This book can be read through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. It is funded by Knowledge Unlatched.
The historiography of the Great War has been significantly renewed in recent years; yet, despite its crucial social, economic, and cultural importance, the role that fashion played in shaping wartime experiences and economies on an international scale between 1914 and 1918 has largely gone unaddressed. Fashion, Society, and the First World War fills this gap by offering a comprehensive analysis of the impact of the war on the ways that the fashion industry functioned in a global wartime economy, as well as on the ways that women and men negotiated this new world.
With an international, thematic approach, and illustrated in full color throughout, this volume discusses the reconfiguration of the fashion industry, wartime style and production, and the reframing of selfhood, gender roles, and national identity through visual, print and material culture. Through analysis of archives, visual chronicles, press, and garments, and covering an impressive range of topics, from the feathered showgirl in Paris to the evolution of pilots' uniforms, these exciting essays show how fashion, even temporarily, encouraged the articulation of an identity, a society, and a nation.
Fashion, Society, and the First World War provides an extensive overview by leading fashion historians on an industry in the midst of major transformation and is both an invaluable guide and starting point for all researchers, curators, and students interested in fashion history and the cultural history of the period.
Lists of Figures List of Contributors Acknowledgements, Maude Bass-Krueger, Hayley Edwards-Dujardin, and Sophie Kurkdjian Notes on Translation Timeline Introduction, Maude Bass-Krueger and Sophie Kurkdjian I. The Reconfiguration of the International Couture Industry 1: Wartime Marketing of Parisian Haute Couture in the United States, 1914-1917 Mary Lynn Stewart 2: Boué Sœurs, “Compelled by the War” Waleria Dorogova 3: “Gladdening the hearts of warriors:” the relationship between Lucile’s romantic fashions and morale in World War I Georgina Ripley 4: Die Kriegskrinoline - A Feminine Fashion Between Past and Future Birgit Haase 5: Fashion in Belgium during the Great War and the Case of Norine Nele Bernheim II. The Materiality of Wartime Fashion and Textile Industries 6: Dressed to Quill: The Origin and Significance of the Feathered Showgirl in World War I Paris Emily Brayshaw 7: Between Fashion and Folk: Dress Practices in Alsace during World War I Sara Hume 8: The Lace Industry in Belgium and France During the War Marguerite Coppens 9: Industrial and Handmade Clothing Production in the Netherlands, a Neutral Country during First World War Marta Kargól 10: Wartime Fabrics in the Historical Archives of Como Weavers and in the Collections of the Fondazione Antonio Ratti Margherita Rosina III. Problematic Uniforms: Male and Female Experiences and Second-Hand Trade Networks 11: “Breeched, Booted, and Cropped:” a dress historical analysis of the uniform worn by members of Britain’s Women’s Land Army, 1917-1919 Amy de la Haye 12: The French Home Front in 1914-1918: An Investigation of Female Workwear Jérémie Brucker 13: Rushing to Suit Up: French Aviation’s Adjustment to Wartime Uniforms, 1914-1916 Guillaume de Syon 14: The Spoils of War: Use and Transformations of Second-Hand Uniforms during the First World War in France Manuel Charpy IV. Fashion in Print: Questions of National Fashion and Gender 15: The Gentleman Turned “Enemy:” Men’s Fashion in the Hungarian Press, 1914-1918 Zsolt Mészáros 16: The Politics of Fashion: German Fashion (Writings) in Times of War Burcu Dogramaci 17: The Italian Fashion Magazine Margherita: the War, Women, and the Call for a “Moda Italiana,” 1914-1918 Enrica Morini 18: Le Flambeau’s Fashion Discourse during the First World War: Towards a Retrograde Femininity? Nigel Lezama 19: Is Beauty Useless? Fashion, Gender, and British Wartime Society in Punch Magazine, 1915 Andréa Kollnitz Index
Maude Bass-Krueger is a professor in the department of Art History, Theatre, and Music Studies at the University of Ghent, Belgium. Hayley Edwards-Dujardin is an independent scholar and editor based in Paris, France. Sophie Kurkdjian is an assistant professor at the American University of Paris, France.
Reviews for Fashion, Society, and the First World War: International Perspectives
A coherent, fresh and fascinating study by an impressive, international group of researchers … Because of its international base, the high quality of the research manifested by its 19 contributors, and the sensitive structure set in pace by its editors, this book marks another important step in the current positive and exciting development in dress and fashion history publications. * Lou Taylor, University of Brighton, UK * This innovative book reveals how the global war altered not only the business of fashion on an international scale but also had a strong impact on personal dress practices. It splendidly shows how fashion became a powerful symbol of nationalism and played an important role concerning social norms including gender and class relationship. * Adelheid Rasche, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Germany * A long overdue transnational exploration of the business and beauty of fashion during the Great War, covering diverse aspects of wartime clothing industry, artistry and identity through absorbing scholarship and impactful illustrations. * Lucy Adlington, author of Great War Fashion: Tales from the History Wardrobe and Stitches in Time *
