity rating: 5

If another instructor wanted to divide the readings into smaller sections or incorporate the exercises into unique assignments for his or her classes, it would be easy to do so. The exercises were written in such a way that one could modify them for his or her own specific class but, at the same time, use the rubrics and other ideas without having to reinvent the wheel. Unfortunately, the authors make the assignments specific to Canvas. Since others use Blackboard or Moodle, I think some students will get confused by the Canvas citations. But, a minor inconvenience in the long run.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The topics are well organized and flow logically from chapter to chapter and subject to subject within each chapter. Further, the end-of-chapter assignments are very organized, and the rubrics are well written.

Interface rating: 4

While there are a number of links built into the text, which are great, after clicking on a link and then clicking back, it brings the reader back to page one instead of back to the current page.

Grammatical Errors rating: 3

There were a handful of grammatical errors, such as:
Missing “s” for the word some on page 45.
On page 46, an incomplete sentence, “Some basic personality characteristics may include individuals to be…
On page 53, missing an “i” for “in public”.
P. 54 has an inappropriate line indent
Formatting issues on p. 71 regarding a quote.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

5 The authors of this book did a fantastic job of being inclusive. They included many groups in their discussions, including whites, blacks, Asians, trans, gays, lesbians, Muslims, Indians, etc. They also included a variety of videos that expanded upon the reader’s cultural awareness by including videos on the gay rodeo and the Muslim perspective on dress. While almost all the text is agreeable, there is some realistic language used by the LGBTQIA community that a few readers may find offensive, albeit this is not the fault of the authors as they are simply reporting the terms used by that particular group.

Comments

Overall, I would recommend this book to any instructor who needs a textbook that focuses on dress, appearance, and diversity. The contents of the book aren’t limited to apparel and fashion design educators. Instead, the contents can also assist Communication, Psychology, and Sociology instructors with their courses as well.