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onlyonebookshelf's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Transphobia
Minor: Slavery
jamieterv's review against another edition
slow-paced
2.0
2 stars. I really wanted to like this book but the author is so unnecessarily superfluous and verbose that this was 8 hours longer than it needed to be and read like a technical instruction manual. Maybe that was their intent to create a text book on the role fashion has played in human history and in todays socioeconomic systems? Regardless, it was a slog despite the interesting subject matter.
catbooking's review against another edition
5.0
This was perfect for my exhausted by the ever more depressing headlines brain. It wasn't all useless information tidbits you could impress friends and strangers alike with, there was actual historical information and well balanced commentary on social problems.
Added bonus was a list of other authors to check out. It is always a win in my book when I walk away with more books on my TBR than when I started.
Added bonus was a list of other authors to check out. It is always a win in my book when I walk away with more books on my TBR than when I started.
iothemoon's review
5.0
This book was an engrossing read and has sparked a number of interesting debates in my immediate circle. This book is about society rather style. This is one of the few places that discusses the intersection of race and gender relations with clothing.
It discusses the causes behind phenomena that have long seemed mysterious to me - like, for instance, why is women's fashion so different in variety, conspicuousness and cost than men's fashion? Did you know that dressmaking and fashion was exclusively a male profession in the past? So, how did it become associated with women - and vacuity? This book tells the historic context for those transitions.
There is a thought-provoking section about the fashion context of the civil rights movement. The author offers his opinion in an even-keeled manner. As a woman in a male-dominated academic discipline, I was grateful for this book's perspective on women's fashion and its clash with the culture of dressing-down in academia and tech. It's been a couple of weeks since I finished this book, and it still feels like I'm reading it because it's on my mind.
It discusses the causes behind phenomena that have long seemed mysterious to me - like, for instance, why is women's fashion so different in variety, conspicuousness and cost than men's fashion? Did you know that dressmaking and fashion was exclusively a male profession in the past? So, how did it become associated with women - and vacuity? This book tells the historic context for those transitions.
There is a thought-provoking section about the fashion context of the civil rights movement. The author offers his opinion in an even-keeled manner. As a woman in a male-dominated academic discipline, I was grateful for this book's perspective on women's fashion and its clash with the culture of dressing-down in academia and tech. It's been a couple of weeks since I finished this book, and it still feels like I'm reading it because it's on my mind.