Dr Sonia D. Andras

The Women of 'Little Paris' Filling a gap in Eastern European fashion studies, this book presents middle-class women consuming fashion in the symbolic 'Little Paris' of interwar Bucharest,…

Pre-order with the code “GLR BD8” for a 20% discount on the Bloomsbury website: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/women-of-... !

Discount flyer of the book, reiterating the information in the linka and in the post.

The paperback edition of my Bloomsbury Visual Arts monograph will be available on 25 June 2026!
#fashion #paperback #books #interwar #romania #womensfashion #bucharest #interwarromania #interwarbucharest #moda #mode
@bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social @bloomsburyacademic.bsky.social

This research contributes to a deeper understanding of gender studies throughout history in Romania and provides a theoretical and practical basis for future research in the field of medical and related sciences.

The aim is to follow and deepen the understanding of the professional trajectory of Romanian female medical professionals with Rockefeller Foundation support.

The research is centred around the relationship between the concepts of health, beauty and fashion used in propaganda regarding women’s roles. Primary sources include Romanian publications between 1920 and 1948 and documents from Rockefeller Foundation representatives.

This paper applies an interdisciplinary approach in the assessment of fellowship records, reports, diaries and pertinent observations from Rockefeller Foundation representatives.

It examines the international support for modern medical education and the response of the Romanian authorities to these initiatives, analysing the position of nurses as professionals and gender relations in this historical framework.

The research highlights how prejudices related to women’s abilities and role in medical science and practice have informed the perception of healthcare by decision-making authorities in Romania.

“Nurse Between the Lines” explores the role of nurses with specialised training in Romania in the inter- and post-war period until the Communist takeover in 1948. It focuses on the Rockefeller Foundation’s support for modern nursing education during the interwar period and beyond.

Find my paper “Nurse Between the Lines: Romanian Female Rockefeller Foundation Fellows in Medical Professions in-between Innovation and Suppression” on CEEOL www.ceeol.com/search/artic... .

Publication alert!
My paper “Nurse Between the Lines: Romanian Female Rockefeller Foundation Fellows in Medical Professions in-between Innovation and Suppression” has been published in the Yearbook of the »Gheorghe Şincai« Institute for Social Sciences and the Humanities of the Romanian Academy.

Bloomsbury stand at the 2025 ASEEES Convention

If you are attending the Convention at the Washington Hilton, do stop by the Bloomsbury stand. Maybe if you want to snap a quick photo, I would be so grateful and thrilled to see my book “in the wild”, even at an ocean’s distance. #aseees25 #aseees #aseees2025 #bloomsbury #fashion #romania

Wider view of the Bloomsbury ASEEES 2025 stand

in Washington, DC, between 20 and 23 November 2025. The @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social stand representative took the photos and kindly sent them to me! I participated in the virtual portion of the Convention a month ago, and even though I am not there, my book is!

Book stand detail

Closeup on "The Women of 'Little Paris'"

I am so happy that @bloomsburyacad.bsky.social has included my first monograph “The Women of 'Little Paris': Fashion in Interwar Bucharest” (Bloomsbury Visual Arts 2024, Dress Cultures @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social ) again on a display at the @aseees.bsky.social 2025 Annual Convention on “Memory”,

You can also explore the full issue here: www.historicalyearbook.ro/current-issue/ . This still feels so great and surreal! I am so grateful for the acknowledgement!

You can read the review here (PDF): historicalyearbook.ro/wp-content/v... .

I am delighted to share a very recent review of my monograph “The Women of ‘Little Paris’” (Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2024, Dress Cultures Series @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social @bloomsburyacad.bsky.social ) by Dr Georgiana Țăranu in the latest issue of the “Historical Yearbook”.

... jazz culture and race (Wipplinger 2017), social engineering and eugenics (Turda 2013), and the specific story of Beiersdorf (Reckendrees 2018). It highlighted the ethnic and racial dimensions of fashion and beauty to deepen understanding of Romanian gendered realities.

... gender, fashion and violence (Moyse Ferreira 2022), fashion, consumption and modernity (Weinbaum et al. 2008), gender and national identity (Carver and Mottier 1998), gender in Central and Eastern Europe (Livezeanu and Farris 2007), ...

It employed semiotics of visual and written published texts and personal archaeology. This paper built upon the existing literature on fashion and politics (Bartlett 2019), gender and war (Bucur and Winfield 2006), fashion, austerity and war (Taylor and McLoughlin 2020), ...

... referenced colour in its name, and Snow White, the first Disney princess, linked to Nivea’s promise of glowing white skin. The methodology was based on fashion studies with outreach to cultural studies (gender, media) and history (culture, art).

... a decade defined by autocracies, extreme-right-wing violence, racism, militarism, and rejection of democracy. It contrasted two symbols of femininity known to interwar Romanian women: Chat Noir, a popular perfume that embodied Parisian elegance and subtly ...

My paper, “From Chat Noir to Snow White: Ethnicity, Race and Women in Romanian Fashion and Beauty Discourse, 1933–1944”. It explored the dynamics of fashion and beauty discourse for and about Romanian women between 1933 and 1944, ...

I presented alongside Alex Chiriac and Ștefania Cotei. If you are registered for the online portion of the Convention, you can still find our panel, “Reclaiming Race Narratives in Romania: Archives, Memory and Reckoning,” and listen to or watch it, along with all the other virtual panels!

Last week, I had the great pleasure and privilege of being part of a fantastic panel chaired by @granttharward.bsky.social, with @manuelaboatca.bsky.social as our discussant, at the @as Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies ( @aseees.bsky.social ) 2025 Virtual Convention.

Purchase, Irene Lewisohn Bequest, 1961

Suit
https://botfrens.com/collections/223/contents/99819

Beaded detail of a pink 1930s evening dress by Jean Patou. The photograph focuses on the gold beaded belt and the illusion of pleats

Full length view of the sleeveless pink and gold beaded evening dress with trompe l’oeil pleats and scoop neckline

So much of the design of this early #1930s dress is about a trick of the eye - the trompe l’oeil - created in the illusion of pleats from the placement of the beadwork that covers the entire garment. Designed by Jean Patou it shimmers in pink and gold #V&A #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Theodora Wilbour, 1947

Stole
https://botfrens.com/collections/223/contents/101877

Gift of Mrs. William Redmond Cross, 1926

Mitts
https://botfrens.com/collections/223/contents/96967

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Ogden Goelet, Peter Goelet, and Madison Clews, 1962

Robe de Style
https://botfrens.com/collections/223/contents/101119