Shefalee Vasudev, "Stories We Wear: Status, Spectacle and the Politics of Appearance" (Westland Non-Fiction, 2025)

About this episode

Shefalee Vasudev discusses her book on the intersection of clothing, politics, and social change, using examples from India and beyond.

Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, is known for his outfits. Since rising to become India’s head of government in 2014, photographers and journalists have long followed his clothing styles, each saying something about India. It’s part of a long tradition of using clothing to make a statement about India—and about defining a political brand. Nor is it unique to India–remember Obama’s tan suit, or now the MAGA red cap? That observation is part of Shefalee Vasudev’s recent book Stories We Wear: Status, Spectacle and The Politics of Appearance (Westland Non-Fiction, 2025), where she dives into how clothing, appearance, politics and social change are intertwined, covering topics like streaming dramas, influencers, and “the airport look.” Shefalee Vasudev is a journalist, cultural commentator, and narrative psychotherapist. The editor-in-chief of The Voice of Fashion for the last nine years and the founding editor of Marie Claire India, she has spent three decades working across news and lifestyle media. Her first non-fiction work, Powder Room: The Untold Story of Indian Fashion, was published in 2012. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review…

People in this episode

Host: Nicholas Gordon

Guest: Shefalee Vasudev

Topics covered

• clothing and politics
• cultural commentary
• social change
• appearance
• media influence

Keywords

• clothing
• politics
• social change
• cultural commentary
• media
• appearance
• influencers

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Voice of Fashion, Marie Claire India, Asian Review of Books

Books & works: Stories We Wear: Status, Spectacle and the Politics of Appearance, Powder Room: The Untold Story of Indian Fashion

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