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Masquerade and Identitiesby Tseë Efrat lon
Routledge 2001; US$ 45.95This book provides provocative and nuanced ways of thinking about masking and masquerade and shows that there is no such things as a single or 'true' identity. more...
Face of Fashionby Jennifer Craik
Routledge 1993; US$ 62.95The Face of Fashion breaks new ground in the study of fashion by establishing the relations between the codes and systems of clothing and the conduct of everyday life. It addresses men's and women's fashion and gender identity. more...
The Silk Weavers of Kyotoby Tamara K. Hareven
University of California Press 2002; US$ 28.95The makers of obi, the elegant and costly sash worn over kimono in Japan, belong to an endangered species. These families of manufacturers, weavers, and other craftspeople centered in the Nishijin weaving district of Kyoto have practiced their demanding craft for generations. In recent decades, however, as a result of declining markets for kimono, they find their livelihood and pride harder to sustain. This book is a poignant exploration of a vanishing world. Tamara Hareven integrates historical research with intensive life history interviews to reveal the relationships among family, work, and community in this highly specialized occupation. Hareven uses her knowledge of textile workers' lives in the United States and Western Europe to show... more...
Fashioning the Body Politicby Wendy Parkins
Berg Publishers 2002; US$ 109.95With an afterword by Roger Griffin. Fashion is often thought of as a matter of personal taste, completely unconnected with the public domain of political life and citizenship. Overturning this perspective, this absorbing book reveals that, from the Fre nch Revolution to post-revolutionary China, fashion has played a significant role in political participation and protest. Fashioning the Body Politic challenges the perception of helpless fashion victims, subject to manipulation by consumerism and the fas hion industry, and shows how, in a range of historical and national contexts, certain styles of dress and display were significant for both men and women's political participation and the formation of their identities as citizens. How did... more...
The Global Circulation of African Fashionby Leslie W. Rabine
Berg Publishers 2002; US$ 109.95Transnational movements of people, cultural objects, images and identities have played a vital role in creating an informal global network for African fashion - from clothing designers and tailors to dyers and jewellery makers. This book traces the c hanging meanings, aesthetics and histories of the thriving informal African fashion network through its multicultural cross-roads of Los Angeles, Kenya and Senegal. In African communities, designers compete with each other to survive and often t ravel long distances in search of new markets. Such competition and bridging of cultures fuels creativity and innovation. From adapting western fashion magazines to combining ?ethnic? designs with dramatic new colours and techniques, artisans weave a... more...
Fashion Classics from Carlyle to Barthesby Michael Carter
Berg Publishers 2003; US$ 104.95With so much focus on contemporary theory, it is easy to forget that the serious analysis of clothing and fashion has a long history. In fact, they have been the subject of intense cultural debate since the nineteenth century. Fashion Classics provid es an interpretative overview of the groundbreaking and often idiosyncratic writings of eight theorists whose work has profoundly influenced the conceptual and theoretical basis of our contemporary understanding of clothes and the fashion system. Car ter fully revives early fashion theorists -- some canonical and others less well known -- and examines them in light of more recent work. From Carlyles fantastical character Professor Teufelsdrockh, through the first Freudian analysis of clothes by... more...
The Clothed Bodyby Patrizia Calefato
Berg Publishers 2004; US$ 109.95Dress is everywhere imbued with symbols that reflect different meanings in different contexts. This compelling book convincingly demonstrates how clothing is analogous to a working language and is similarly underpinned by deeper meanings and philosop hies. From tattoos and mini-skirts, to skin decoration, makeup and hair, Calefato unpicks the multiple functions of modern dress. Exploring intriguing commonalities - for example, between tattooed Egyptian mummies of 2000 BC and modern subcultural st yles - Calefato considers the psychological, cultural, spiritual and symbolic significances at play in what she aptly labels 'body cartography'. What we wear is a vehicle for the (often contentious) expression of politics, gender and identity, placin... more...
Arab dressby Y.K. Stillman; N.A. Stillman
BRILL 2003; US$ 181.00A scholar of history, Near Eastern languages, and women's studies (U. of Oklahoma), Yedida (1946-98) was considered an expert on the history of clothing of the Arab world, both Muslim and Jewish, from medieval to modern times. This book was over three-quarters finished when she died, and her partner and collaborator Norman (history, U. of Oklahoma) more...
Bodywork - Dress as Cultural Toolby Janet Andrewes
BRILL 2004; US$ 85.00This book describes how style of dress influences the body?s demeanour and habit. In describing dress practices in three West African communities - Muslim, Animist and Christian ? it considers the role played by dress in the enculturation of the body. more...
Fashion, Work, and Politics in Modern Franceby Steven Zdatny
Palgrave Macmillan 2006; US$ 90.00The twentieth century brought fashion to the masses, as consumption spilled over its traditional social boundaries and individuals began to define themselves by what they bought and how they looked. The hairdressing profession provides a perspective on the evolution of mass consumer society in this era. more...









