Dr. Mark Joseph O’Connell, Conference Presentation: “Fashioning Canada: Dress, Commodity Flows, and the Material Politics of Canadian Identity” (ICI) 2026 Conference, York University, Toronto, August 11-13, 2026

On August 11-13, 2026, I presented my Canadian Fashion Economies research “Fashioning Canada: Dress, Commodity Flows, and the Material Politics of Canadian Identity” at the Interrogating Canadian Identities / Les identités canadienne — une interrogation (ICI) 2026 Conference. August 11-13, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, York University, Fashioning Canada: Dress, Commodity Flows, and the Material Politics of Canadian Identity This conference presentation examines Canadian identity through dress, arguing that clothing and textiles have actively participated in shaping the social, economic, and politicalRead more

Garibaldi, the Red Shirt, and the Politics of Dress

Garibaldi, the Red Shirt, and the Politics of Dress In 1849, during the short-lived Roman Republic, politics unfolded not only in speeches, decrees, or military strategy, but on the surface of the body itself. In the streets and on the defensive walls of Rome, identity was made visible through clothing, gesture, and presence. At the centre of this moment stood Giuseppe Garibaldi and his volunteer fighters, the Garibaldini, whose distinctive red shirts would become one of the most enduring symbolsRead more