Fashion (Oxford History of Art Series)

Book Description
Following 150 years of fashion, Christopher Breward offers a catholic view of this colorful and flamboyant universe, describing its trends, products, and inhabitants. From Haute Couture, High Street, and developing fabric technology to such stars of the fashion heavens as Coco Chanel, Giorgio Armani, and Alexander McQueen, Breward explores territories far beyond style and function. He sees more than just an industry, giving voice to the larger cultural phenomenon fashion has become. Breward's discerning view captures the glamorous world of Vogue and advertising; the relationship between fashion and film, and fashion as a business; and goes beyond the surface to consider individual interaction with fashion. How have ideas about hygiene and comfort influenced the direction of style? How does dress create identity and status? Framing details of dandies, flappers, and punks within a clear overview of their respective periods, Breward takes a second look and casts everyday wear in a much different light. In addition to all the glitz and glamour, the book includes suggestions for further reading, a timeline marking important events in fashion, and a list of relevant museums and galleries. In all, it is the most valuable, accessible, and modern text on fashion today.


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Breward's comprehensive and academic approach to the world of fashion in his contribution to Oxford's "History of Art" series is far removed from the vacuous, photograph-driven books that typically address this topic. Breward (London Coll. of Fashion) published the first textbook on fashion, The Culture of Fashion, in 1995. His latest effort reads like a well-curated exhibition, with sections on the history, production, design, innovation, advertising, psychology, geography, and influence of fashion. For the obsessive fashion follower, Breward provides a bibliography for further reading, a time line, and a list of museums around the world devoted to the trade, making this the ultimate portable resource on the subject and highlighting Breward's impressive research. While Fashion's prose can at times be stiffly formal, this book was designed for easy perusal and provides plenty of captivating archival photography to spice up the text. Recommended for all libraries as a handy first resource on the fascinating and strange realm of fashion.-Prudence Peiffer, Southampton, NY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.


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