World Book Day and Its Discontents: The Cultural Politics of Book‐Based Fancy Dress

Critical reflections on cultural appropriation, race and the role of fancy dress costume

“…The purpose of the article is twofold: first, to promote a more critical and continuous engagement with fancy dress costume and to contribute to a growing body of scholarship that recognizes its cultural and social importance (Rachamimov 2006;McQuillen 2013;Vaclavik 2019;Wild 2019aWild , 2019b; second, to complicate discussions about the causes of cultural appropriation within fancy dress costume by reflecting on the circumstances and motives in which people perform, dressed very differently from their conventional appearance. Addressing these points, the article makes a unique contribution to clothing studies by providing a nuanced interpretation of the reasons why cultural appropriation occurs through a series of reflections on the negotiations that transpire when people participate in fancy dress costume.…”