Authors

Eleanor Medhurst is a fashion historian with an undergraduate degree in Fashion and Dress History and a Master’s in History of Design and Material Culture, both from the University of Brighton. Eleanor specialises in lesbian fashion history and runs a blog called Dressing Dykes, which she has written over 30 articles for, ranging from ‘Two White Dresses: The Fashion of Lesbian Weddings’ to ‘The Lesbian History of Short Hair’. She has built a substantial social platform over recent years, releasing content on her corresponding Dressing Dykes Tiktok and Instagram for her engaged online community.

Eleanor has been featured in Grazia, Cosmopolitan and The Vintage Woman Magazine, and of her articles was recently spotlighted in actress Gillian Anderson’s new audio show What Do I Know?!

Eleanor has presented her research at a variety of events, including Tate Lates, the Lesbian Lives conference and the Gayness in Queer Times conference. She has also conducted talks for the University of Geneva, Amnesty International UK, the Tate, the London Drawing Group and Alexander McQueen. Alongside her academic research and public speaking, Eleanor writes a monthly column for online magazine Polyester on the topic of lesbian fashion history and will be contributing to an upcoming academic collection, Crafted with Pride: Queer Craft and Contemporary Activism in Britain, edited by Daniel Fountain and due to be published by Intellect. Her work has been nominated for multiple awards and won the University of Brighton’s History of Art and Design Dissertation Award in 2019 and the Costume Society’s Yarwood Grant in 2020.

Eleanor Medhurst’s debut non-fiction book, Unsuited: A History of Lesbian Fashion will be published by Hurst in June 2024. She is represented by Gyamfia Osei.