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Анатомия моды. Манера одеваться от эпохи Возрождения до наших дней
На страницах блестящего исследования профессора Йоркского университета Сьюзан Дж.Винсент "Анатомия моды: манера одеваться от эпохи Возрождения до наших дней" представлена подробная анатомическая карта истории костюма, где каждая глава посвящена определенной части тела, начиная с головы и шеи и заканчивая гениталиями и ногами. Внимательно рассматривая телесные зоны, автор прослеживает функции костюма, который в разные эпохи был призван подчеркивать или, напротив, игнорировать те или иные части человеческого тела. Монография Винсент представляет своего рода историю культуры в миниатюре, наглядно демонстрируя, как разные поколения моделируют тело с помощью одежды.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 20, 2021
Despite the wide diversity in size among sexes, we still rely on a traditional idea of a male and female silhouette. These shapes are not innate, they are the product of fashion design. Fashion historian Susan J. Vincent reminds us that clothes not only cover the body, they shape it. Historically, garments have been used to “smooth and redistribute flesh” in order to create desirable forms (59). Developments in 19th century fashion allowed designers to standardize an ideal and contrasting aesthetic for women and men. Individual variance in bodies was sacrificed in the creation of gender stereotypes: femininity as fantastical and masculinity as heroic.
No device is more notable in this regard than the corset. The first corsets appeared in England in the 16th century as an elite garment for women known as a “pair of bodies.” They were typically sewn from quilted fabric with whalebone inserted to make them rigid (38). By the 18th century they were “universally worn by women of every age and in every class, rich, and poor alike” (38). Women wore corsets everywhere including laboring in fields and factories.
By the 19th century manufactures began to mass produce corsets. Steel replaced whalebone and metal eyelets made threading the corset easier, meaning that corsets could be pulled tighter. to reinforce the corset. What the mass-production of corsets meant was that the garment “no longer took its dimensions from a specific wearer, but rather the reverse” (42). This meant that manufacturers could pre-determine the ideal shape of a woman – and that the onus was on women to fit into it. The corset became a symbol of national pride, a marker of industrialization, modernity, and innovation. Corseting became less of a choice, more of a national imperative.
Crinolines were also used to shape women’s anatomies and role in society. Crinolines are structured petticoats designed to hold out a skirt originally made out of whalebone, silk, and gauze. In 1853 the Ladies Cabinet reported that skirts were becoming wider and wider and that if this trend continued “reception rooms must either increase their dimensions, or hostesses limit their invitations” (77). Nonetheless many Victorian women still travelled on trains and went to work in factories wearing them. Even though they may not have restricted mobility, they certainly impacted women’s legitimacy. In the pages of the press women were depicted as “victims of fashion and folly” (93) and would often ridicule women who caught fire in their crinolines, blaming them for “suicide by crinoline” (93).
Men’s bodies were also shaped by garments into society’ ideal form. Men had the doublet – a tight fitting jacket that covered a man’s upper body. The doublet was inspired by “contemporary plate armor” and articulated the anatomy in a “sharp-edge presentation” (48). By the 19th century, men’s fashion became defined by military dress uniform with its “extremes of rigidity and display” and in fact corseting was “frequently undertaken to preserve stiff perfection” (53). Inspired by Greek sculpture, the goal for male fashion designers was to bring the “perfection of cold marble” to life (55). Bespoke tailors began an orchestrated project to “redefine ordinary flesh according to the heroic ideal” (55).
This was only possible by innovations in tailoring during this time including the invention of underpins and the measuring tape in 1818. Prior to the measuring tape, tailors had to use strips of parchment (one per client) with notches to indicate measures. With standardized tapes, tailors could “cut cloth and mold it to the body so that it fitted like a second skin” (55). Tailors began to use stitched padding (set between the lining and outer fabric) to define the chest, elaborate the shoulders, and create erect posture. Even the design of small armholes set far back made the wearer “draw back his shoulders and throw out his chest” (56).
In the 19th century the visual contrasts between masculine and feminine silhouettes were used to justify the division of society on gender lines and the restriction of women’s rights Men were allowed to be seen as rational and autonomous, whereas women were dismissed as self-indulgent, dependent, and foolish. We are still informed by this legacy of defining gender by fashion. Look at our bathroom signs: the default body is depicted as male and the female body through a dress.
No device is more notable in this regard than the corset. The first corsets appeared in England in the 16th century as an elite garment for women known as a “pair of bodies.” They were typically sewn from quilted fabric with whalebone inserted to make them rigid (38). By the 18th century they were “universally worn by women of every age and in every class, rich, and poor alike” (38). Women wore corsets everywhere including laboring in fields and factories.
By the 19th century manufactures began to mass produce corsets. Steel replaced whalebone and metal eyelets made threading the corset easier, meaning that corsets could be pulled tighter. to reinforce the corset. What the mass-production of corsets meant was that the garment “no longer took its dimensions from a specific wearer, but rather the reverse” (42). This meant that manufacturers could pre-determine the ideal shape of a woman – and that the onus was on women to fit into it. The corset became a symbol of national pride, a marker of industrialization, modernity, and innovation. Corseting became less of a choice, more of a national imperative.
Crinolines were also used to shape women’s anatomies and role in society. Crinolines are structured petticoats designed to hold out a skirt originally made out of whalebone, silk, and gauze. In 1853 the Ladies Cabinet reported that skirts were becoming wider and wider and that if this trend continued “reception rooms must either increase their dimensions, or hostesses limit their invitations” (77). Nonetheless many Victorian women still travelled on trains and went to work in factories wearing them. Even though they may not have restricted mobility, they certainly impacted women’s legitimacy. In the pages of the press women were depicted as “victims of fashion and folly” (93) and would often ridicule women who caught fire in their crinolines, blaming them for “suicide by crinoline” (93).
Men’s bodies were also shaped by garments into society’ ideal form. Men had the doublet – a tight fitting jacket that covered a man’s upper body. The doublet was inspired by “contemporary plate armor” and articulated the anatomy in a “sharp-edge presentation” (48). By the 19th century, men’s fashion became defined by military dress uniform with its “extremes of rigidity and display” and in fact corseting was “frequently undertaken to preserve stiff perfection” (53). Inspired by Greek sculpture, the goal for male fashion designers was to bring the “perfection of cold marble” to life (55). Bespoke tailors began an orchestrated project to “redefine ordinary flesh according to the heroic ideal” (55).
This was only possible by innovations in tailoring during this time including the invention of underpins and the measuring tape in 1818. Prior to the measuring tape, tailors had to use strips of parchment (one per client) with notches to indicate measures. With standardized tapes, tailors could “cut cloth and mold it to the body so that it fitted like a second skin” (55). Tailors began to use stitched padding (set between the lining and outer fabric) to define the chest, elaborate the shoulders, and create erect posture. Even the design of small armholes set far back made the wearer “draw back his shoulders and throw out his chest” (56).
In the 19th century the visual contrasts between masculine and feminine silhouettes were used to justify the division of society on gender lines and the restriction of women’s rights Men were allowed to be seen as rational and autonomous, whereas women were dismissed as self-indulgent, dependent, and foolish. We are still informed by this legacy of defining gender by fashion. Look at our bathroom signs: the default body is depicted as male and the female body through a dress.
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December 16, 2010It’s rare for fashion to receive the same analysis and critique as the art, music, or literature of an era. Susan J. Vincent points out that unlike other art forms, when we discuss clothing it is often in a way that “renders its wearers somehow less intelligent, less rational, less sexy, less like us.” Instead of presenting past fashions as ignorant or laughable, Vincent puts them in a historical context so we can see the purpose each piece of clothing served in its time (even if that purpose was simple vanity in some instances). No body part is excluded in Vincent’s analysis, with chapters broken down by head and neck, breasts and waist, hips and bottom, genitals and legs, and concluding with skin. The research is thorough, for she draws material from old diaries, quotes from historical magazines and journals, and period drawings and cartoons, with each example helping to normalize the clothing of different time periods. With a fuller understanding of why clothing and accessories were worn, or why certain products were used, this book helps us scrutinize our own practices in a way that makes our ancestors in powdered wigs, tight corsets, and hooped skirts seem not unlike ourselves. (reviewed by Jaclyn Irvine)
February 14, 2021
Эклектичный обзор истории моды Англии с XVI века до наших дней. Материал структурирован по частям тела - с головы до ног. При этом внутри разделов царит по большей части хаос, случайно выбранные предметы одежды рассматриваются с разной степенью детализации.
Больше всего не хватает анализа связей изменений моды с культурой, религией, политикой, промышленностью. Фактически все изменения модных веяний были связаны с изменениями в перечисленных сферах жизни, но автору, видимо, это не интересно, и она ограничивается такими фразами "гульфики вышли из моды в 1600 году". Точка.
Больше всего не хватает анализа связей изменений моды с культурой, религией, политикой, промышленностью. Фактически все изменения модных веяний были связаны с изменениями в перечисленных сферах жизни, но автору, видимо, это не интересно, и она ограничивается такими фразами "гульфики вышли из моды в 1600 году". Точка.
August 24, 2021
I enjoyed, good survey of popular trends of the subtitled time period focusing on the upperclasses. Great discussion of how clothing trends shaped the body into the accepted silhouetteamd, where appropriate, health hazards. The last section of book covers the author's idea that style is such, and so much body exposed, clothes no longer make the silhouette, plastic surgery does. Good notes and bibliography.
August 15, 2023
An interesting read!
The last chapter in particular takes on the challenge of gaining perspective on the present, noting that instead of having our bodies shaped by what we're wearing (as in the corseted past), it is increasingly common to alter the body itself, often by surgical means.
The last chapter in particular takes on the challenge of gaining perspective on the present, noting that instead of having our bodies shaped by what we're wearing (as in the corseted past), it is increasingly common to alter the body itself, often by surgical means.
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June 15, 2018Dealing almost exclusively with British fashion. Follows transformations of details of costumes and fashionable silhouettes beginning with those of Elizabethan era. Most important facts:
1) male outfits were just as regulated as female ones, with the athletic"Greek" ideal being relatively new;
2) up to a certain point female legs were not to be seen and it was men who were preoccupied with shapeliness of their legs;
3) crinolines made women accident-prone, especially since some factory women wore them;
4) until quite recently clothing was designed to create the fashionable body (e.g. with hoops), while now the body "has" to be perfect on its own;
5) the fact that pre-20 century people used to cover most of their skin (even masks in England) does not mean their look had nothing to do with sensuality (swaying, rustling, etc);
(6) (questionable) plastic surgery is the new fashion?
1) male outfits were just as regulated as female ones, with the athletic"Greek" ideal being relatively new;
2) up to a certain point female legs were not to be seen and it was men who were preoccupied with shapeliness of their legs;
3) crinolines made women accident-prone, especially since some factory women wore them;
4) until quite recently clothing was designed to create the fashionable body (e.g. with hoops), while now the body "has" to be perfect on its own;
5) the fact that pre-20 century people used to cover most of their skin (even masks in England) does not mean their look had nothing to do with sensuality (swaying, rustling, etc);
(6) (questionable) plastic surgery is the new fashion?
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews