Fashion on Television: Identity and Celebrity Culture

(Paperback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Fashion on Television provides a comprehensive critical examination of the intersection between fashion, television and celebrity culture. The book brings together theoretical approaches to the symbolic force of television and fashion-forward programming on a global scale. Examining case studies such as Sex and the City, Gossip Girl, Ugly Betty and Mad Men, the book examines how TV has made style icons out of leading actresses and fashion-conscious consumers out of audiences. Using a varied methodology, including textual and contextual analysis, this study explores the cultural uses of onscreen fashion at the level of industry, text and intertext. Fashion on Television is essential reading for those seeking to understand the cultural function of costume in a television context. Written accessibly with a multi-disciplinary approach, it will appeal to students and scholars from film and media, fashion and cultural studies, to sociology and womens studies.

Reviews

This book is an incredibly important and timely contribution to the existing work on fashion theory and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in not only fashion, but also television costume and screen cultures more generally. Warner presents a clear and convincing account of why fashion on television is important using a range of contemporary case studies that make this serious and scholarly book entertaining and accessible. -- Janice Miller, University of the Arts London, UK
It is very valuable for both students and scholars to have studies that take into consideration the interaction of costume in contemporary television shows with celebrity culture and production of fashion and identity. The book is very timely and will be very useful to scholars working in a variety of fields, television studies, fashion studies, cultural studies and celebrity studies. -- Eugenia Paulicelli, Queens College and The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, USA
Cogently insisting that American television functions as both trendsetter and tastemaker, Fashion on Television persuasively theorizes contemporary fashion programming as a cultural phenomenon. Warner presents her own colorful tapestry, historicizing fashion television, documenting the rising cultural profile of costume designers, detailing fashion sequences in iconic programs, and identifying stars whose style and celebrity authorize them as cultural intermediaries. This comprehensive volume is a welcome addition to the growing body of work in fashion studies, and will be of interest to art and media enthusiasts alike. -- Suzanne Leonard, Simmons College, Boston, USA
Helen Warners smart and eminently readable book is the first detailed study of an increasingly significant television genre. Drawing on industrial, textual and cultural analysis, she examines how fashion TV forges a range of gendered, ethnic and classed identities. Carefully chosen case studies underscore fashions contribution to contemporary American television's increased spectacle and glamour and point to the mediums increasingly prominent role in fashion marketing. This important book provides a thorough and accessible discussion of the complex intersections of fashion and television as industries, cultural practices and as forms of feminine culture. -- Moya Luckett, New York University, USA

Author Bio

Helen Warner is Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies at University of East Anglia, UK.