Her World, Women and Fashion in Singapore 1974-1989

Nadya Wang is an independent art and fashion academic. In her professional practice, she is Founder and Managing Editor of Art & Market and Fashion & Market, spotlighting practices in the Southeast Asian art and fashion communities respectively. She is also Editor, Open Space and Reviews, at the International Journal of Fashion Studies. She holds a PhD in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute of Art. More at nadyawang.net.

Her World, Women and Fashion in Singapore 1974-1989 offers a vital, non-Eurocentric exploration of how fashion magazines, like Her World, have reflected and shaped evolving female and multicultural identities in Southeast Asia. Nadya Wang thoroughly showcases the multifaceted narratives of Singaporean women, the development of a Southeast Asian fashion industry, while also revealing the history and construction of diverse national identities.

• Introduction1. Between Work and Home: Fashioning Singapore Women, 1974-1979Duties at Home and at WorkSelf-Fashioning in Everyday SingaporePerforming “Masculine” JobsSuccessful Career Women in Domestic Spaces2. Creative Agency: Creating the Singapore Fashion Identity, 1980-1987A Collective Fashion DreamThe Fashion Designers’ Creative AgencyAn Independent “Singaporeanness”3. Mix and Match: Self-Fashioning Singapore Women, 1980-1988Diffusion LinesBoutiques and Department StoresShopping and Wearing Hybrid Looks4. The Racial Politics of Advertising: Selling to Singapore’s Career Women, 1978-1985Beauty in the Eye of the BeholderMake-Up and Covering Up5. The Ideal Look of Singapore Women, 1983-1989The New Ideal FigureLocal Beauty PageantsMultiracial Models6. Ageing Together: Her World, Singapore Women and the Fashion Industry, 1986-1989The Relativity of AgeWorking Mother of the YearDressing One’s AgeThe Maturing Fashion IndustryConclusionBibliographyIndex