Black Fashion & Dress Cultures
Monica studies Black fashion and dress cultures, analyzing how they tell stories about self and society, via the construction of a garment, the wearing of an ensemble, or the mise en scene of a fashion show on a runway or in the streets. The success of Slaves to Fashion has resulted in invitations to contribute to numerous museum exhibitions, symposia, and publications related to exhibitions of Black fashion, style, and dress; in addition, Monica has often been sought out as a commentator in the media on Black fashion and dress phenomena, especially dandyism in the Black diaspora.
Slaves to Fashion is a pioneering cultural history of the black dandy, from his emergence in Enlightenment England to his contemporary incarnations in the cosmopolitan art worlds of London and New York. The book received the 2010 William Sanders Scarborough Prize for the best book in African American literature and culture from the Modern Language Association (MLA) and was shortlisted for the 2010 Modernist Studies Association Book Prize.
Slaves to Fashion
Duke University Press, 2009
Articles and Book Chapters
Recent Talks
Brummel in Black: A Meditation in Minimalism and Abstraction…the single Gesture and the full effect
Keynote Address: Beau Brummell and New Masculinities Conference, The Association of Dress Historians with University of the Arts, London, Central Saint Martins, London, UK. April 2024.
Fashion, Race, Identity, and Power: Black Dandy Beginnings
Talking About Race Matters series. Dyckman Farmhouse Museum, New York, NY. Online, February 2024.
Slaves to Fashion: A Cultural History of Black Dandyism
National Arts Club. New York, NY. January 2021.
Africa Fashion//Call & Response: Fabricating the Global Diaspora
with Dr. Christine Checinska. Victoria and Albert Museum course on African Fashion. Online, March 2023.
Debating the Black Body in Fashion & Popular Culture: Panel II: The “Aesthetics of Excess” and “Respectability Politics”
UCLA African American Studies, Black Dress & Culture Series. November 2021.
Luxury Slaves, Negro Governors, and Jim Crow: Black Dandy Beginnings
Invisible Makers: Textiles, Dress, and Marginalized People in 18th- and 19th-Century America. Invited Plenary Lecture. Historic Deerfield Museum. Deerfield, MA. April 2021.
Podcasts, Interviews, other media
“Black People Have Made Country Club Style Our Style.” Byrdie. Interview with Eden Stuart. April 2024.
“Critical Theory to Help You Intellectualize Fashion Month and Your Closet: The Best Critical Theory Books on Fashion.” Passerby. February 2024.
“Episode 1: Principles of Drip.” 1619: The College Edition Podcast. Howard University/Spotify. Interview. October 2023.
“The Experts Bringing Black Fashion History to Fashion Education.” Fashionista. Interviewed by Janelle Sessoms. October 2023.
“An Ode to Black Women Never Putting Down Their Purses.” New York Magazine: The Cut. Interviewed by Amaya Macdonald. April 2023.
“Episode 4: The Best, The Brightest, the Dressed.” The Invisible Seam: Unsung Stories of Black Culture and Fashion Podcast. Tommy Hilfiger and The Fashion and Race Database/Kimberly Jenkins. April 2022.
“Dandies Rebelled Against Social, Gender, and Fashion Norms for 200 Years: Some Say Time is Ripe for a Revival.” Ideas Podcast with Pedro Mendes. Canadian Broadcasting Company. April 2021.
“Dressed Like Kings.” Interview for documentary film on global black dandyism and Swenka dress culture in South Africa. Director: Stacey Holman. Spring 2016. Aired on PBS World Channel: Afropop Short Films, February 2019.
“Black Dandyism: A Cultural History.” Dressed: The History of Fashion Podcast. Hosts: April Calahan and Cassidy Zachary. Two episodes. December 2018.
“Black Dandy: A Political Beauty.” Interview for CANAL+/French documentary on global black dandyism. Dir. Laurent Lunette and Ariel Wizman. Aired in France in April 2015.
“Afterword: Who Were the First Black Dandies?” Chronicle of Higher Education: Chronicle Review. Interview with Brock Read. December 2012.
“Black Dandies Fashion New Academic Identities.” Chronicle of Higher Education: Chronicle Review. Interview with Stacey Patton and Photo Essay. December 2012.
“Why Black Men Tend to Be Fashion Kings.” NPR: Tell Me More with Michel Martin. December 2012.