Joanne Entwistle Knihy

This book provides a comprehensive overview of fashion and dress from historical and sociological perspectives. Once considered marginal, fashion is now central to economic discussions about 'cultural' and 'creative' work as key drivers of developed economies. The second edition includes a new preface and updated material on the evolving fashion industry, summarizing theories regarding fashion's role in modern society. It explores how fashion is vital in shaping modern identity through its expression of the body, gender, and sexuality. The author synthesizes literature on fashion and dress with the sociology of the body, offering an updated critique of issues from the first edition. The text emphasizes that understanding fashion requires recognizing the meanings attributed to the body within culture, as the body is the canvas for fashion in nearly all social interactions. While fashion originates from a specific Western system of dress, the book argues that all cultures engage in 'dressing' the body, highlighting its significance in social order. Drawing on various theorists, it provides insights into the connections between the body, fashion, and dress, making it an invaluable resource for those interested in the social role of fashion in contemporary culture.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of fashion and dress from historical and sociological perspectives. It summarizes theories regarding the role of fashion in modern society and its vital contribution to the formation of identity through the lens of body, gender, and sexuality. By examining fashion in relation to the body, it bridges the gap between literature on fashion, which often overlooks the body, and the sociology of the body, which tends to marginalize fashion. The author emphasizes that understanding fashion requires recognizing the cultural meanings associated with the body, as fashion communicates through the body in nearly all social contexts. While fashion originates from a specific Western system of dress, the book argues that all cultures engage in 'dressing' the body, making it essential to social order. Drawing on the works of theorists like Douglas, Foucault, Merleau-Ponty, Goffman, and Bourdieu, it explores the connections between body, fashion, and dress, advocating for a view of fashion as 'situated bodily practice.' This resource is invaluable for students and academics interested in the social dimensions of fashion and dress, as well as those in consumption studies, cultural studies, gender studies, and feminist theory.