Carmen Keist

Biography

Prior to working at Bradley University, Dr. Keist worked and received tenure from Western Illinois University. She earned her Doctorate from Iowa State University where she worked as a Graduate Assistant in the Textiles and Clothing Museum on campus. Before starting at Iowa State University, she interned at The McLean County Museum of History in Bloomington, Illinois.

Teaching

Dr. Keist teaches classes in apparel production and merchandising. Her specialties include fashion history, textiles, and apparel product development

Scholarship

Her research interests include 20th century dress history specifically exploring plus sized women’s ready-to-wear fashions.

Keist, C. N. (In Press). The elephant in the room: Reflections of a fat fashion faculty member. To appear in Fashion and education: The systemic revolution. Bristol, UK: Intellect.

DePauw, K., Morris, K., Pisano, L., Sanders, E., Scaturro, S., Reddy-Best, K. L., & Keist, C. (2021). CSA scholars’ roundtable presentation: Design and curatorial scholarship: Purpose, place, present, and future. Dress, 47(2), 199-216.

Reddy-Best, K. L., Keist, C., Ellington, T. N., Deihl, N., & Mamp, M. (2020). Scholars’ roundtable presentation: Do we study diversity in dress? Dress, 46(2), 141-157. https://doi.org/10.1080/03612112.2020.1715675.

Keist, C. N., & Marcketti, S. B. (2019). Supporting acts: Patents for undergarments for stout women, 1891-1956, Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 37(3), 200-214. https://doi.org/10.1177/0887302X19836513

 Keist, C. N. (2018). How stout women were left out of high fashion: An early twentieth-century perspective, Journal of Fashion, Style and Popular Culture Fashion, Style and Popular Culture, 5(1), 25-40. https://doi.org/10.1386/fspc.5.1.25_1

Keist, C. N. (2017). “Stout women can now be stylish:” Stout women’s fashions, 1910-1919, Dress, 43(2), 99-117. https://doi.org/10.1080/03612112.2017.1300474.

Keist, C. N., & Bruer, S. (2016). Online portfolios: Marketing apparel merchandising millennials into employment. The Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences, 108(2), 61-64. https://doi.org/10.14307/JFCS108.2.61

Keist, C. N., & Marcketti, S. B. (2013). “The new costumes of odd sizes:” Plus-sized women’s fashions, 1920-1929. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 31(4), 259-274. https://doi.org/10.1177/0887302X13503184.

Keist, C., Kadolph, S., & Marcketti, S. B. (2012). Rayon's introduction to U. S. consumers, 1911-1924. The Journal of Family & Consumer Sciences, 104(2), 45-47.

Marcketti, S. B., Fitzpatrick, J., Keist, C. N., & Kadolph, S. J. (2011). University historic clothing museums and collections: Practices and strategies. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 29(3), 248-262.

Service

At Bradley, Dr. Keist serves on the faculty grievance committee, women’s and gender studies advisory board, the teacher preparation program advisory committee, chair of the EHS tenure and promotion committee, and chair of the EHS elections committee. Outside the university, she has served on the regional and national board of Costume Society of America. She is also a member of Educators for Socially Responsible Apparel Practices and the Dress and Body Association.