This paper presents support for an African-American aesthetic of dress that has its roots in West African culture. The objectives were to determine (a) how an African-American aesthetic of dress is currently manifested and (b) the values and attitudes relative to that aesthetic. An afrocentric methodology that employs an interpretative paradigm was used in the study. This methodology assumes a culturally centered analysis of discourse in which human actions, emotions, and attitudes are interpreted and understood within the context of the culture of the speaker and listener. Protocol resulting from in-depth interviews with 45 female and male informants was interpreted in order to obtain an understanding of an African-American aesthetic of dress. The aesthetic consists of four elements: The affinity for "high affect" colors; "style" or individual expression; improvisations and exotic features; and the tendency to dress up. These elements are supported by metaphysical beliefs congruent with the African ethos of unity and oneness.
Anderson, P.F. (1983). Marketing, scientific progress, and scientific method. Journal of Marketing, 47(Fall), 18-31.
2.
Asante, M.K. (1987). The Afrocentric idea. Philadelphia : Temple University Press.
3.
Beardsley, M.C. (1958). Aesthetics. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company.
4.
Blassingame, J.S. (1979). The slave community: Plantation life in the antebellum South. New York: Oxford University Press.
5.
Bruner, E.M. (1993). Introduction: The ethnographic self and the personal self. In P. Benson (Ed.), Anthropology and literature (pp.1-26). Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
6.
Carver, R. (1989). Fires. New York: Vantage.
7.
Chase, J.W. (1978). Afro-American heritage from antebellum Black craftsmen . Southern Folklore Quarterly, 42(2-3), 135-158.
8.
Collins, P.H. (1990). Black feminist thought. New York: Rutledge.
9.
Denzin, N.K. (1994). The art and politics of interpretation. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 500-515). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
10.
Eicher, J. B. (Ed.). (1995). Dress and ethnicity. Oxford: Berg Publishers Limited.
11.
Eicher, J.B., & Roach-Higgins, M.E. (1972). Definition and classification of dress. In R. Barnes and J. B. Eicher (Eds.), Dress and gender: Making and meaning in cultural context (pp. 8-20). New York: Berg.
12.
Ferris, W. (1983). Afro-American folk art and craft. Jackson, Mississippi: University of Mississippi Press .
13.
Fiore, A.M., Moreno, J.M., & Kimle, P.A. (1996). Aesthetics: A comparison of the state of the art outside and inside the field of textiles and clothing. Part III: Appreciation process, appreciator, and summary comparison. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 14(3), 169-184.
14.
Folb, E. (1980). Runnin' down some lines: The language and culture of black teenagers. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
15.
Gayle, A., Jr.( 1971). The Black aesthetic. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
16.
Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays . New York: Basic Books.
17.
Genovese, E.D. (1972). Roll, Jordan, roll: The world the slaves made . New York: Pantheon Books.
18.
Guba, E.G., & Lincoln, Y.S. (1994). Competing paradigms in qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 105-117). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
19.
Griaule, M. (1997). Conversations with Ogotemmeli. In R. R. Grinkel & C. B. Steiner (Eds.), Perspectives on Africa a reader in culture, history, and representation (pp. 366-378) Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
20.
Harrison, P.C. (1972). The drama of nommo. New York : Grove Press.
21.
Herskovits, M.J. (1966). The New World Negro. Bloomington : Indiana University Press.
22.
Honey, N.A. (1987). The interview as text: Hermeneutics considered as a model for analyzing the clinically informed research interview. Human development, 30(3), 69-82.
23.
Hudson, L.A., & Ozanne, J.L. (1988). Alternative ways of seeking knowledge in consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research, 14, 508-521.
24.
Hume, D. (1965). Of the standards of taste. In J. Stolnitz (Ed.), Aesthetics (pp. 86-97). New York: MacMillan Publishing Co.
25.
Hutson, L.A., & Ozanne, J.L. (1988). Alternative ways of seeking knowledge in consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research, 14 (March), 508-521.
26.
Kaiser, S. (1990). The social psychology of clothing. (2nd ed.). New York: MacMillan Publishing Company.
27.
Kemble, F.A. (1961). Journal of a residence on a Georgian plantation in 1838-1839. New York: Pantheon Books.
28.
King, E. (1875). The great South: A record of journeys. Hartford: American Publishing Company.
29.
Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, B.( 1983). The future of folklore studies in America: The urban frontier. Folklore Forum16(2), 175-234.
30.
Krieger, S. (1991). Social science and the self: Personal essays as an art form. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
31.
Lamb, V. (1975). West African weaving. London : Duckworth, Gerald and Co.
32.
Leigh, F.B. (1883). Ten years on a Georgia plantation. London: Richard Bentley & Son.
33.
Liebman, M.M. (1987). A conceptual framework for examining color preferences, importance and categorization in a multi-attribute context among blacks. In R. L. King (Ed.). Minority Marketing: Issues and Prospects, 3, 57-63. Charleston : Academy of Marketing Sciences.
34.
Lincoln, Y.S., & Denzin, N.K. (1994). The fifth moment. In N. K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 575-586). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
35.
Majors, R., & Billson, J.M. (1992). Cool pose. New York: Simon & Schuster.
36.
Merriam, A.P. (1973). The anthropology of music. Evanston: North Western University Press.
37.
Neal, L. (1971). Some reflections on the Black aesthetic. In A. Gayle, Jr. (Ed.), The Black aesthetic (pp. 13-16). New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc.
38.
Nobles, W.W. (1991). African philosophy: Foundations for black psychology . In L. R. Jones (Ed.), Black Psychology (3rd ed., pp. 47-63). Berkeley CA: Cobb and Henry.
39.
O'Neal, G.S. (1994). African-American aesthetic of Dress: Symmetry through diversity. In M. R. DeLong & A. M. Fiore (Eds.), Aesthetics of Textiles and Clothing: Advancing multi-disciplinary perspectives ITAA Special publication #7 (pp. 212-223). Monument, CO.
40.
Peter, J.P., & Olson, J.C. (1983). Is science marketing?Journal of Marketing,47(Fall), 111-125.
41.
Peterkin, J. (1933). Roll, Jordan, roll. New York : Robert O. Ballou.
42.
Psathas, G. (1995). Conversation analysis: The study of talk-in-interaction . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
43.
Reeder, E., & Drake, M.F. (1980). Clothing preferences of male athletes: Actual and perceived. Home Economics Research Journal, 8, 339-343.
44.
Richardson, L. (1992). The consequences of poetic representation: Writing the other, rewriting the self. In C. Ellis & M. G. Flaherty (Eds.), Investigating subjectivity: Research on lived experience (pp. 125-137). Newbery Park, CA: Sage.
45.
Semmes, C.E. (1992). Cultural hegemony and African American development . Westport, Connecticut: Praeger .
46.
Sieber, R. (1972). African textiles and the decorative arts. New York: Museum of Modem Art.
47.
Starke, B. (1990). U. S. slave narratives: Accounts of what they wore. In B. Starke, L. Holloman, and B. Nordquist (Eds.), African American dress and adornment: A cultural perspective (pp.69-80). Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co.
48.
Thomas, J. (1993). Doing critical ethnography. Newbury park, CA: Sage.
49.
Thompson, R.F. (1983). Flash of the spirit: African and Afro-American art and philosophy. New York: Ventage .
50.
Vlach, J.M. (1978). The Afro-American tradition in the decorative arts. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art.
51.
Wahlman, M.S., & Scully, J. (1983). Aesthetic principles in Afro-American quilts. In William Ferris (Ed.), Afro-American folk art and crafts (pp. 79-97). Boston: G. K. Hill.
52.
Warner, P.C., & Parker, D. (1990). Slave clothing and textiles in North Carolina 1775-1835. In B. M. Starke, L. D. Holloman, & B. K. Nordquist (Eds.), African American dress and adornment: A cultural perspective (pp. 82-92). Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co.
53.
Williams, J., Arbaugh, J., & Rucker, M. (1980). Clothing color preferences of adolescent females . Home Economics Research Journa, 9, 57-63.
54.
Woodson, C.G. (1925). Negro orators and their orations. Washington, D.C.: Associated Publishers.
55.
Zirimu, P. (1971). An approach to black aesthetic. In A. Gurr and P. Zirumu (Eds.), Black Aesthetics (pp. 58-67). Nairobi: East African Literature Bureau.
