Dr Rosie Findlay

Overview

Dr Rosie Findlay is Senior Lecturer in Media at City, University of London. Rosie's research considers the dynamism and politics of fashion and its media, and what these cultural forms tell us about contemporary identities, values and societies. She is particularly interested in 20th and 21st century fashion media, and the ways dress weaves with emotion, memory, imagination and experience. Her current projects theorise the intersections between fashion media and critical sustainability; how dress connects us with our communities and the wider world, and the spread (and meaning) of "archive fashion" in the lexicon of celebrity styling and fashion media.

Rosie's research has been published in journals including Journal of Cultural Economy, Feminist Theory, Australian Feminist Studies, Communication, Culture & Critique, Fashion Theory and Cultural Studies Review, spanning topics such as fashion blogging, fashion influencers, postfeminist branding and social media marketing, fashion writing and fashion magazines. She wrote one of the first long-form studies on fashion blogging, which was published as her first book, Personal Style Blogs: Appearances that Fascinate (2017). Rosie co-edited Insights on Fashion Journalism with Dr Johannes Reponen (2022), an edited book that considers the shape, forms and work of fashion journalism in the 21st century. She is currently preparing two further edited volumes for Bloomsbury Academic: Dressays: An Anthology of Writing About Clothes, and Remaking Fashion Media: Sustainable Narratives and Visions of Change (with Dr Morna Laing and Dr Johannes Reponen), both forthcoming in 2026. Rosie is also Co-editor of International Journal of Fashion Studies.

She is also a writer, having published essays on fashion and dress in publications such as Granta, Vestoj, the National Gallery of Victoria Triennial 2020 catalogue and Electra Magazine. Her expertise has been sought by publications including Elle UK, Stylist Magazine, Vogue Singapore, Esquire Australia and T Magazine China and she appeared in the feature-length documentary, John Singer Sargent: Fashion and Swagger (2024). Rosie has also consulted on media and fashion projects for companies in Denmark, Britain and Australia.

Rosie completed her PhD in Performance Studies at University of Sydney. Prior to her appointment to City St George's, she taught performance studies, cultural studies, fashion studies and media studies at institutions including University of Sydney, University of Technology Sydney, London College of Fashion UAL, Central Saint Martins UAL, Kings College London and University of Kent. 

Qualifications

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Higher Education Academy, 2018
• PhD, University of Sydney, Australia, 2014
• BA (Adv.) (Hons), University of Sydney, Australia, 2007

Employment

• Senior Lecturer in Media, City, University of London, United Kingdom, August 2024 - present
• Lecturer in Media, City, University of London, United Kingdom, May 2023 - July 2024
• Lecturer in Media Studies, University of Kent, United Kingdom, September 2021 - May 2023
• Course Leader MA Fashion Cultures and Histories, London College of Fashion, UAL, United Kingdom, November 2018 - November 2021
• Lecturer in Cultural and Historical Studies (Dissertation Coordinator), London College of Fashion, UAL, United Kingdom, September 2015 - September 2018
• Postgraduate Teaching Fellow, University of Sydney, United Kingdom, February - December 2014

Publications by category