My particular interest within the field of textiles and clothing is in exploring clothing choices, styles, and style conundrums of lesbians. In this piece, I trace the roots of this interest through early scholarly influences: literature, poetry, and women's studies. I focus on feminism as a useful technology — that is, as an intellectual apparatus that provides me both methodologies and thinking tools to understand the complex structures which inform clothing style. I discuss how feminism has aided my work in fonning a philosophy of cultural sustainability about clothing. Finally, I pinpoint my interest in lesbian or "queer" hair and hairstyles. This essay traces my path from cultural theory within literature to work within cultural studies and other interdisciplinary academic spaces well-suited for the study of clothing and style.
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