The Culture of Fashion. A New History of Fashionable Dress

by Christopher Breward

This illustrated survey of 600 years of fashion investigates its cultural and social meaning from medieval Europe to twentieth-century America. Breward's work provides the reader with a clear guide to the changes in style and taste and shows that clothes have always played a pivotal role in defining a sense of identity and society, especially when concerned with sexual and body politics.

Genres: Fashion, History, Nonfiction, Art

244 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1995

About the author

Christopher Breward is Director of Collection and Research at the National Galleries of Scotland, UK and Professorial Fellow at Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh, UK.

Reviews

[Alasdair Ekpenyong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good summary of the fashion conversations being held in each century, 13th century to present. I especially enjoyed his discussion of the dialectic between tight clothes and loose clothes in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The 19th century is kind of a redux extreme of the "loose clothes" side of things, as far as woman's dress is concerned.

[Katrina Sark · Rating 1 out of 5]

p.4 – I hope to present an introductory guide to the cultural significance of fashion, from its emergence in the mid-fourteenth century to its final explosion in the mid-twentieth century that locates itself within these broader historical debates. In terms of method, each chapter incorporates a chronological narrative of changing form, using the analytical approaches pioneered by traditional art historical fashion history. This narrative is then both problematized and substantiated by an engagement with critical debates drawn mainly form recent cultural histories, but also including comment from economic, design, and art history and literary theory.

p.5 – As the main purpose of the book is to broaden the parameters of fashion history by engaging with other disciplines, the text uses direct quotations as a way of exposing the student to the possibilities and uses of a wide variety of historical discourses.

[Edie Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christopher Breward brings out some interesting points on how economics, sociology and technology influence fashion. However, “The Culture of Fashion”, written in 1995, has dated a bit in some of its theories. Not to say it isn’t worth reading, there are some great ideas but you might be better served with a more recent publication.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to read, but extremely interesting. A good summary of fashion history from the Middle Ages until the 20th century.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have just reread parts of this book (January 2017), and it is an excellent reference. I hope it is republished in a more gloriously illustrated edition - printing techniques have come a long way in 20 years! Will go back and reread more shortly. Great book.