Why Women Wear What They Wear

by Sophie Woodward, Daniel Miller (Series Editor), Paul Gilroy (Series Editor)

Each morning we establish an image and an identity for ourselves through the simple act of getting dressed. Why Women Wear What They Wear presents an intimate ethnography of clothing choice. The book uses real women's lives and clothing decisions - observed and discussed at the moment of getting dressed - to illustrate theories of clothing, the body and identity. Woodward pieces together what women actually think about clothing, dress and the body in a world where popular media and culture presents an increasingly extreme and distorted view of femininity and the ideal body. Immediately accessible to all those who have stood in front of a mirror and wondered 'does this make me look fat?', 'is this skirt really me?' or 'does this jacket match?', Why Women Wear What They Wear provides students of anthropology and fashion with a fresh perspective on the social issues and constraints we are all consciously or unconsciously negotiating when we get dressed.

Genres: Fashion, Nonfiction

178 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2007

Reviews

[H. Givens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars for my casual/curiosity read, but if you were doing any kind of research that intersected with this topic, the book would be invaluable. It's clear, not too academically-phrased but still on a solid theoretical foundation, interesting and on-topic, and not longer than it needs to be.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Womens' relationships with clothes- fascinating case studies of several women and how and why they dress in certain things. Read and prepare to reflect on your own wardrobe. I read this mostly in my 'home clothes', sometimes pyjamas. Just so you know.

[Line Franzen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really did enjoy this book.
It concerns my area of interest and takes a clever dive into why women wear what they wear. There is a solid academically foundation yet the core content is easy to comprehend. That said, as British is not my primary language I found the first 30 pages or so rather difficult to read hence understand. But with a good dictionary I soon got an understanding of the unfamiliar words and as stated I really did enjoy the book.

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good study I read for class, covers something interesting that not many people would think about in their everyday lives. Just hard to focus on sometimes because of the academic style of writing and what felt like the same thing being said over and over.