I'm a sociologist whose research and practice follow a single question: how people build identity through the objects, spaces, and daily rituals of embodied life, and what it costs when that identity doesn't fit.
My current work centers on sartorial labor, the identity work embedded in everyday dress. It extends Arlie Hochschild's concept of emotional labor to clothing and self-presentation. This research is under review at Fashion Theory, and I presented it in the Body and Embodiment section at the 2026 American Sociological Association Annual Meeting in New York.
I'm completing a book, The Identity Gap: Clothing the Self in a Time of Manufactured Instability. It brings together embodiment, material culture, and the gap between the self we perform and the self we live.
I'm affiliate faculty in sociology at the University of San Francisco and co-founder of the Institute for Career Transitions at MIT, whose research has been published by the Federal Reserve and covered by NBC News.
I also lead The Unbecoming Sessions, a three-part workshop on clothing and embodied self-knowledge, developed in collaboration with Rebecca Burgess and Fibershed for 2027 availability at The Fibershed Learning Center in Point Reyes, California. Participants move through three arcs, the garment, the swap, and the mirror, examining how they dress, what they keep, and how they see themselves.
I live and work in Marin County, California.
research
My scholarly work focuses on identity, embodiment, and material culture. I study how people use material resources, especially clothing, as infrastructure for identity work, ontological security, and the daily performance of self.
My dissertation, Misfit: The Impact of Mismatched Jobs on Creative Workers and the Organizations That Employ Them (Brandeis, 2019), was an ethnography of a nationally known luxury design showroom in Chicago, where I worked as a sales associate while conducting the research. Doing the job I was studying shaped how I understand the relationship between theory and practice. I have worked from inside that relationship ever since.
My current research program, Clothing the Self, is a multi-study qualitative investigation of everyday dressing as reflexive identity work. Study I examined the material resources and social dimensions of daily dressing. Study II investigates how people rebuild identity when those resources are compromised. Study III extends the inquiry to embodied dressing and visual self-monitoring. The program is the foundation of my book manuscript, The Identity Gap: Clothing the Self in a Time of Manufactured Instability. Herderin, the clothing studio I founded, grew out of the same questions, and it is where I put the idea of embodied self-knowledge into practice.
Manuscripts from this program under review:
"Clothing the Self: Material Resources, Reflexive Identity Work, and Sartorial Labor," Fashion Theory
"The Compulsory Self: Sartorial Labor as Capital Maintenance," The American Journal of Cultural Sociology
“The Intermediary Economy: How Markets Form Around Misattributed Burdens,” In Development for Journal Submission
I have presented at the American Sociological Association, the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, the Eastern Sociological Society, the Society for the Study of Social Problems, and the US-UK Medical Sociology Conference, among others.
applied work
Since 2018, I have also run Herderin, a slow clothing studio that grew out of my research on embodiment, fit, and material identity. Herderin is where I put questions at the center of my scholarship into practice: what it means for clothing to fit a body rather than a standard, and how materials and production shape people's relationship to what they wear. Garments are cut to work across a wide range of heights and proportions and are made from Fibershed-sourced fibers, including Climate Beneficial™ wool and California-grown cotton, with plant-based dyes. Every piece is sewn in San Francisco, and the line is carried by independent retailers including Voyager Shop, Housework, Conifer, and Pennyroyal.
This work connects me to the regional fiber and sustainability community. I am a Fibershed Producer and Co-op Member, served on Fibershed's Governance Working Group in 2024, and sit on the board of the Circular Textile Alliance. These roles inform my research on clothing, consumption, and the environmental costs of fashion.
practice
The Unbecoming Series is a one-on-one practice for people who have always felt they don't quite fit, whether in their bodies, their clothes, their work, or their lives.
It grows out of my research on embodied self-knowledge and a decade of qualitative fieldwork on clothing and identity. The work begins with the body: what you wear, how you move, and where you place yourself. Over three sessions, we move through the garment, the swap, and the mirror. Each session is a structured encounter with the self you already are.
In-person intensives are held at the Fibershed Learning Center in Point Reyes, California. Remote sessions are available internationally.
The Unbecoming Series is not therapy or mental health treatment.
public speaking
I speak on identity, embodiment, material culture, and sustainable fashion, drawing on my research to show how everyday practices like getting dressed connect to larger questions about work, consumption, and the climate.
Recent engagements include SF Climate Week, SF Big Brain, and the American Sociological Association Annual Meeting.
recent engagements
2026
The Living Archive, San Francisco (sold out)
"Before It Was Mine"American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, New York
"The Decline of Performative Capital: From Identity Politics to Ecological Futures"
"Clothing the Self: Material Resources, Reflexive Identity Work, and the Social Dimensions of Everyday Dressing"Symbolic Interaction and the Qualitatives, Brock University, Niagara Falls, Ontario
"Clothing the Self"
2025
SF Big Brain, San Francisco (sold out)
"Clothing the Self: The Meaning Behind What We Wear"SF Climate Week, San Francisco
"SB707: Policy and Practice"
"The Anthropocene Age"SF Startup Art Fair, San Francisco
"Interwoven: Beauty Reimagined from Waste"Fibershed, Point Reyes
"Exploring Regenerative Food and Fiber Systems"
Current Focus
Fall 2026
My research program is at a productive stage. "Clothing the Self: Dressing as Identity Work, Ritual, and Sartorial Labor," is under review at Fashion Theory, "The Compulsory Self: Sartorial Labor as Capital Maintenance" under review at American Journal of Cultural Sociology, “Who Pays to Get Dressed?” at Contexts, and ““The Intermediary Economy: How Markets Form Around Misattributed Burdens,” is currently under development. With Natalie Ingraham, I am developing a comparative paper on sartorial labor and chronic illness for Sociology of Health and Illness. This summer, I presented a paper in the Body and Embodiment section at the American Sociological Association Annual Meeting in New York and took part in two roundtables.
I am completing my first book, The Identity Gap: Clothing the Self in a Time of Manufactured Instability, which is now under consideration with university presses.
Herderin, the clothing studio I founded, releases its AW27 collection next yesr, made from Fibershed-sourced fibers and sewn in San Francisco and backed by a Fibers Fund grant.
Let's Connect
For research collaboration or Study II participation: avasquez14@usfca.edu
For Unbecoming Sessions inquiries: alexandria.vasquez@gmail.com
For speaking engagements: Use the inquiry form
For Herderin inquiries: Visit herderin.com