1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910824278703321

Autore

Hollander Anne

Titolo

Sex and suits : the evolution of modern dress / / Anne Hollander

Pubbl/distr/stampa

London, England : , : Bloomsbury Academic, , 2020

London, England : , : Bloomsbury Publishing, , 2020

ISBN

1-4742-5064-5

1-4742-5061-0

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (177 p.)

Classificazione

DES005000ART015000

Disciplina

391

Soggetti

Clothing and dress - Social aspects

Men's clothing - History

Clothing and dress - History

History of fashion

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (pages 149-150) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Sex and the modern Form -- What fashion Is -- The work of fashion. Fashion, non-fashion and anti-fashion -- Meaning in fashion -- Form and sexuality -- Early fashion history -- Later changes -- Female invention -- The genesis of the suit. The great divide -- Reason and fantasy -- Sobriety and simplicity -- Antique natural nudity -- Heroes in wool -- Neo-classic erotics -- Ready-made men -- The once and future suit -- Modernity. Worth and his effects -- Reforming women -- Stays -- Redesigning women -- Modern transformations -- Recent Revolutions -- Nowadays. Informalities -- Sexualities -- Revelations -- Anxieties -- Perceptions.

Sommario/riassunto

"Since the dawn of western fashion in the Middle Ages, women's dress has never stopped evolving, yet menswear has seen far fewer style revolutions. At the centre of the male wardrobe is the suit: relatively unchanged since the 17th century, its cut and cloth suggest athleticism, seriousness, sexuality and strength - qualities which contrasted with the perceived superficiality and frivolity of female dress, and eventually led to the adoption of the suit into the female wardrobe where it remains to this day. In Sex and Suits brilliant essayist and art critic Anne Hollander charts the development of men's and



women's fashion from their divergence in the medieval period to their convergence through to the late 20th century. Challenging the idea that the suit's success is merely down to its practicality, this trailblazing book argues that men have been fashion's true style-setters and that as women's fashion has taken on elements of men's style through tailoring, so men have reclaimed the embellishment and colour of past eras. First published in 1994 to great acclaim, this classic text is as fresh and provocative as ever and remains a must-read for students, scholars and anyone fascinated by the history of fashion and gender"--