Professor Angela McRobbie: The Social Life of Clothes

Today, we are thrilled to share a conversation with someone whom both Katriona and I have admired for many years in our academic lives. When studying and teaching fashion, her work has always been a guiding force. She is the sociologist, feminist thinker, and cultural scholar, Professor Angela McRobbie. Our discussion with Angela travels across countries and decades, bringing us into the creative and political energy of 1970s Glasgow, the feminist debates and vintage-hunting culture of Birmingham, and the vibrant artistic worlds she later encountered in London and Berlin. Along the way, she reflects on how clothing becomes a way of thinking - a way of positioning oneself intellectually, politically, and personally. It’s a conversation that mirrors Angela’s lifelong commitment to understanding how what we wear both shapes us and reflects the worlds we move through. And truly, our own interest in the stories behind the clothes we wear has been deeply informed by reading culture theorists like Angela McRobbie. In many ways, Desert Island Dress is inspired by pioneering researchers such as herself, which makes it especially meaningful to share this episode today. We hope you enjoy listening as much as we did.