The culture of fashion

This illustrated survey of 600 years of fashion investigates its cultural and social meanings from medieval Europe to 20th-century America. It provides a guide to the changes in style and taste and challenges existing fashion histories showing that clothes have always played a pivotal role in defining a sense of identity and society especially when concerned with sexual and body politics. With a chronological structure each chapter focuses on both male and female fashion of a specific period covering its fascinating developments. It discusses: androgynous dressing; body piercing; fabrics clothing and the rise of city life; dress and the changing shape of the human body; controversies surrounding trousers and leg wear for both men and women; exposure of flesh; fashion and social status; and the dissemination of fashion through travel film magazines and catwalk shows.