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AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion
Anglomania, the craze for all things English, gripped Europe during the mid-to-late 18th century. As perceived by Anglophiles such as Voltaire and Montesquieu, England was a land of reason, freedom, and tolerance, a place where the Enlightenment found its greatest expression. What began as an intellectual phenomenon, however, became and has remained a matter of style. Through the lens of fashion, AngloMania examines aspects of English culture, such as class, sport, royalty, pageantry, eccentricity, the gentleman, and the country garden, which have fuelled the European and American imagination.
This beautiful book presents historical costumes juxtaposed with late 20th- and early 21st-century fashions by Hussein Chalayan, John Galliano, Stephen Jones, Shaun Leane, Alexander McQueen, Philip Treacy, and Vivienne Westwood. As with the hugely successful exhibition “Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the 18th Century” at the Metropolitan Museum, the clothing is styled as a series of thematic vignettes in the Museum’s English Period Rooms. This book comprises photographs of the installations along with text written by Andrew Bolton.
From AngloMania, we learn that Englishness is a romantic construct based on fictive and imaginary narratives. In terms of fashion, these narratives emerge as ones that are satirical, nostalgic, theatrical, and like the English weather, at once indomitable and unpredictable.
This beautiful book presents historical costumes juxtaposed with late 20th- and early 21st-century fashions by Hussein Chalayan, John Galliano, Stephen Jones, Shaun Leane, Alexander McQueen, Philip Treacy, and Vivienne Westwood. As with the hugely successful exhibition “Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the 18th Century” at the Metropolitan Museum, the clothing is styled as a series of thematic vignettes in the Museum’s English Period Rooms. This book comprises photographs of the installations along with text written by Andrew Bolton.
From AngloMania, we learn that Englishness is a romantic construct based on fictive and imaginary narratives. In terms of fashion, these narratives emerge as ones that are satirical, nostalgic, theatrical, and like the English weather, at once indomitable and unpredictable.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published January 20, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 14, 2014
I liked this a lot, in that the text provided an excellent lens through which to view the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition for which it functions as a sumptuous catalog.
Of course, such exhibitions are always best when they can stand at least partly on their own, and I'm not sure whether this one did. Unless one, as a museum-goer in 2006, was already well-versed in the subject matter.
Of course, such exhibitions are always best when they can stand at least partly on their own, and I'm not sure whether this one did. Unless one, as a museum-goer in 2006, was already well-versed in the subject matter.
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April 12, 2007i love this book, but mainly i loved the exhibition. i saw the exhibition at the MET last year and it was probably my favorite one out of a few i've seen in the costume section of the museum.
November 14, 2007
I love a Union Jack and the styling of this exhibit was sensational- Especially the men's Mohawks- The wigs will kill you too
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews