PLAYING THE GAME: UNPACKING GENDER, RACE, AND APPEARANCE INEQUITIES IN CORPORATE FASHION

This study utilizes a feminist perspective to share the stories of women in fashion as they navigate their careers in conjunction with intersecting forms of identity and appearance. I seek to understand the lived experiences of the women throughout their obstacles, privileges and perceptions of social structures that uphold a unique horizontally female segregated, vertically male segregated industry. Specifically, this study critiques the systems that inhibit career growth through gender and racial inequity, power imbalance and appearance expectations. A method of in-depth interviews analyzed through a hybrid reflexive thematic analysis approach was triangulated with photo data analysis to unpack gender and based appearance experiences in fashion. The three themes revealed in this study include: (1) The Impact of Gender Inequality in Leadership on Organizational Culture, (2) Brand Standards and Industry Norms Influence Appearance and Dress, and (3) Gender Inequality is Not Equal for All Women.