Over the last century there has been a complete transformation of the fashion system. The unitary top-down fashion cycle has been replaced by the pulsations of multiple and simultaneous styles, while the speed of global production and circulation has become ever faster and more complex.
Running in tandem, the development of artificial fibres has revolutionized the composition of clothing, and the increased focus on youth, sexuality, and the body has radically changed its design. From the 1920s flapper dress to debates over the burkini, fashion has continued to be deeply involved in society’s larger issues.
Drawing on a wealth of visual, textual and object sources and illustrated with over 100 images, A Cultural History of Dress and Fashion in the Modern Age presents essays on textiles, production and distribution, the body, belief, gender and sexuality, status, ethnicity, and visual and literary representations to illustrate the diversity and cultural significance of dress and fashion in the period.
List of Illustrations Introduction Alexandra Palmer (Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada) Chapter 1 – Textiles Susan Ward (Independent scholar and curator, USA) Chapter 2 – Production and Distribution Veronique Pouillard (University of Oslo, Norway) Chapter 3 – The Body Adam Geczy (University of Sydney, Australia) and Vicki Karaminas (Massey University, New Zealand) Chapter 4 – Belief Susan J. Palmer (Concordia University, Canada) and Paul Gareau (University of Alberta, Canada) Chapter 5 – Gender and Sexuality Annamari Vanska (Aalto University, Finland) Chapter 6 – Status Jane Tynan (Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, UK) Chapter 7 – Ethnicity Simona Segre Reinach (Bologna University, Italy) Chapter 8 – Visual Representations Rachael Barron-Duncan (Central Michigan University, USA) Chapter 9 – Literary Representations Irene Gammel (Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada) and Katherine Mulhallen (Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada) Notes Bibliography Notes on Contributors Index
Alexandra Palmer is the Nora E. Vaughan Fashion Costume Senior Curator at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada. She also teaches at the University of Toronto.
