Dress and Ideology: Fashioning Identity from Antiquity to the Present

Description

Dress and fashion are powerful visual means of communicating ideology, whether political, social or religious. From the communist values of equality, simplicity and solidarity exemplified in the Mao suit to the myriad of fashion protests of feminists such as French revolutionary women's demand to wear trousers, dress can symbolize ideological orthodoxy as well as revolt. With contributions from a wide range of international scholars, this book presents the first scholarly analysis of dress and ideology through accessible case studies. Chapters are organized thematically and explore dress in relation to topics including nation, identity, religion, politics and utopias, across an impressive chronological reach from antiquity to the present day. Dress & Ideology will appeal to students and scholars of fashion, history, sociology, cultural studies, politics and gender studies.

Shoshana-Rose Marzel is Lecturer of Historical and theoretical aspects of fashion at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Jerusalem, Israel. Dr. Guy D. Stiebel is a senior lecturer in the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures at Tel-Aviv University, Israel.

"Dress and Ideology is a trove for research and historical reference in the process in which societies and their classes fashion themselves. [Authors] Stiebel and Marzel have achieved their goal of bridging the gap between 'ideas and their materialization in dress', as the discussions on identity, religion, nationhood and politics are organized in such a way that sense is made of the historical progression of dress." - Fashion, Society & Popular Culture