Fashion / Edition 1

by Christopher Breward

Overview

Following 150 years of fashion, Christopher Breward offers a catholic view of this colorful and flamboyant universe, describing its trends, products, and inhabitants. From Haute Couture, High Street, and developing fabric technology to such stars of the fashion heavens as Coco Chanel, Giorgio Armani, and Alexander McQueen, Breward explores territories far beyond style and function. He sees more than just an industry, giving voice to the larger cultural phenomenon fashion has become.

Breward's discerning view captures the glamorous world of Vogue and advertising; the relationship between fashion and film, and fashion as a business; and goes beyond the surface to consider individual interaction with fashion. How have ideas about hygiene and comfort influenced the direction of style? How does dress create identity and status? Framing details of dandies, flappers, and punks within a clear overview of their respective periods, Breward takes a second look and casts everyday wear in a much different light.

In addition to all the glitz and glamour, the book includes suggestions for further reading, a timeline marking important events in fashion, and a list of relevant museums and galleries. In all, it is the most valuable, accessible, and modern text on fashion today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780192840301
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	06/26/2003
Series:	Oxford History of Art
Edition description:	First
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.50(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Chris Breward is Professor of Historical and Cultural Studies at the London College of Fashion (London Institute.) In 1995, he published the first academic textbook on fashion, The Culture of Fashion. He has curated various exhibitions, including 2004's Capital Fashion for the Museum of London.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part 1: The Production of Fashion
Chapter 1: The Rise of the Designer
Chapter 2: Making Clothes
Chapter 3: Innovating Change
Part 2: The Promotion of Fashion
Chapter 4: Disseminating Desire
Chapter 5: Fashion on the Page
Chapter 6: Fashion and Film
Chapter 7: Shopping for Style
Part 3: The Wearing of Fashion
Chapter 8: Style and Modernity
Chapter 9: Fashion Capitals
Chapter 10: Fashion and Indentity
Notes
Further Reading
Timeline
Museums and Websites
List of Illustrations
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Christopher Breward is one of the most respected fashion scholars working today. This latest book provides an excellent introduction to the world of modern fashion."—Valerie Steele, chief curator and acting director, The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York

From the Publisher

Breward's comprehensive and academic approach to the world of fashion in his contribution to Oxford's "History of Art" series is far removed from the vacuous, photograph-driven books that typically address this topic. Breward (London Coll. of Fashion) published the first textbook on fashion, The Culture of Fashion, in 1995. His latest effort reads like a well-curated exhibition, with sections on the history, production, design, innovation, advertising, psychology, geography, and influence of fashion. For the obsessive fashion follower, Breward provides a bibliography for further reading, a time line, and a list of museums around the world devoted to the trade, making this the ultimate portable resource on the subject and highlighting Breward's impressive research. While Fashion's prose can at times be stiffly formal, this book was designed for easy perusal and provides plenty of captivating archival photography to spice up the text. Recommended for all libraries as a handy first resource on the fascinating and strange realm of fashion.-Prudence Peiffer, Southampton, NY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal