“Plus-Size Fashion, Fat Bodies and Archival Silences.” An academic keynote presented at the University of Georgia’s 2022 Diversity in Fashion Speaker Series (Athens, GA). Spring 2022.
“The forgotten woman: Some reflections on bias, archival silences and recovering marginalized histories.” An academic keynote lecture delivered at the Dress Body Association’s annual conference, via Zoom. Spring 2022.
“A Fat Fashion Manifesto.” Presented in the Department of Communication & Culture at Toronto Metropolitan University, via Zoom. Spring 2022.
Panel Chair, “Fabricating Activism,” The College Art Association Annual Conference (Remote via Zoom)
2021
“A History of Fat Fashion in 5 Fragments.” Presented at the Stanford University Humanities Center’s spring Reframing Fashion Studies forum, “Plus-Size Bodies in Fashion and Material Culture: A Historical Perspective,” via Zoom. Spring 2021.
“CSA Roundtable—Beyond Standardization: The Diverse Bodies of Fashion.” Invited panelist at the Costume Society of America’s Spring Speaker Series, via Zoom. Spring 2021.
“The Absent-Present Body: Recovering the Fat Body in the Fashion Archive,” presented Association of Dress Historians’ annual conference, “New Research in Dress History,” The Artworkers Guild (Remote via Zoom)
“Size Inclusivity as Design Praxis,” to be presented at the “Fashion Education: Learning and Teaching Fashion Theory and Practice” conference at the American University in Paris (Remote via Zoom)
“Between Design and Bodies: Toward a Size Inclusive Fashion Pedagogy,” co-presented with Fiona Dieffenbacher at the Digital Multilogue on Fashion Education hosted by the American University in Paris (Remote via Zoom)
“Decentering Fashion History Through the Practice of Collaborative Curating,” presented at the College Art Association’s annual conference on the panel, “Fashion Design” (Remote via Zoom)
2020
“MODUS Conversations: Decentering.” Invited presenter and panelist at Dutch Design Week, hosted by Onomatopee Projects (Eindhoven, The Netherlands) via Zoom. Fall 2020.
“Inclusivity in Fashion: Who are the Future Consumers? A critical conversation.” Invited panelist at the Fashion Group International Chicago’s (Chicago, IL) fall seminar via Zoom. Fall 2020.
“Between Design and Bodies: Toward a Size Inclusive Fashion Pedagogy.” Co-moderated with Fiona Dieffenbacher and presented at the Digital Multilogue on Fashion Education, hosted by the American University in Paris (Paris, France) via Zoom. Fall 2020.
“A Plus-Size Problem: Recovering the Fat Body in the Fashion Study Collection,” presented at the Costume Society of America’s Annual Conference, “Made in New York” (New York, NY)
“Certain Well-Known Scientific Principles: Modernism Architecture and Stoutwear Design,” presented at the conference “American Everyday: Resistance Revolution and Transformation” conference (Chicago, IL)
“Fashion Studies at the Frontlines: Reflections on the Possibilities and Pitfalls of Undergraduate Fashion Studies,” presented at the College Art Association Annual Conference on the panel “Who’s In and Who’s Out of Fashion (Studies)?” (Chicago, IL)
2019
“Fashion’s Forgotten Other: From Stout to Plus-Size.” Presented to the MA students in the Fashion Studies program at Ryerson University (Toronto, Canada). Fall 2019.
“Designing an Inclusive Columbia.” Presented to the Fashion Department at Ryerson University (Toronto, Canada). Fall 2019.
“Keynote: Imagining an Inclusive* Design Future.” Presented at the Rightfully Sewn Professional Development Program, The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts (Kansas City, MO). Summer 2019.
“The Power of Plus-Size Fashion.” Presented to the Fashion, Style & Aesthetics Reading Group, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Spring 2019.
“Fast Fashion in the Age of Maximalism.” Invited Panelist at the Chicago Economics Forum, University of Chicago (Chicago, IL). Spring 2019.
“Style is Not a Size: On Creativity, Resilience and the Style Guide as a Site of Identity Formation,” presented at the “Everyday Fashion: Extraordinary Stories of Ordinary Clothes” conference at the University of Leeds and the University of Huddersfield (Leeds and Huddersfield, United Kingdom).
“Imaging the Plus-Size Body: Haptic Visuality and the Aesthetics of Disgust in Contemporary Fashion Photography,” presented at the Association for Art History’s annual conference on the panel, “AFFECTIVE FASHION(S),” convened by Roberto Filippello and Alessandro Bucci (The University of Brighton, Brighton, United Kingdom).
2018
“Discourses of Disorder: Fashion, Fatness and Figure Flattery in Fashion Design Discourse.” Presented at Faculty Showcase 3.1, Columbia College Chicago (Chicago, IL). September 2018.
"The Future of Plus-Size Fashion." Presented at Donghua Greater Fashion Week, Donghua University (Shanghai, China). April 2018.
"Dangerous Curves: Disciplining the Fat, Female Body through Design Discourse." Presented at the one-day colloquium, "Unruly Design: Making, Changing and Breaking the Rules," Parsons School of Design, The New School (New York, NY, United States). March 2018.
"Dressing Smart, Looking Slender: Stoutwear and the Discourse of ‘Fitting In,’ 1915-1931.” Presented at the symposium, "The Body: Fashion & Physique," Fashion Institute of Technology (New York, NY, United States). February 2018.
"Building a Better Body: Fashions for the Stout Woman, 1915-1931," presented at the Association for Art History's annual conference on the panel, "Body as Architecture/Architecture as Body," convened by Kelly Freeman and Rebecca Whiteley (The Courtauld Institute of Art and King's College, London, United Kingdom.
“Making the Body Stout: Bridging Discourse and Practice in the Study of the Relationship Between Dress and the Historical Body," presented at the Costume Society of America's annual conference, "Making Connections: Manufacturing Knowledge through Dress Studies" (Williamsburg, VA, United States).
2017
Invited Panelist, “Clothing & Size,” an independent conversation series organized by Rachel Kinnard, Junior High Los Angeles. August 2017.
"Looking Fat in a Slender World: The Dialectic of Seeing and Becoming in Jen Davis' Eleven Years," presented at the conference, "Revisiting the Gaze," Chelsea College of Art (London, United Kingdom).
"Fashioning the Flesh: Rethinking Plus-Size Dress, Discourse and Embodiment," presented at the conference "The Space Between: Psyche, Body, Environment," Royal College of Art (London, United Kingdom).
2016
Invited to speak at the public forum, Fashion Plus: Design and Body Diversity, moderated by Bethany Heitman (InStyle), Parsons School of Design, The New School (New York, NY, United States), November 3, 2016. Other speakers included Becca McCharen (CHROMAT), Hara Estroff Marano (Psychology Today), Huguette Hubard (VP of Design, Lane Bryant), Elizabeth Taylor (Plus-size Model), Emme (Plus-size Model).
"No Laughing Matter: Rebel Wilson, Melissa McCarthy and the Shifting Discourses of Plus-Size Fashion, Dress and Embodiment," presented at the annual Popular Culture Association of America (PCA/ACA) symposium (Seattle, WA, United States).
"Stoutwear and the Discourse of Disorder: The Fashioning of an American Body and of an Industry, 1915-1931," presented at the Fashion Research Network's fall reading group, Coventry University (London, United Kingdom).
2015
"Hidden in Plain Sight: Fashion and Fat Acceptance in the Riot Grrrl Zine Archives," presented at the annual Popular Culture Association of America (PCA/ACA) symposium (New Orleans, Louisiana, United States).
"Locating Plus-Size: The Shifting Meanings and Uses of Fashion's Most Contested Term," presented at the PhD workshop "Fashion and the Body: An International PhD Workshop" (convened by Lauren Downing Peters), Centre for Fashion Studies, Stockholm University (Stockholm, Sweden).
2014
"Weighty Images: (Ad-)dressing and (Un-)dressing the Fat Bodies in Fashion Print Media," presented at the conference "Fashion Thinking," University of Southern Denmark (Kolding, Denmark).
"'Make it Work': Riot Grrrls and the Reclamation of the Fat Body Through Fashion," presented at the SKY Doctoral Course "REPRESENTATION" (convened by Annamari Vänskä and Beverly Skeggs), Helsinki University (Helsinki, Finland).
2013
"Queering the Hourglass: Beauty and New Wave Fat Activism," presented at the "Third Global Beauty Conference," Mansfield College, Oxford University (Oxford, United Kingdom).
"Revolution on the Racks? Blogging, Resistance and Fa(t)shion," presented at the Summit on Fashion Marketing, Stockholm University School of Business (Stockholm, Sweden).
2012
"Effortless Consumption: The 'Anthropologie' of a Brand-Focused Online Shopping Community," co-presented with Anya Kurennaya (Drexel University) at the conference "Fashion Now and Then," LIM College (New York, NY, United States).
"Fashionably Fat: A Consideration of the Dress-Practices of Self-Proclaimed Fat Women," presented at the annual Popular Culture Association of American Conference (PCA/ACA) (Boston, MA, United States).
"Consuming Fashion Photography: Sex, Abjection and Spaghetti," presented at the symposium "Fashion and...Health," University of Minnesota (Saint Paul, MN, United States).
2011
"Performing Vintage: The Consumption and Cultivation of Vintage Identities at the Brooklyn Flea," presented at the "Urban Catwalk Symposium," Yale University (New Haven, CT, United States).
