Description
Book SynopsisFashion History: A Global View proposes a new perspective on fashion history. Arguing that fashion has occurred in cultures beyond the West throughout history, this groundbreaking book explores the geographic places and historical spaces that have been largely neglected by contemporary fashion studies, bringing them together for the first time.
Reversing the dominant narrative that privileges Western Europe in the history of dress, Welters and Lillethun adopt a cross-cultural approach to explore a vast array of cultures around the globe. They explore key issues affecting fashion systems, ranging from innovation, production and consumption to identity formation and the effects of colonization. Case studies include the cross-cultural trade of silk textiles in Central Asia, the indigenous dress of the Americas and of Hawai''i, the cosmetics of the Tang Dynasty in China, and stylistic innovation in sub-Saharan Africa. Examining the new lessons that can be deciphered from a
Trade Review
Fashion History: A Global View is inspirational for new studies on fashion history by showing how new styles were initiated at times, in places and in ways that ordinarily are not included in fashion history. The book can further extend the way fashion history is taught at the colleges and the universities. * Markets, Globalization & Development Review *
How wonderfully well-timed is this book! A milestone in the field, Fashion History marks a point to which fashion scholarship has been evolving, and at which we can now pause and take stock. -- Antonia Finnane, University of Melbourne, Australia.
This new fashion world history persuasively argues for a definition of fashion beyond the modern west. From Chinese lip fashions to ‘vernacular version of the standard suit’ (shorts and T shirts) this is an essential overview of the development and state of the field. Ranging in topic from the Ancient World to past and present East, South and South-east Asia, the book will surprise and delight. Notable for its clarity and precision, illustrated with fascinating examples, the book is essential reading for all students and devotees of fashion and its histories. -- Peter McNeil, University of Technology Sydney, Australia and Aalto University, Finland
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations Foreword by Joanne B. Eicher Acknowledgments 1. Introduction: Europe and the People Without Fashion Part I. Understanding Fashion and Its History 2. The Lexicon of Fashion 3. Fashion Systems 4. How We Got Here Part II. Outside the Canon: Alternative Fashion Histories 5. Fashion Systems in Prehistory and the Americas 6. Fashion Systems and Trade Networks in the Eastern Hemisphere 7. Fashion Systems in East, South and Southeast Asia 8. Alternative Fashion Histories in Euro-America 9. Global Fashion 10. Conclusion Bibliography Index
