Fashion in European Art: Dress and Identity, Politics and the Body, 1775-1925

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Description

Fashion reveals not only who we are, but whom we aspire to be. From 1775 to 1925, artists in Europe were especially attuned to the gaps between appearance and reality, participating in and often critiquing the making of the self and the image. Reading their portrayals of modern life with an eye to fashion and dress reveals a world of complex calculations and subtle signals.

Extensively illustrated, Fashion in European Art explores the significance of historical dress over this period of upheaval, as well as the lived experience of dress and its representation. Drawing on visual sources that extend from paintings and photographs to fashion plates, caricatures and advertisements, the expert contributors consider how artists and their sitters engaged with the fashion and culture of their times. They explore the politics of dress, its inspirations and the reactions it provoked, as well as the many meanings of fashion in European art, revealing its importance in understanding modernity itself.

Reviews

The book is a welcome addition to any library on nineteenth century European dress. It underscores the importance of dress and how its study can enrich our understanding of art and culture. It is gratifying to see academics in many disciplines writing on the textile and fashion arts bringing their understanding, research methodologies, and perspectives to this endlessly fascinating subject. * The Journal of Dress History *
This is an exciting book, excellent in its scope and rigour, immaculately edited and richly imaginative. It proposes a new approach to fashion research concerning dress, art and the body. -- Peter McNeil, University of Technology Sydney, Australia

Author Bio

Justine De Young is Assistant Professor of the History of Art at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York. Her research focuses on nineteenth and twentieth-century art and literature, visual and material culture, modernism and fashion. She has written widely on art and fashion, notably for the 2012-3 exhibition, 'Impressionism, Fashion and Modernity'.