The Dressed Society: Clothing, the Body and Some Meanings of the World

The Dressed Society: Clothing, the Body and Some Meanings of the World
ISBN-10
1473903092
ISBN-13
9781473903098
Category
Social Science
Pages
208
Language
English
Published
2008-01-16
Publisher
SAGE
Author
Peter Corrigan

Description

It was traditionally said that 'clothes maketh the man'. But what codes and meanings are associated with dress in a society that consists of divisions between class, race, gender, family status and religion? Is social and cultural life still fundamentally themed by the clothes that we wear? If so, how should we read these codes and themes in order to decipher their relation to power and meaning? This exhaustive book demonstrates how dress shapes and is shaped by social processes and phenomena such as beauty, time, the body, the gift exchange, class, gender and religion. It does this through an analysis of topics like the Islamic clothing controversy in state schools, the multitude of identities associated with dress, the Dress Reform movement, the construction of the body in fashion magazines and the role of the internet in fashion. What emerges is a trenchant, sharply observed account of the place of dress in contemporary society. The book will be of interest to students and researchers in Sociology, Cultural Studies, Women's Studies, Gender Studies, Anthropology and Fashion Studies.

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