Product Description

It is easy to view fashion as an entirely modern concept. Costume historians, in fact, trace the birth of fashion back to the thirteenth century and writings on fashion date back as early as the sixteenth century. This classic fashion writing has profoundly shaped our understanding of modern day dress—from the psychology of clothes to collective fashion trends. Its impact, however, has not previously been recognized.

Fashion Foundations fills this major gap in the history of the discipline. This key text reprints a collection of pioneering fashion statements. Vital yet sometimes ignored treasures are brought together for the first time, tracing fashion writing from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. Why do we wear clothes? What do they say about our self-awareness and body image? How can we "fashion" new identities through what we wear? In this book, Michel de Montaigne, William Hazlitt, Herbert Spencer, Thorstein B. Veblen, Adam Smith, Herbert Blumer, and Georg Simmel answer these questions and many more. In the process they reveal the true origins of our contemporary approach to fashion.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1607991 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
'It [Fashion Foundations] goes beyond the basic expectation of a book in the 'foundations' of a discipline that provides merely an understanding of the roots of current thought, and instead, as it is organized through current thematic concerns, allows a rethinking of the issues that govern current fashion theory in a manner that is generally interdisciplinary.' Sophie Woodward, University College for the Creative Arts/Nottingham Trent University, The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (Vol 13, No 3, Sep 2007)

About the Author
Kim K. P. Johnson is Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Design, Housing and Apparel, University of Minnesota. Susan J. Torntore is Assistant Professor, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, Illinois State University. Joanne B. Eicher is Regents' Professor, Department of Design, Housing and Apparel, University of Minnesota.