Sex and Suits: The Evolution of Modern Dress

Description

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. Title Page Copyright Page Contents List of Illustrations Chapter 1 Introduction Sex and Modern Form What Fashion Is Chapter 2 The Work of Fashion Fashion, Non-Fashion, and Anti-Fashion Meaning in Fashion Form and Sexuality Early Fashion History Later Changes Female Invention Chapter 3 The Genesis of the Suit The Great Divide Reason and Fantasy Sobriety and Simplicity Antique Natural Nudity Heroes in Wool Neoclassic Erotics Ready-Made Men The Once and Future Suit Chapter 4 Modernity Worth and His Effects Reforming Women Stays Redesigning Women Modern Transformations Recent Revolutions Chapter 5 Nowadays Informalities Sexualities Revelations Anxieties Perceptions Select Bibliography Index