Sex and Suits: The Evolution of Modern DressSince the dawn of western fashion in the Middle Ages, women's dress has never stopped evolving, yet menswear has seen far fewer style revolutions. At the centre of the male wardrobe is the suit: relatively unchanged since the 17th century, its cut and cloth suggest athleticism, seriousness, sexuality and strength – qualities which contrasted with the perceived superficiality and frivolity of female dress, and eventually led to the adoption of the suit into the female wardrobe where it remains to this day. In Sex and Suits brilliant essayist and art critic Anne Hollander charts the development of men's and women's fashion from their divergence in the medieval period to their convergence through to the late 20th century. Challenging the idea that the suit's success is merely down to its practicality, this trailblazing book argues that men have been fashion's true style-setters and that as women's fashion has taken on elements of men's style through tailoring, so men have reclaimed the embellishment and colour of past eras. First published in 1994 to great acclaim, this classic text is as fresh and provocative as ever and remains a must-read for students, scholars and anyone fascinated by the history of fashion and gender. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 9 | |
Chapter 3 The Genesis of the Suit | 45 |
Chapter 4 Modernity | 85 |
Chapter 5 Nowadays | 131 |
| 149 | |
| 151 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
abstract ancient Anthony Van Dyck antique appeared artists basic beauty became began bodily body Classical coat collar color corsets costume created creative décolletage desire dressmakers effect eighteenth century elegant English erotic esthetic expression fabric fashion plates feel female fashion feminine fashion figure flavor formal Frédéric Bazille garments gear Getty Images hair hats Haute Couture Helmut Newton idea ideal imaginative imitate individual invented jackets Jacques-Louis David Johann Joachim Winckelmann later legs look loose lounge suit Madeleine Vionnet male dress male fashion male tailoring man’s masculine mass-produced men’s mode modern fashion modern suit modish natural Neoclassic nineteenth century nude ornament pants photograph physical Portrait ready-to-wear Romantic sans-culotte sartorial scheme sexes sexual fantasy shape shift shoulders simply skirts sleeves social sort style suggest surface things traditional transvestism trousers unconscious versions visual waistcoat wear wearer woman women women’s clothes women’s fashion worn