Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This lively survey of 150 years of fashion covers everything from Haute Couture to the High Street, and developing fabric technology from silk to fleece. From Coco Chanel to Armani and Alexander McQueen, Breward explores fashion as a cultural phenomenon. Breward examines the glamorous world of Vogue and advertising, the relationship between fashion and film, and fashion as a business, and goes beyond the surface to consider our interaction with fashion. How have our ideas about hygiene and comfort influenced the direction of style? How does our dress create our identity and status? Details of dandies, flappers, and punks are contained within a clear overview of the period which will make you look at your clothes in a different light.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Acknowledgements (p. 7)
• Introduction (p. 9)
• Part 1 The Production of Fashion (p. 19)
• Chapter 1 The Rise of the Designer (p. 21)
• Chapter 2 Making Clothes (p. 49)
• Chapter 3 Innovating Change (p. 63)
• Part 2 The Promotion of Fashion (p. 99)
• Chapter 4 Disseminating Desire (p. 101)
• Chapter 5 Fashion on the Page (p. 115)
• Chapter 6 Fashion and Film (p. 131)
• Chapter 7 Shopping for Style (p. 143)
• Part 3 The Wearing of Fashion (p. 157)
• Chapter 8 Style and Modernity (p. 159)
• Chapter 9 Fashion Capitals (p. 169)
• Chapter 10 Fashion and Identity (p. 217)
• Notes (p. 241)
• Further Reading (p. 249)
• Timeline (p. 256)
• Museums and Websites (p. 261)
• List of Illustrations (p. 265)
• Index (p. 269)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Breward's comprehensive and academic approach to the world of fashion in his contribution to Oxford's "History of Art" series is far removed from the vacuous, photograph-driven books that typically address this topic. Breward (London Coll. of Fashion) published the first textbook on fashion, The Culture of Fashion, in 1995. His latest effort reads like a well-curated exhibition, with sections on the history, production, design, innovation, advertising, psychology, geography, and influence of fashion. For the obsessive fashion follower, Breward provides a bibliography for further reading, a time line, and a list of museums around the world devoted to the trade, making this the ultimate portable resource on the subject and highlighting Breward's impressive research. While Fashion's prose can at times be stiffly formal, this book was designed for easy perusal and provides plenty of captivating archival photography to spice up the text. Recommended for all libraries as a handy first resource on the fascinating and strange realm of fashion.-Prudence Peiffer, Southampton, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Christopher Breward is Professor of Historical and Cultural Studies at the London College of Fashion (London Institute). In 1995, he published the first academic textbook on fashion, The Culture of Fashion, which was very well received. He has curated various exhibitions, including 2004's Capital Fashion for the Museum of London, has made appearances on radio 3 and 4 on Today, and oman's Hour, and has acted as a historical consultant for channel 4 and BBC programmes such as The Victorian House, Head to Toe, and Behind the Seams.