Title

Definition

Example

Colonial Attire

Clothing styles imposed by colonial powers to signify dominance and 'civilization.'

The mandatory wearing of Western suits by Indian bureaucrats during British colonial rule.

Creole Fashion

Clothing styles that emerged in colonies, blending indigenous, European, and African influences.

The Madras check fabric, originating in colonial India, became a symbol of Creole identity in the Caribbean.

Cultural Appropriation in Fashion

The adoption of traditional clothing elements by dominant cultures without proper acknowledgment.

Urban Outfitters’ use of Navajo designs in their products, sparking criticism from Native American groups.

Cultural Fusion Attire

Clothing that deliberately merges colonial and indigenous aesthetics to challenge cultural hierarchies.

Jamaican Rastafarian clothing, blending African symbols with Western elements.

Decolonial Aesthetics

Fashion that rejects Eurocentric standards and reclaims indigenous and traditional clothing styles.

The resurgence of Māori weaving in New Zealand as a statement of cultural pride and decolonization.

Diasporic Dress

Fashion that reflects the blending of cultural elements by communities living in diaspora.

Afro-Caribbean carnival costumes, combining African, European, and indigenous influences.

Hybridity Clothing

Garments that blend elements of colonized and colonizer cultures, symbolizing cultural fusion and identity negotiation.

Nigerian designer Duro Olowu combines traditional African textiles with Western tailoring, reflecting postcolonial hybridity.

Identity Weaving

Textile arts that embed symbols of resistance and cultural pride into their patterns.

Kente cloth from Ghana, traditionally used to tell stories of resistance and heritage.

Indigenous Textile Revival

Renewed interest in traditional textiles as a form of reclaiming cultural heritage.

Guatemala’s Mayan women continuing the art of weaving huipils to resist cultural erasure.

Orientalist Costume

Exoticized depictions of 'Eastern' attire by Westerners, often perpetuating stereotypes.

Paul Poiret’s early 20th-century 'harem pants' inspired by Orientalist fantasies of the Middle East.

Postcolonial Luxury

High-fashion reinterpretations of traditional garments, often criticized for commodifying cultural heritage.

Louis Vuitton’s 2012 Maasai-inspired collection, which sparked debates about cultural appropriation.

Resistance Dress

Clothing worn to subvert or resist colonial ideologies and oppression.

Gandhi’s khadi movement encouraged Indians to spin their own cloth as a rejection of British textiles.

Subaltern Clothing

Garments associated with marginalized or oppressed groups in a colonial context.

Indian coolies wearing lungis during British colonial rule, symbolizing their working-class status.

Symbolic Colors

Use of specific colors in clothing to reflect resistance or colonial influence.

Red in South African beadwork, symbolizing political resistance during apartheid.

Uniformity Clothing

Colonial efforts to impose standardized attire to erase indigenous identity.

Native American boarding schools required students to wear Western uniforms to assimilate them into colonial culture.