Dress History Now: Terms, Themes and Tools

Dress history has come of age. Too long ignored, overlooked, and even denigrated, the study of dress is now thriving. Today, scholars from disciplines ranging from anthropology to media studies engage with clothing and its meanings. There remains, however, much to be done, particularly in the investigation of the dress of those who have been marginalized due to ethnicity, geography, gender or social position, or simply because they did or do not fit neatly into pre-existing categories. Dress History: New Directions in Method and Practice brings to light these untold stories. Through original research and innovative case studies, we argue that dress is a fundamental means, indeed sometimes one of the only available ways, by which groups and individuals express and negotiate their identities. The chapters in this volume, while spread across four centuries and a broad range of global locations, are united in their close focus on objects and images of dress and by the ground-breaking research that underpins them. As such, in its showcase of the latest research from around the world, this volume shows how to do cutting-edge dress history.