About

I am a postdoctoral researcher and proud recipient of the MSCA Seal of Excellence. My work focuses on fashion, gender, urban cultures, and modernity in a Romanian context. I earned my PhD in August 2020 from the London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, and I am the author of the monograph The Women of ‘Little Paris’: Fashion in Interwar Bucharest (2024, Bloomsbury Visual Arts, Dress Cultures series).

Currently, I am an Associate Researcher in the UEFISCDI-funded research project The Ethos of Dialogue and Education: Romanian–American Cultural Negotiations (1920-1940), hosted by the “Gheorghe Șincai” Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities in Târgu-Mureș. My research sub-theme explores how the American feminine ethos influenced and reshaped Romanian women’s identities, from Hollywood to Rockefeller.

In 2024, I co-authored the volume Trailblazers of the Press: American War Correspondents in Interwar Romania with Carmen Andraș and co-edited Negocieri transatlantice. Cooperarea româno–americană în educație, cultură și arte / Transatlantic Negotiations: Romanian–American Cooperation in Education, Culture, and Arts, alongside Cornel Sigmirean and Carmen Andraș. Both volumes were published by Cluj University Press (Presa Universitară Clujeană).

In 2023, I co-edited two additional volumes within the same research project: Creative Negotiations: Romania–America 1920-1940 (edited with Roxana Mihaly) and Romanian-American Negotiations in Education, Science, Culture, and Arts (edited with Cornel Sigmirean and Roxana Mihaly), both also published by Cluj University Press.

Education

EDUCATION

2011 – 2020: PhD: London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, UK

Thesis: The Women of Little Paris: Women’s Fashion in Interwar Bucharest 1919-1939 | Director of Studies: Dr Djurdja Bartlett | Second Supervisor: Elizabeth Wilson

Confirmation: 18 March 2014 (Recommended for PhD) | Internal Examiner: Prof. Roger Sabin || VIVA Voce: 20 March 2020 (Awarded PhD) | External Examiner: Prof. Christopher Breward | Internal Examiner: Dr. Nicky Ryan | Chair: Prof. Paul Coldwell | Official Completed Course and Award: 3 August 2020

UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS LONDON Item ID: 15907 | ISSNI: 0000 0004 9353 1360 (Fashion History & Theory) | EThOS ID: uk.bl.ethos.814249 | Recognition in Romania: Nr. 501503/A.N./04.02.2021 (Thesis recognised in the field of Cultural Studies)

2008-2010: MA British Cultural Studies: University of Bucharest, Romania

Dissertation: Harlequin and the P.I.P.; or, Nineteenth Century Victorian Pantomime as Presented in the Penny Illustrated Paper | Supervisor: Prof. Mihaela Irimia

2005-2008: BAUniversal and Comparative Literature – English: “Babeș-Bolyai” University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Dissertation: Brainwashing and the Power of the Word | Supervisor: Prof. Ruxandra Cesereanu

Blog Posts

    KCWorks

    Publications

    PUBLICATIONS
    Upcoming Edited Books

    2025 The Enduring Influence of Paris in a Globalised World: Adaptation, Negotiation, Rejection (edited book, working title), accepted to be published by Bloomsbury. Editor contract signed on 7 March 2025.



    Upcoming Book Chapters

    2025 “Between Modernism and Modernity: Crafting the Interwar New Romanian Woman Aesthetics through Fashion and Beauty Discourse”, Cultural History of the Avant-Garde. Vol II: 1930s–1950s, edited by Petra James, Alexandra Chiriac, and Molly Pucci, Leiden: Brill.


    2025 “Marthe Bibesco, Parisienne Par Excellence: Fashion, Gender and Identity in Noblesse De Robe, From Vogue to Bernard Grasset”, The Enduring Influence of Paris in a Globalised World: Adaptation, Negotiation, Rejection, edited by Sonia D. Andraș.



    Published Monographs

    18 Dec 2024 (Authors: Carmen-Maris Andraș, Sonia D. Andraș), Trailblazers of the Press. American War Correspondents in Interwar Romania, Cluj-Napoca: Presa Universitară Clujeană. Open-Source E-book, ISBN 978-606-37-2355-1. CNCS A. Supported by the Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding-UEFISCDI, the National Research Council – CNCS, the Ministry of National Education (Romania), Project PN-III-P4-PCE-2021-0688, Contract 29 from 27 May 2022, titled The Ethos of Dialogue and Education: Romanian – American Cultural Negotiations (1920-1940). DOI: 10.17613/n265n-efw15.


    12 Dec 2024 The Women of ‘Little Paris’: Fashion in Interwar Bucharest, London and New York: Bloomsbury Visual Arts. Hardback ISBN 978-1-350-29445-5, Ebook (PDF) ISBN 978-1-350-29446-2, Ebook (EPub, Modi) ISBN 978-1-350-29447-9, (Online) 978-1-3502-9448-6. Monograph in the Dress Cultures collection (edited by Dr. Reina Lewis and Elizabeth Wilson). DOI 10.5040/9781350294486.


     



    Published Edited Books

    2024 (editors Cornel Sigmirean, Sonia D. Andraș, Carmen Andraș) Negocieri transatlantice. Cooperarea româno – americană în educație, cultură și arte / Transatlantic Negotiations. Romanian – American Cooperation in Education, Culture, and Arts, Cluj-Napoca: Presa Universitară Clujeană. Open-Source E-book, ISBN 978-606-37-2356-8. CNCS A. Supported by the Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding-UEFISCDI, the National Research Council – CNCS, the Ministry of National Education (Romania), Project PN-III-P4-PCE-2021-0688, Contract 29 from 27 May 2022, titled The Ethos of Dialogue and Education: Romanian – American Cultural Negotiations (1920-1940).


    2023 (Editors: Cornel Sigmirean, Sonia D. Andraș, Roxana Mihaly), Romanian American Negotiations in Education, Science, Culture, and Arts, Cluj-Napoca: Presa Universitară Clujeană, 2023. Print ISBN 78-606-37-1915-8, E-book ISBN 978-606-37-1983-7. CNCS A. Supported by the Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding-UEFISCDI, the National Research Council – CNCS, the Ministry of National Education (Romania), Project PN-III-P4-PCE-2021-0688, Contract 29 from 27 May 2022, titled The Ethos of Dialogue and Education: Romanian – American Cultural Negotiations (1920-1940).


    2023 (Editors: Sonia D. Andraș, Roxana Mihaly), Creative Negotiations. Romania – America 1920-1940, Cluj-Napoca: Presa Universitară Clujeană, 2023. Print ISBN 978-606-37-1915-8, E-book ISBN 978-606-37-1983-7. CNCS A. Supported by the Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding-UEFISCDI, the National Research Council – CNCS, the Ministry of National Education (Romania), Project PN-III-P4-PCE-2021-0688, Contract 29 from 27 May 2022, titled The Ethos of Dialogue and Education: Romanian – American Cultural Negotiations (1920-1940).


     



    Published Book Chapters

    Noblesse de Robe by Marthe Bibesco. Colonization, Decolonization and Recolonization through Fashion”, in Negocieri transatlantice. Cooperarea româno – americană în educație, cultură și arte / Transatlantic Negotiations. Romanian – American Cooperation in Education, Culture, and Arts, edited by Cornel Sigmirean, Sonia D. Andraș, and Carmen Andraș, 122–55. Cluj-Napoca: Presa Universitară Clujeană, 2024. DOI 10.17613/6n6zb-z7a34.


    Garçonne, but Make Her Flapper. Using American Femininity Models to Re-Fashion the Romanian ‘Modern Girl.’” In Creative Negotiations. Romania – America 1920-1940, edited by Sonia D. Andraș and Roxana Mihaly, 138–65. Cluj-Napoca: Presa Universitară Clujeană, 2023.


    Interwar Romanian Fashion and Beauty in American Vogue.” In Romanian-American Negotiations in Education, Science, Culture, and Arts, edited by Cornel Sigmirean, Sonia D. Andraș, and Roxana Mihaly, 127–62. Cluj-Napoca: Presa Universitară Clujeană, 2023.


    Modă și frumusețe. Lucrări teoretice de autor / Fashion and Beauty. Authored Theoretical Works”, in La granița dintre milenii / At the Border between Millenia, edited by Muguraș Constantinescu, Daniel Dejica, and Titela Vîlceanu, Vol. II, 1922–29. O istorie a traducerilor în limba română din secolul al XX-lea. Domenii literare și nonliterare / A History of Translations into Romanian in the Twentieth Century. Literary and Nonliterary Fields. Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române, 2022, ISBN 978-973-27-3693-7.


    Perfecțiune și bun gust: Redefinirea identității feminine din Bucureștiul interbelic prin modă și frumusețe / Perfection and Good Taste: Redefining Women’s Identity in Interwar Bucharest through Fashion and Beauty”, in Între tradiție și modernitate: Elitele din România în “secolul cel scurt” (1918-1989), edited by Cornel Sigmirean, 351–65. Cluj-Napoca: Presa Universitară Clujeană, 2022, ISBN 978-606-37-1494-8, Classified CNCS A.


    „Morbul Garbitei”. Influența modelelor Hollywoodiene în moda Bucureștiului interbelic / The Garbite Disease”. The Influence of Hollywood Models in Interwar Bucharest”, (2021), in Liviu Boar, Ioan Bolovan, and Laura Stanciu (eds) Școală, biserică, stat și națiune în istoria României. Cluj-Napoca: Academia Română Centrul de Studii Transilvane, pp. 355–371, ISBN: 978-606-0-38013-9.


    Dialog identitar în lumea modei și frumuseții interbelice: Paris-București / Identity Dialogue in the World of Interwar Fashion and Beauty: Paris-Bucharest” (2018), in Cornel Sigmirean, Cristina Preutu, Silviu B. Moldovan (eds), Actele Unirii, Bucharest: Hamangiu, pp. 150-178, ISBN: 978-606-27-1256-3.


    Beauty and Nation: Miss Romania as International Ambassador (1929-1936)” (2013) in Iulian Boldea (ed.), Studies on literature, discourse and multicultural dialogue, Târgu-Mureș: Arhipelag XXI Press, pp. 424-431, ISBN: 978-606-93590-3-7.



    Upcoming Journal Articles

    Fashioning a Debate: Fashion, Gender and Literature in Noblesse de Robe by Marthe Bibesco in Context”, accepted for publication, Revue Roumaine d’Histoire de l’Art. Série Beaux-Arts. ISSN print: 0556-8080; ISSN online: 2067-5127. Indexed: BHA, EBSCOhost (Art & Architecture Source; Art & Architecture Complete), DOAJ, ProQuest (Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals), Genamics JournalSeek, SCIPIO, Socol@r. Published by the G. Oprescu Institute of Art History under the patronage of the Romanian Academy.



    Published Journal Articles

    Roberta at the Capitol and Roxy: Fashion, Cinema, and Modernity in Interwar Bucharest”, Yearbook of the “Gheorghe Șincai” Institute for Social Sciences and the Humanities of the Romanian Academy 26, 2023, pp. 163-185, DOI 10.59277/ICSUGh.Sincai.26.11, ISSN: 1454-5284. Indexed: CEEOL, EBSCO, ERIH PLUS. Published by the Publishing House of the Romanian Academy.


    Selling Glamour: Marketing Women’s Fashion in the Interwar Bucharest Press“, Transylvanian Review, 1/2023, pp. 106-125, DOI 10.33993/TR.2023.1.07. ISSN: 1221-1249. Indexed: CNCS B, CEEOL, UGC CARE, Scopus, Web of Science (AHCI).


    From Monitorul Oficial to Calea Victoriei: Decoding 1930s Bucharest through Women’s Fashion“, Journal of Romanian Studies, 5(1), 25 April 2023, pp. 27-54, DOI 10.3828/jrns.2023.3, ISSN (print): 2627-5325, ISSN (online): 2754-415X, Published by Liverpool University Press. Indexed: Scopus, Copernicus, ERIH PLUS


    Fashioning simultaneous migrations: Sonia Delaunay, interwar Romanian connections“, Critical Studies in Fashion and Beauty, 13(2), 19 December 2022, pp. 229-253, DOI 10.1386/csfb_00047_1, ISSN 2040-4417, E-ISSN 2040-4425, Indexing: Web of Science (ESCI), Scopus, ERIH PLUS, EBSCO, Art & Architecture Complete, Art & Architecture Source, Art Source, BHI, CNKI, DAAI, NPI, Publication Forum, Finland, Summon, TOC Premier, Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory. Published by Intellect.


    Fashion, Cinema, German-American Propaganda in 1930s Bucharest“, Yearbook of the “Gheorghe Șincai” Institute for Social Sciences and the Humanities of the Romanian Academy 25, 2022, pp. 211-235, ISSN: 1454-5284. Indexed: CEEOL, EBSCO, ERIH PLUS. Published by the Publishing House of the Romanian Academy.


    De la cosmetologie la cosmiatrie: Aurel Voina și manipularea istoriei personale“, Anuarul Institutului de Istorie “George Barițiu” – Series HISTORICA, LX, 2021, pp. 393-404, ISSN: Print ISSN 1584-4390, E-ISSN 2344-2093. CNCS B. Indexed: CEEOL, EBSCO, ERIH PLUS. Published by the Publishing House of the Romanian Academy.


    “Fashion, Dress, Costume: A Proposed Terminological Clarification in the Historical Research of Women’s Clothing”, Yearbook of the “Gheorghe Șincai” Institute for Social Sciences and the Humanities of the Romanian Academy 24, 2021, pp. 194–212, ISSN: 1454-5284. Indexed: CEEOL, EBSCO, ERIH PLUS.


    Crafting Illusions: Fashion as a Means of Decoding Social and Cultural History in Interwar Bucharest“, (2019) Yearbook of the “Gheorghe Șincai” Institute for Social Sciences and the Humanities of the Romanian Academy 22, 2019, pp. 232–264, ISSN: 1454-5284. Indexed: CEEOL, EBSCO, ERIH PLUS.


    Creating City Chic: The Parisian Influence on Interwar Bucharest Fashion“ (2018) Yearbook of the “Gheorghe Șincai” Institute for Social Sciences and the Humanities of the Romanian Academy 21, 2018, pp. 152-176, ISSN: 1454-5284. Indexed: CEEOL, EBSCO, ERIH PLUS.


    Allo, allo, ici le Bucharest du pedigree! The nationalization of women’s fashion in interwar Bucharest“, (2017) Yearbook of the “Gheorghe Șincai” Institute for Social Sciences and the Humanities of the Romanian Academy 20, 2017, pp. 126-165, ISSN: 1454-5284. Indexed: CEEOL, EBSCO, ERIH PLUS.



    Media

    Oct. – Dec. 2019 Reporter (Paid Internship) | 31 articles (Romanian)


                Zi de Zi, daily local newspaper, Târgu-Mureș, Romania


    Aug. 2019 – Present Content Writer (Fashion) | Articles: Re-Fashioning: Towards a Renewed Fashion Industry | Re-MODELARE: Spre o reînnoire a industriei modei


                Dimeon Magazine


     



    Under Peer Review

    2024 Fashioning a Debate: Fashion, Gender and Literature in Noblesse de Robe by Marthe Bibesco in Context, Revue Roumaine d’Histoire de l’Art. Série Beaux-Arts


     

    Projects

    Projects

    June 2023 Holocaust and the Second World War Working Group Member

    Joint SRS-PLURAL Workgroup

    Convenors: Dr. Diana Dumitru and Dr. Grant Harward

    October 2022 Art History Working Group Member

    SRS Working Group

    Convenor: Dr. Alexandra Chiriac

    1 Jun 2022 – 31 Dec 2024 Postdoc Researcher – Project Member (Associate Researcher)

    The Ethos of Dialogue and Education: Romanian – American Cultural Negotiations (1920-1940), PN-III-P4-PCE-2021-0688, Contract 29/27 May 2022

    Sub-Theme: Embodying the American Feminine Ethos: Renegotiating Romanian Women’s Identity from Hollywood to Rockefeller

    The “Gheorghe Șincai” Institute for Social Sciences and the Humanities of the Romanian Academy, Târgu-Mureș, Romania

    2019 – present Project Member

    ITLR – O istorie a traducerilor în limba română – secolele XVI-XX, finanțat de Fondul pentru Situații Speciale (FSS) conform prevederilor O.M.E.N. nr. 3694/2019 și conform prevederilor O.M.E.N nr. 3132/2020 | Chapter: Modă și frumusețe. Lucrări teoretice de autor / Fashion and Beauty. Authored Theoretical Works, Universitatea Ștefan cel Mare, Suceava, România.

     

     

    Upcoming Talks and Conferences

    Sep 2024 A War of Her Own: Fashioning War Trauma in 1920s Romanian Gender Discourse

    AVANT-GARDE AND WAR

    9th Conference of the European Network for Avant-Garde and Modernism Studies (EAM)

    Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland.

    Memberships

    AWSS (Association for Women in Slavonic Studies); BASEES (British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies); BFWG (British Federation of Women Graduates); The Association of Dress Historians; SRS (Society for Romanian Studies), MAPACA (Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association)

    Sonia-Doris Andras

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    @sdandras

    Active 1 month, 4 weeks ago