The study of fashion has exploded in recent decades, yet what this all means or quite where it might take us is not clear. This new book helps to bring fashion into focus, with a comprehensive guide to the key theories, perspectives and developments in the field.
Tim Edwards includes coverage of all the major theories of fashion, including recent scholarship, alongside subcultural analysis and an in-depth look at production. Individual topics include:
- men’s fashion, masculinity and the suit
- women’s fashion and the role of sexuality
- children, the body and fashion
- the role of celebrity and designer label culture
- globalisation and the production of fashion.
Fashion in Focus is the ideal companion for students in the arts and social sciences, especially those studying issues such as fashion, gender, sexuality and consumer culture.
1. Fashion Foundations 2. The Classical Tradition – Early Perspectives on Fashion 3. The Clothes Maketh The Man – Masculinity, The Suit and Men’s Fashion 4. The Woman Question: Fashion, Feminism and Fetishism 5. Who Are You Kidding? Children, Fashion and Consumption 6. Express Yourself – The Politics of Dressing Up 7. From Rags to Riches – Fashion Production 8. Desiring Subjects – The Designer Label and the Cult of Celebrity. Conclusion: The Fashion Invasion
Biography
Tim Edwards is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Leicester. He has published and researched widely in the areas of masculinities, sexuality, fashion and consumer culture. He is the author of Cultures of Masculinity (2006).
"This book will form a most valuable addition to the existing literature & will be very, very useful for those of us who teach Cultural Studies to large numbers of fashion students. Tim Edwards has the rare ability to render complex ideas accessible, and he writes beautifully [...] his books are a pleasure to read." - Pamela Church Gibson, London College of Fashion
"The book provides a useful and concise summary of the main sociological traditions of fashion studies…it addresses and advances some hitherto neglected areas of fashion studies, including the nature and role of masculinity in fashion and non-marxist approaches to production and consumption." - Malcolm Barnard, Loughborough University
