Product Details
Paperback: 232 pages
Publisher: Polity; 1 edition (July 8, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0745631878
ISBN-13: 978-0745631875
In virtually all the countries of the world, men, and to a lesser extent women, are today dressed in very similar clothing. This book gives a compelling account and analysis of the process by which this has come about. At the same time it takes seriously those places where, for whatever reason, this process has not occurred, or has been reversed, and provides explanations for these developments.
The first part of this story recounts how the cultural, political and economic power of Europe and, from the later nineteenth century North America, has provided an impetus for the adoption of whatever was at that time standard Western dress. Set against this, Robert Ross shows how the adoption of European style dress, or its rejection, has always been a political act, performed most frequently in order to claim equality with colonial masters, more often a male option, or to stress distinction from them, which women, perhaps under male duress, more frequently did.
The book takes a refreshing global perspective to its subject, with all continents and many countries being discussed. It investigates not merely the symbolic and message-bearing aspects of clothing, but also practical matters of production and, equally importantly, distribution.
4/5 Intriguing read so far
By R. Downes on January 25, 2013
I haven't finished it yet, but it's been very enlightening so far. Clothes are used by the conquerors to help subjugate the conquered. It explains why the Western Europeans were so successful in spreading their standards of dress to much of the world.
I believe that this book will teach its readers about the distribution of clothing and fashion style throughout the world while maintaining a large portion of the novel to enlighten the readers about the effects on society clothing had.
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