07 Historic Costume/Textiles

07.1 Social & Psychological Influences

Craik, J. (1994). The Face of Fashion. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-05261-0, 249 PAGES, $9.95.

Reviewed by Carol Anne Dickson, University of Hawaii

Something for nearly everyone can be found in this information packed volume. It will have the greatest appeal for those of us interested in the interdisciplinary aspects of historic costume relative to cultural and sociological factors. While Craik draws quite heavily on the research and writing of others, she approaches the facets of fashion with creativity, blending the findings that support her thesis that clothing and wearer are interacting reflection of each other.
Craik initiates her exploration of fashion stating that "The starting point of this book is the dissolution and reconstitution of the term fashion" (p.2). Craik demonstrates particular interest in describing how clothes express the person or the body and how the person or body has an impact on the effect of clothing. Issues of femininity and feminism relative to the use of clothing are explored in greater detail than I have seen recently in other works. The author's statements regarding the relationship of revelation and concealment is intriguing if somewhat enigmatic at times. Some of the ideas regarding fashion systems and their complexity might provide fertile fields for future exploration with quantitative and qualitative methods.
Of particular interest is Craik's chapter addressing the impact of fashion photography on fashion, and the impact of fashion on the art and technique of fashion photography. The dynamic synergy of the two is portrayed as turbulent and, often contentious. For the reader, the portrayal is intriguing, perhaps even titillating. New technology in visual imaging promises increased drama in the fashion and fashion photography relationship-another fertile field for research.
There is little that is new in Craik's thematic discussions of femininity and the part clothing and fashion have played in the molding of women and their roles in society. Craik's discussion of men's clothing and issues of masculinity are also well known. In these areas, Craik does blend and synthesize the work of contemporary scholars with that of some of the old masters.
The great disappointment in the book is that Craik fails to follow through on her implied promise to explore the nature of fashion in non-western and non-capitalistic cultures. She states, "The Face of Fashion rejects the argument that the term, 'fashion' refers exclusively to clothing behavior in capitalistic economies…" (p.5). Perhaps Craik found that fashion is less important than she thought in these cultures. She lists (p.6) the names of over 25 scholars who have written about various aspects of clothing relative to art, psychology, sociology, and consumerism in a seeming effort to support her assertion, but none of the authors she cited has focused on the dress in non-western or non-capitalistic cultures. There is little in Craik's book which addressed fashion in these cultures and how it might differ, if it does, from fashion in western or capitalist cultures.
The inclusive and pedantic nature of the book makes reading slow. This is a book that will be appreciated by graduate students and other scholars from diverse disciplines.

Hollander, A. (1994). Sex and Suits. New York: Alfred
Knoff, ISBN 0-679-43096-2, 212 pages, $25.00.

Reviewed by Carol Anne Dickson, University of Hawaii

Though not a scholarly work, Sex and Suits is entertaining, and informative. Additionally, it stimulates some thoughtful questions about the evolution of the clothing of men and women during the last three centuries and forecasts the future direction of fashion for men and women. Hollander's book focuses entirely on Western dress and its development for men and women. She insists that we look at the history of dress in the context of the history of art.
As promised in the title, special emphasis is given to suits, primarily men's suits. Hollander traces the development of modern men's suits from "some sort of loose fitting buttoned coat" (p. 63) of the late 17th century. The refinement of the suit is discussed as surface ornamentation decreased, design lines were simplified, and shaping was used to emphasize some aspects of the male body and de-emphasize others. The result, according to Hollander, was a costume that was functional, elegant in its simplicity and suggested "invincible physical aplomb, including sexual" (p. 100).
Also, as promised in the title, Hollander gives special emphasis to male sexuality relative to suits. She states that the modern suit has survived because it has "kept its ability to make that nude suggestion" (p. 113).
Hollander indicates that the stability and staying power of the suit has given implied power and stability to the men who wear it. There are strong implications that women's clothing, on the other hand, lacks stability and that the people who wear "women's" clothes are seen as not stable, not dependable, not powerful. There is also the implication that if women would wear suits, or some other conservative and stable garment, at least for business, they would be perceived as being more stable, dependable, powerful-and even more sexy. Hollander makes a strong case for her assertion that the very uniformity of male dress makes their individual attributes and personalities more significant and more important.
"Gross failures of visual taste" (p. 119) are more easily avoided by men, contends the author. Because the suit is so well defined, and because tailors play a substantial role in the continuing refinement of suits, men seldom make the mistakes in dress that women do. According to the author, precisely because women's choices in fashion are both broad and deep, women often make vulgar mistakes in dressing.
Hollander's thesis that suits are superior looking garments includes many factors. Her art history training can be seen in her desiccation of the modern male suit in juxtaposition with women's fashions relative to perceptions of maturity, risk taking, the tailor as craftsperson, fantasy and reality, decoration and simplicity, triviality and frivolity versus seriousness and decisiveness.
Hollander looks briefly at future fashion possibilities for men and women. What she sees is increased androgyny, less formality, and increased concern for comfort.

Martin, R., & Koda, H. (1993). Infra-apparel. New York: Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-6430-9, 132 pages, $ 34.95.

Reviewed by Katherine Cleaver, Ryerson Polytechnic U., Toronto

Infra-apparel is one of a number of books written by Richard Martin and Harold Koda in conjunction with exhibits they have curated, previously at the Fashion Institute of Technology and currently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The books are long on gorgeous photos and short on text. (Infra-apparel contains 5 short chapters of about 5 pages each plus an annotated description of each illustration used in the book.) Richard Martin is a master at relating relatively conventional thoughts in convoluted postmodern jargon that needs at least two readings per sentence; you can salivate over the great photos while you inch your way through the text.
The authors begin by defining their term, Infra-apparel (not to their complete satisfaction) and struggle with what they are attempting to do: show "structure disclosed, inside appearing on the outside, or externalization as a function of familiarity." They describe the popularization of "lingerie" dress in the mid-eighteenth century, and progress to the tea gowns and Fortuny dresses of the early twentieth century. They also note the role of Art (read painting) in this popularization, from the portraiture of the aristocracy "en deshabille" to the languid lounging ladies of Monet and Degas.
Fashion's current revival of the corset as outerwear is assessed thus: "irony and clever intelligence are the operative modes under which the corset has been reinstated." They argue that the current use of the corset "is as much about historicism and internal awareness" as it is about erogeny. Such statements are difficult to prove or disprove so they are best taken with a grain of salt.
Their last chapter contains a discussion of the quite recent phenomenon of "deconstruction" in clothing-"clothing's open discourse with its own structure and inner workings,"-using Karl Lagerfeld's reversal and exposure of the inner working of garments, Rei Kawakubo's ripped and unfinished "new poor look" and Francis Christian Roth's high style hobos as illustrations of this phenomenon.
The illustrations (89 in both color and black and white) are the most alluring aspect of this book. The majority consists of garments from the exhibit mounted on either white mannequins or dressmaker's judies. The rest are terrific colour reproductions of paintings referred to in the text along with a few commercial shots of designer's garments.
How might this book fit into the teaching and/or research setting? Since the author's thought/arguments are largely unreferenced and unproven opinion, their discussions could be taken as starting points for a lengthier analysis of the public/private shift in underwear or the recent development of deconstruction in design. They rather pompously state on the last page that they seek "to prove costume's place in our cultural regard…with an argument that is as…controversial as it is indisputable…costume is indispensable in the negotiation of human behavior and substantive as an art form." Brave words but by no means original.