Fashion and Beauty in the Time of Asia

How
transnational modernity is taking shape in and in relation to Asia

Fashion and Beauty in the Time of
Asia
considers the role of bodily aesthetics in the shaping of Asian modernities and
the formation of the so-called “Asian Century.” S. Heijin Lee, Christina H.
Moon, and Thuy Linh Nguyen Tu train our eyes on sites as far-flung, varied, and
intimate as Guangzhou and Los Angeles, Saigon and Seoul, New York and Toronto. They
map the transregional connections, ever-evolving aspirations and sensibilities,
and new worlds and life paths forged through engagements with fashion and
beauty.

Contributors
consider American influence on plastic surgery in Korea, Vietnamese debates
about “the fashionable,” and the costs and commitments demanded of those who
make and wear fast fashion, from Chinese garment workers to Nepalese nail
technicians in New York who are mandated to dress "fashionably." In
doing so, this interdisciplinary anthology moves beyond common
characterizations of Asians and the Asian diaspora as simply abject laborers or
frenzied consumers, analyzing who the modern Asian subject is now: what they
wear and how they work, move, eat, and shop.