Fashion History

Interacting with Images: Female Accomplishment, Fashionability and the Embellishment of Prints 1750-1820

by Serena Dyer

Dressing History: A New Direction in Experimental Archaeology?

by Serena Dyer

Dressing the Elite: Fashion, Intimacy and Business in Eighteenth-Century London and Yorkshire

by Serena Dyer

Between 1783 and 1785 Mrs Ann Charlton, a society milliner of Holles Street, London, kept up a regular and detailed... more Between 1783 and 1785 Mrs Ann Charlton, a society milliner of Holles Street, London, kept up a regular and detailed correspondence with her client, Lady Sabine Winn of Nostell Priory in Yorkshire. This abundant collection of both written passages and sumptuous fabric and ribbon samples, provides a unique and unprecedented insight into fashion dissemination amongst the provincial elite, the centrality of sociability and the season to the London fashion trade and the complex relationship between female client and supplier. The correspondence contains fashion news, pecuniary bargaining, offers of gifts, and discussion of personal health, combining intimate and personal details with the formalities of a professional relationship. These two vocabularies are continually at variance within the text of the letters, the consequence of a relationship which both transcends and abides by social boundaries. Neither friend nor servant, this singularly feminine association, maintained beyond Lady Sabine’s move north, demonstrates both the mercantile methodology of an eighteenth-century businesswoman and the continued reliance of the provincial elite on London traders. Mrs Charlton’s other clients included the infamous Countess of Strathmore, for whom she gave evidence at the trial of her husband. Her statement, which substantiated claims of domestic abuse, both physical and mental, as well as declaring the existence of unpaid bills, again merges the deeply personal with the pragmatism of business. The unrivalled depth of the previously untapped evidence provided by Mrs Ann Charlton facilitates a crucial step in developing our understanding of both women in business and networks of fashion consumption amongst the eighteenth-century elite.

Canadian Music and Fashion, Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion

by Martha Ladly

La Hakama

by Luis Antonio Monzón

La hakama es el símbolo más distintivo del Aikido, aunque su uso es compartido con otras artes marciales como el... more La hakama es el símbolo más distintivo del Aikido, aunque su uso es compartido con otras artes marciales como el Kendo, Kyudo y el Iaido. En el presente texto se presentan algunos aspectos básicos sobre su historia y uso.

The hakama is the most distinctive symbol of the Aikido, though his use is shared by other martial arts as the Kendo, Kyudo and the Iaido. In the present text we present some basic aspects on his history and use.

Presentation given at the conference “Developments in dress history” at Brighton University December 8th-10th 2011

by Eva Andersson

This is a presentation I made at a conference. It is not written as an article, but as something I would read out loud (or at least glance at while talking). Stil it is a presentation of some of my research in English, something that I don't have a lot of.

Clothing and perceptions of gender and body in the medieval an early modern period


Fashion and... more Clothing and perceptions of gender and body in the medieval an early modern period


Fashion and perceptions of gender and body are closely intertwined. Clothes are thus an important source to often unspoken ideas of masculinity and femininity. In the Middle Ages manners of dress were affected by an Aristotelian perception of gender, where the difference between men’s and women’s bodies was seen as a difference in degree rather than in kind. This led to fashions with similar garments for men and women, differing mainly in length, but not in cut. Gender was marked with smaller items of dress, such as headwear, which weren’t linked to physical differences between men and women, but instead to their social roles. In the late 15th century a change in how clothing was used to present men’s and women’s bodies occurred as the clothes now emphasized bodily difference, indicating a new way of thinking about gender and the body. According to historian Thomas Laqueur the break with the Aristotelian model occurred in the 18th century. This period saw a fundamental break in the development of masculine and feminine dress, but judging from the development of fashion it seems that there was another break, though less radical, in the perception of sex at the end of the Middle Ages.

Exhibition Review: Saint Laurent Rive Gauche: la révolution de la mode

by Alexis Romano

Published in 'Textile History,' vol. 42:2 (November 2011), 268-271.

'Elle' and the Development of 'Stylisme' in 1960s Paris

by Alexis Romano

Published in 'Costume. Journal of the Costume Society,' vol. 46:1 (January 2012), 75-91.

Yohji Yamamoto and the Museum: a Contemporary Fashion Narrative

by Alexis Romano

Published in 'Yohji Yamamoto,' edited by Ligaya Salazar (London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2011), 102-127.

Why Luxury brands aim non-core sectors?

by Alvaro HIDALGO

Extension of Luxury brands to Tourism facilities Extension of Luxury brands to Tourism facilities

Accessing and affording sustainability: the experience of fashion consumption within young families

by Elaine Ritch

International Journal of Consumer Studies 36 (2012) 203–210

Despite the ever increasing levels of fashion consumption, neither retailers nor consumers have as yet implemented... more Despite the ever increasing levels of fashion consumption, neither retailers nor consumers have as yet implemented sustainability principles to a significant degree. This is despite the fact that sustainability principles are increasingly understood and will be applied by consumers, as long as affordable alternatives in mainstream fashions are available. In a highly competitive fashion retail sector, there exists an opportunity for UK high street fashion retailers to differentiate their brand image through aligning products with consum- ers’ moral frameworks. Using phenomenological interviews, this research explores the fashion consumption experiences of professional women with young children and living in or near Edinburgh, with particular focus on their expression of their own sustainability concerns in their day-to-day practices. The findings reveal that in the absence of suitable products, information and labelling, consumers apply heuristics to their choices, especially price. They refer to the more familiar ethical food market which serves as a metaphor for fashion-related practices. They talk about trustworthy retailers and about how they deal with and rationalize their own practices where they reveal an obvious attitude-behaviour gap. The women’s role of providing for the family adds further complexity in a sector which provides affordable alternative options.

Tales Dead Birds Tell: the historical and cultural context of early avian specimens in the biology collections of Randolph College

by Emily Smith

"Oltre la pelle. I cosmetici e il loro uso"

by Michelle Laughran

Published in _Storia d'Italia: Annali 19. La moda_ (Turin: Einaudi, 2003)

Cosmetics use in Italy from ancient times to the twentieth century. Cosmetics use in Italy from ancient times to the twentieth century.

"History of Fashion from Head to Toe: Cosmetics from Ancient Times to the Present Day"

by Michelle Laughran

Presented at Saint Joseph's College, 2003

A general paper for a lay audience about the gendered use of cosmetics in Western society over time. A general paper for a lay audience about the gendered use of cosmetics in Western society over time.

"Make-Up as Understructure: Renaissance Cosmetics as Renaissance Self-Fashioning"

by Michelle Laughran

Presented at the Costume Society of America, Region 1 Annual Meeting, 2003

This paper argues that the process of “self-fashioning” in Renaissance Italy encouraged the use of cosmetics. ... more This paper argues that the process of “self-fashioning” in Renaissance Italy encouraged the use of cosmetics.  The end result of this process will be the subsequent diffusion of cosmetics as a kind of essential “understructure” because of Italy’s role as an arbiter of taste in Renaissance Europe.

"'A Man Must Not Embelish Himself like a Woman: The Body and Gender in Renaissance Cosmetics"

by Michelle Laughran

Presented at the 15th Annual Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Interdisciplinary Symposium, University of Miami, 2006

The introduction of cosmetics into the Renaissance fashion system was more than simply a straightforward... more The introduction of cosmetics into the Renaissance fashion system was more than simply a straightforward socio-economic indicator in terms only of direct financial investment in fashion.  Instead, socio-economic status was communicated by more than just expensive materials; it INCARNATED the very conceptions of health and character, both of which were supposed to be products of a noble complexion and both of which varied depending upon one's gender.  As a result, overt cosmetics' use would become more socially acceptable by women than by men.

“‘Grandissima Gratia’: The Power of Italian Renaissance Shoes as Intimate Wear”

by Michelle Laughran

Co-authored with Andrea Vianello, in _Ornamentalism: The Art of Renaissance Accessories_ (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2011).

In an age where women wear pants and men can fashionably sport kilts, it seems as though accessories are now a... more In an age where women wear pants and men can fashionably sport kilts, it seems as though accessories are now a defining touch of gender expression, indicating gender boundaries with which an individual is either identifying or testing. Women wearing neckties or men carrying handbags are not out of the question in the early twenty-first century Western fashion system, but nevertheless there are few dress acts which are more immediately visually challenging to cultural expectations of gender roles. Thus, in a world of Manolo Blahniks, we are accustomed to footwear being one of these highly visible and very public representations of gender identification and/or expression. Yet in the premodern and early-modern fashion system, we argue that gender identification and expression though shoes were primarily based on degrees of their invisibility.


Premodern men and women's footwear were initially unisex and utilitarian in design, and women's shoes were distinguished primarily by the fact that they tended be to some of the less visible aspects of contemporary female costume. Indeed, with the advent of Renaissance conspicuous sartorial consumption, women's shoes would become even less readily visible, draped as they were in dresses constructed of layers of far more expensive fabric. Ironically, however, this is the very same period in which footwear styles of men and women would begin significantly to diverge for the first time. How to explain this apparent paradox?


A parallel development interestingly occurred simultaneously in what would come to be called lingerie. The deeper women's undergarments were buried under myriad strata of clothing, the more diverse (and eventually sexualized) they became. In this article, we will argue that early-modern footwear in this same way essentially became a kind of gendered intimate wear, the increased fascination with which relied on the power of what was usually unseen, but a glimpse of which might be granted to or stolen by the viewer.

'The timeless glamour of a wardrobe essential' - January 2012

by Rosalind Ormiston

Exhibition review of Little Black Dress'  at Tullie House Art Gallery, Carlisle, Cumbria
Publisher online in CASSONE
www.cassone-art.com

Courting the Pink Pound: "Men Only" and the Queer Consumer, 1935-1939

by Justin Bengry

History Workshop Journal 68 (2009): pp. 122-148.

Men Only was among the earliest men’s lifestyle magazines published in Britain. From its first issue, in December... more Men Only was among the earliest men’s lifestyle magazines published in Britain. From its first issue, in December 1935, the magazine cultivated a mainstream audience of middle-class, presumably heterosexual male consumers. But at the same time, I argue, it addressed and courted another audience long associated with urban leisure and fashionable consumption. References to homosexuality in Men Only went beyond mockery and insults directed at effeminate men. Instead, both textual and visual references to subcultural codes, practices, and homoerotically charged situations all reinforced potential readings of the magazine that would be understood by a queer audience. Other readers sometimes decoded the magazine’s references and doublespeak too. Some even expressed concern that particular magazine elements were ‘a trifle pansy’. But by printing such concerns the magazine producers further highlighted Men Only’s complicated dual address. By 1939, however, as the magazine’s references to homosexuality and urban queer subcultures became increasingly dated and less lucrative, it began to direct its attention to a new military and home front audience. This article argues that through the deft use of humour, imagery, and coded doublespeak, Men Only courted a homosexual market segment a full half century before advertisers and marketers would openly acknowledge and seek the Pink Pound.

Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2011). The Lolita Complex: A Japanese Fashion Subculture and its Paradoxes. Auckland: AUT University.

by Kathryn A. Hardy Bernal

Master of Philosophy (MPhil) Thesis, 30 May 2011

My thesis investigates complex issues implied by and connected with the Japanese movement known generally as Gothic... more My thesis investigates complex issues implied by and connected with the Japanese movement known generally as Gothic & Lolita (G&L), focussing specifically on the Lolita fashion-based subculture and psychological motivations behind it. It discusses the transmigration of the movement’s ideas from Eastern to Western to Eastern societies, including differing cultural interpretations of “Lolita” and their implications in terms of the Lolita phenomenon, while examining ideologies in context with conflicting connotations and paradoxes that arise from a label that combines perceptions about “Lolita” with the “Gothic”. It also addresses the “Lolita Complex”, a term that stems from the narrative of Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita and is applied to a syndrome affecting older men and their attraction to young girls, and explores its associations with the Lolita subculture. The Lolita Complex, as the title of this thesis, also refers to the problematic complexities connected with and inferred by the movement. This thesis is multi-disciplinary. Although the emphasis is related to Fashion (or Design) History and Theory, my research also spans the fields of Subcultural Theory, Gothic Studies, Gender Studies, Asian Studies and Anthropology. It leans, though, more to the “theoretical” side, while my methodological approach relates closely to Analytic or Psychoanalytic Art History, based on my education and training as an Art and Design theorist. As such, this study is an analysis of the Japanese Lolita subculture. It is my theory or my reading of this cultural phenomenon, supported by evidence to state the overriding argument that the Lolita movement is symbolic of and represents a generation of young women who refuse to enter adulthood and “grow up”.