Johnson K.K.P., Torntore S.J., Eicher J.B. (Eds.) Fashion Foundations: Early Writings on Fashion and Dress

Berg, Oxford, 2003. — 167 p. — ISBN: 1-85973-614-9 (Cloth), 1 85973 619 X (Paper).Fashion exists in many areas of life, not only in the way we dress, but also in many other areas such as food, home furnishings, and even our ways of thinking. Most often, however, dress becomes the focus when fashion arises as a topic of discussion, and the discussion frequently centers on clothing. Our view and definition of dress is one that is a more encompassing concept than focusing on clothing alone. Dressing the body includes many acts and products that serve as a nonverbal communication system. As we dress the body, we manipulate, modify, and supplement it with a wide range of products and artifacts. These acts and products allow us a means to present ourselves to others through the development of personal, social, and cultural identities.As scholars involved in writing and teaching about the topic of fashion in dress, we found that current writers – whether scholars, students, or journalists – believe that interest in fashion is a recent one. Some imply that they have discovered fashion’s importance. The excerpts in this book illustrate, along with the appended bibliography, that the study of fashion and dress has been and still is widely conducted by individuals reflecting many disciplines.Consequently, in organizing and selecting excerpts for this book, we illustrate that 1) the study of dress and study of fashion have been of long interest and 2) authors associated with a variety of disciplines seek to understand the phenomenon of fashion in dress. Our selected articles come from English-language sources highlighting concepts that continue to have relevance to readers in the twenty-first century. Our selections have dress or fashion or both as a primary focus for analysis or argument.