The anatomy of fashion : why we dress the way we do / Colin McDowell.
Material type:
TextPublication details: London : Phaidon Press Limited, 2013.Description: 272 pages : illustrations (some color), portraits (some color) ; 32 cmISBN: - 0714849472
- 9780714849478
- 391 MCD
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Why do we dress the way we do? Why has fashion changed and evolved over the centuries? How did the 3-piece suit come about? Why have hemlines risen and fallen over time? In The Anatomy of Fashion , respected fashion commentator Colin McDowell goes beyond standard fashion histories and narrative surveys to answer these questions and many more.
Uniquely structured, taking the reader through fashion and dress from head to toe - the whole body is anatomized into sections including 'The Body Unclothed'(Skin and Body Adornment, Materials and Texture, and Colour and Pattern), 'The Body Anatomized'('Head to Waist'and 'Hips to Feet'), and 'The Body Clothed'(Looks and Themes in Dress). Visually rich, with over 500 photographs, illustrations, paintings and film stills, the book includes work by designers and labels such as Ralph Lauren, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Versace, Carhartt, Diesel and more.
The book's dynamic structure and layout are equally suited for browsing and for serious reference, but The Anatomy of Fashion is not simply a picture book. It is a sourcebook by one of the world's leading fashion scholars that seeks nothing less than a thorough analysis of the roots of every aspect of fashion today.
Includes bibliographical references (page [263]) and index.
Why do we dress the way we do? Why has fashion changed and evolved over the centuries? How did the 3-piece suit come about? What is a ruff? Why have hemlines risen and fallen over time? Why did a suntan replace the pale, peaches-and-cream face as the sign of a high-class woman? In this book, fashion specialist Colin McDowell goes beyond standard fashion histories and narrative surveys to answer all these questions and more. Fashion is both functional and expressive we wear clothes to keep warm or for protection but they also articulate the way we feel and are often used to impress. Fashion trends are influenced by history and their social context. For example, the waistcoat is often believed to have been introduced as part of the Victorian 3-piece suit. In fact, it was brought to England by Charles II in 1666 after his restoration and return from exile at the French court. Samuel Pepys, diarist and civil servant, wrote: \'The King hath yesterday in council declared his resolution of setting a fashion for clothes which he will never alter. It will be a vest, I know not well how.\' Charles wanted the new garment to be part of a restrained national dress for gentlemen and the vest flourished throughout Georgian times as a show-off garment made of rich silks and heavily embroidered, often in silver and gold.