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Reading Fashion in Art

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( 40 ratings, 9 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Reading Fashion in Art unpacks the significance of dress and fashion within the visual arts, revealing how clothing conveys cultural beliefs and identities across history. The book presents a clear, step-by-step guide for analysing dress in artworks such as paintings, photographs, and installations. Its first section introduces visual analysis techniques and offers checklists for interpreting fashion, while the second uses case studies to explore themes including status, identity, beauty ideals, gender, race, and politics. Featuring iconic and diverse artists like Elisabeth Vigรฉe Le Brun, Marcel Duchamp, and Yinka Shonibare, this accessible volume equips readers with tools to critically examine art through the lens of dress.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$5499
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is ideal for fashion students entering art history, art history students studying dress, and any gallery visitor wishing to deepen their understanding of fashion's cultural narratives within artworks.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Shortlisted for the CSA Millia Davenport Publication Award, 2021
Listed as one of The Five Most Essential Books about Art and Fashion, ArtNews, 2023

Dress and fashion are central to our understanding of art. From the stylisation of the body to subtle textile embellishments and richly symbolic colours, dress tells a story and provides clues as to the cultural beliefs of the time in which artworks were produced. This concise and accessible book provides a step-by-step guide to analysing dress in art, including paintings, photographs, drawings, and art installations.

The first section of the book includes an introduction to visual analysis and explains how to โ€˜readโ€™ fashion and dress in an artwork using the checklists. The second section offers case studies which demonstrate how artworks can be analysed from the point of view of key themes including status and identity, modernity, ideals of beauty, gender, race, globalisation, and politics. The book includes iconic as well as lesser-known works of art, including work by Elisabeth Vigรฉe le Brun, Thomas Gainsborough, James Jacques Tissot, Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray, Yinka Shonibare, Mickalene Thomas, Kent Monkman, and many others.

Reading Fashion in Art is the perfect text for students of fashion coming to art history for the first time as well as art history students studying dress in art and will be an essential handbook for any gallery visitor. The step-by-step methodology helps the reader learn to look at any work of art that includes the dressed or undressed body and confidently develop a critical analysis of what they see.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Praised as an invaluable resource for both fashion and art history students, this book encourages deeper analysis beyond mere description. The Journal of Dress History highlights its usefulness even for those new to fashion history, helping build confidence in interpreting clothing in art. Recognised by ArtNews as one of the five most essential books on art and fashion, it is commended for providing a practical, thorough approach to analysing dress in visual arts. The Journal of the Costume Society of America calls it a fantastic tool for understanding the critical role of dress knowledge in art interpretation.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781350032705

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 17 September 2020

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Bloomsbury Visual Arts

Illustration: 74 color illus

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 12.0mm

Width: 188.0mm

Height: 246.0mm

Weight: 620g

Pages: 224

About the Author

Ingrid E. Mida (PhD, Art History & Visual Culture) is an art and dress historian. Responsible for the revival of the Ryerson Fashion Research Collection in Canada, Dr. Mida is the author of books, chapters, and articles on fashion and art, research methods in fashion and art history, curatorial practice, and museum studies.

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