Clothing: A Global HistoryISBN: 978-0-7456-3187-5
Paperback
232 pages
July 2008, Polity
This is a Print-on-Demand title. It will be printed specifically to fill your order. Please allow an additional 10-15 days delivery time. The book is not returnable.
Other Available Formats: Hardcover
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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.