A Cultural History of Dress and Fashion in the Medieval Age 2

First published 2017. Reprinted 2018. During the medieval period, people invested heavily in looking good. The finest fashions demanded careful chemistry and compounds imported from great distances and at considerable risk to merchants; the Church became a major consumer of both the richest and humblest varieties of cloth, shoes, and adornment; and vernacular poets began to embroider their stories with hundreds of verses describing a plethora of dress styles, fabrics, and shopping experiences. Drawing on a wealth of pictorial, textual and object sources, the volume examines how dress cultures developed – often to a degree of dazzling sophistication – between the years 800 to 1450. Beautifully illustrated with 100 images, 'A Cultural History of Dress and Fashion in the Medieval Age' presents an overview of the period with essays on textiles, production and distribution, the body, belief, gender and sexuality, status, ethnicity, visual representations, and literary representations. A cultural history of dress and fashion' presents an authoritative survey from ancient times to the present. This set of six volumes covers over 2,500 years of dress and fashion. Volume 1: Antiquity (500BCE-800AD) / edited by Mary Harlow -- Volume 2: The Medieval Age (800-1450) / edited by Sarah-Grace Heller -- Volume 3: The Renaissance (1450-1650) / edited by Elizabeth Currie-- Volume 4: The Age of Enlightenment (1650-1800) / edited by Peter McNeil -- Volume 5: In the Age of Empire (1800-1920) / edited by Denise Amy Baxter -- Volume 6: The Modern Age (1920-2000+) / edited by Alexandra Palmer. Each volume discusses the same key themes in its chapters: 1. Textiles 2. Production and Distribution 3. The Body 4. Belief 5. Gender and Sexuality 6. Status 7. Ethnicity 8. Visual Representations 9. Literary Representations. This structure means readers can either have a broad overview of a period by reading a volume or follow a theme through history by reading the relevant chapter in each volume. Superbly illustrated, the full six volume set combines to present the most authoritative and comprehensive survey available on dress and fashion through history "Over the last century there has been a complete transformation of the fashion system. The unitary top-down fashion cycle has been replaced by the pulsations of multiple and simultaneous styles, while the speed of global production and circulation has become ever faster and more complex. Running in tandem, the development of artificial fibres has revolutionized the composition of clothing, and the increased focus on youth, sexuality, and the body has radically changed its design. From the 1920s flapper dress to debates over the burkini, fashion has continued to be deeply involved in society's larger issues. Drawing on a wealth of visual, textual and object sources and illustrated with 100 images, A Cultural History of Dress and Fashion in the Modern Age presents essays on textiles, production and distribution, the body, belief, gender and sexuality, status, ethnicity, and visual and literary representations to illustrate the diversity and cultural significance of dress and fashion in the period."--Bloomsbury Publishing "During the medieval period, people invested heavily in looking good. The finest fashions demanded careful chemistry and compounds imported from great distances and at considerable risk to merchants; the Church became a major consumer of both the richest and humblest varieties of cloth, shoes, and adornment; and vernacular poets began to embroider their stories with hundreds of verses describing a plethora of dress styles, fabrics, and shopping experiences. Drawing on a wealth of pictorial, textual, and object sources, the volume examines how dress cultures developed - often to a degree of dazzling sophistication - between the years AD 800 to AD 1450." -- Back cover. "A Cultural History of Dress and Fashion presents an authoritative survey from ancient times to the present. This set of six volumes covers over 2,500 years of dress and fashion. Each volume discusses the same key themes in its chapters. This structure means readers can either have a broad overview of a period by reading a volume or follow a theme through history by reading the relevant chapter in each volume. Superbly illustrated, the full six-volume set combines to present the most authoritative and comprehensive survey available on dress and fashion through history." -- Provided by publisher. List of Illustrations ix Introduction / Sarah-Grace Heller 1 1. Textiles / Elizabeth Coatsworth and Gale R. Owen-Crocker 11 2. Production and Distribution / Eva Andersson Strand and Sarah-Grace Heller 29 3. The Body / Guillemette Bolens and Sarah Brazil 53 4. Belief / Andrea Denny-Brown 71 5. Gender and Sexuality / E. Jane Burns 87 6. Status / Laurel Ann Wilson 107 7. Ethnicity / Michèle Hayeur Smith 125 8. Visual Representations / Désirée Koslin 141 9. Literary Representations / Monica L. Wright 159 Notes 173 Bibliography 201 Notes on Contributors 225 Index 227