Overview

Daneen Wardrop's Emily Dickinson and the Labor of Clothing begins by identifying and using the dating tools of fashion to place the references to clothing in Dickinson's letters and poems, and to locate her social standing through examining her fashion choices in the iconic daguerreotype. In addition to detailing the poetics of fashion in Dickinson's work, the author argues that close examination of Dickinson and fashion cannot be separated from the changing ways that garments were produced during the nineteenth century, embracing issues of domestic labor, the Lowell textile mills, and the Amherst industry of the Hills Hat Factory located almost next door to Dickinson's Homestead. The recent retrieval of clothing from approximately thirty trunks found in the attic of the Evergreens house, which formerly belonged to Dickinson's brother and sister-in-law, further enhances this remarkable and original interdisciplinary work.

Full Product Details

Author:   Daneen Wardrop
Publisher:   University of New Hampshire Press
Imprint:   University of New Hampshire Press
Dimensions:   Width: 17.80cm , Height: 2.80cm , Length: 25.40cm
Weight:   0.771kg
ISBN:  

9781584657804

ISBN 10:   1584657804
Pages:   268
Publication Date:   10 December 2009
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General/trade ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   No Longer Our Product
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Reviews

Just when one might have thought that biographical, historical, and cultural examinations of Dickinson had been exhausted, Wardrop (Western Michigan Univ.) steps up with a dazzling, delightful study of the impact of textiles and fashion on the US's most enigmatic poet. . . . Wardrop challenges the notion that Dickinson was not fashion conscious and argues instead that the poet was 'vitally concerned' with her appearance. Whenever critics venture into topics that are biographically peripheral rather than central, they risk that their findings may be fluff. That is not the case here. Wardrop offers context by exploring the market economy of the mid-to-late-19th century, the textile manufacturing industry in Amherst during Dickinson's lifetime, and the depiction of garments in Dickinson's poetry and letters. Beautifully illustrated and featuring helpful notes and a well-constructed index, this book is by turns fascinating, illuminating, and undeniably original. . . . Highly recommended.

Choice American Literature Worn Fashion Journal Just when one might have thought that biographical, historical, and cultural examinations of Dickinson had been exhausted, Wardrop (Western Michigan Univ.) steps up with a dazzling, delightful study of the impact of textiles and fashion on the US's most enigmatic poet. . . . Wardrop challenges the notion that Dickinson was not fashion conscious and argues instead that the poet was 'vitally concerned' with her appearance. Whenever critics venture into topics that are biographically peripheral rather than central, they risk that their findings may be fluff. That is not the case here. Wardrop offers context by exploring the market economy of the mid-to-late-19th century, the textile manufacturing industry in Amherst during Dickinson's lifetime, and the depiction of garments in Dickinson's poetry and letters. Beautifully illustrated and featuring helpful notes and a well-constructed index, this book is by turns fascinating, illuminating, and undeniably original. . . . Highly recommended. -- Choice Both studies do a wonderful job of setting literary texts and clothing in relation to each other and then revealing the histories that emerge from that juxtaposition. The political stakes of these historical contexts remain implicit, however, and the Marxist feminism informing these projects could have been more pronounced. Nevertheless, Wardrop and Joslin begin to make crucial interventions into the study of women's literature and the material culture of clothing: they move toward arguing that U.S. women writers' depictions of fashion and clothing are shot through with desires for feminist solidarity. -- American Literature Daneen Wardrop ties fashion and academia together in Emily Dickinson and the Labor of Clothing. The Dickinson that is often studied - the one portrayed within her poetry - shows her intellect and her exceptional handle on language. By analyzing often-dismissed aspects of the famous poet like her approach to clothing, Wardrop presents a more down to earth perspective on Dickinson, one that sees her not just as a talented writer but also in many ways a conventional woman living in an antebellum era. An impressive archive of mid-nineteenth century North Eastern fashion, including the labour practices behind textile production, is thus interwoven with biographical facts about Dickinson. -- Worn Fashion Journal -Daneen Wardrop ties fashion and academia together in Emily Dickinson and the Labor of Clothing. The Dickinson that is often studied - the one portrayed within her poetry - shows her intellect and her exceptional handle on language. By analyzing often-dismissed aspects of the famous poet like her approach to clothing, Wardrop presents a more down to earth perspective on Dickinson, one that sees her not just as a talented writer but also in many ways a conventional woman living in an antebellum era. An impressive archive of mid-nineteenth century North Eastern fashion, including the labour practices behind textile production, is thus interwoven with biographical facts about Dickinson.---Worn Fashion Journal -Both studies do a wonderful job of setting literary texts and clothing in relation to each other and then revealing the histories that emerge from that juxtaposition. The political stakes of these historical contexts remain implicit, however, and the Marxist feminism informing these projects could have been more pronounced. Nevertheless, Wardrop and Joslin begin to make crucial interventions into the study of women's literature and the material culture of clothing: they move toward arguing that U.S. women writers' depictions of fashion and clothing are shot through with desires for feminist solidarity.---American Literature -Just when one might have thought that biographical, historical, and cultural examinations of Dickinson had been exhausted, Wardrop (Western Michigan Univ.) steps up with a dazzling, delightful study of the impact of textiles and fashion on the US's most enigmatic poet. . . . Wardrop challenges the notion that Dickinson was not fashion conscious and argues instead that the poet was 'vitally concerned' with her appearance. Whenever critics venture into topics that are biographically peripheral rather than central, they risk that their findings may be fluff. That is not the case here. Wardrop offers context by exploring the market economy of the mid-to-late-19th century, the textile manufacturing industry in Amherst during Dickinson's lifetime, and the depiction of garments in Dickinson's poetry and letters. Beautifully illustrated and featuring helpful notes and a well-constructed index, this book is by turns fascinating, illuminating, and undeniably original. . . . Highly recommended.---Choice Daneen Wardrop ties fashion and academia together in Emily Dickinson and the Labor of Clothing. The Dickinson that is often studied - the one portrayed within her poetry - shows her intellect and her exceptional handle on language. By analyzing often-dismissed aspects of the famous poet like her approach to clothing, Wardrop presents a more down to earth perspective on Dickinson, one that sees her not just as a talented writer but also in many ways a conventional woman living in an antebellum era. An impressive archive of mid-nineteenth century North Eastern fashion, including the labour practices behind textile production, is thus interwoven with biographical facts about Dickinson. Worn Fashion Journal Both studies do a wonderful job of setting literary texts and clothing in relation to each other and then revealing the histories that emerge from that juxtaposition. The political stakes of these historical contexts remain implicit, however, and the Marxist feminism informing these projects could have been more pronounced. Nevertheless, Wardrop and Joslin begin to make crucial interventions into the study of women s literature and the material culture of clothing: they move toward arguing that U.S. women writers depictions of fashion and clothing are shot through with desires for feminist solidarity. American Literature Just when one might have thought that biographical, historical, and cultural examinations of Dickinson had been exhausted, Wardrop (Western Michigan Univ.) steps up with a dazzling, delightful study of the impact of textiles and fashion on the US s most enigmatic poet. . . . Wardrop challenges the notion that Dickinson was not fashion conscious and argues instead that the poet was vitally concerned with her appearance. Whenever critics venture into topics that are biographically peripheral rather than central, they risk that their findings may be fluff. That is not the case here. Wardrop offers context by exploring the market economy of the mid-to-late-19th century, the textile manufacturing industry in Amherst during Dickinson s lifetime, and the depiction of garments in Dickinson s poetry and letters. Beautifully illustrated and featuring helpful notes and a well-constructed index, this book is by turns fascinating, illuminating, and undeniably original. . . . Highly recommended. Choice

A dazzling, delightful study of the impact of textiles and fashion on the US's most enigmatic poet. . . . Wardrop offers context by exploring the market economy of the mid-to-late-19th century, the textile manufacturing industry in Amherst during Dickinson's lifetime, and the depiction of garments in Dickinson's poetry and letters. Beautifully illustrated and featuring helpful notes and a well-constructed index, this book is by turns fascinating, illuminating, and undeniably original. . . . Highly recommended. -- Choice Wardrop and Joslin begin to make crucial interventions into the study of women's literature and the material culture of clothing: they move toward arguing that U.S. women writers' depictions of fashion and clothing are shot through with desires for feminist solidarity. -- American Literature By analyzing often-dismissed aspects of the famous poet like her approach to clothing, Wardrop presents a more down to earth perspective on Dickinson, one that sees her not just as a talented writer but also in many ways a conventional woman living in an antebellum era. An impressive archive of mid-nineteenth century North Eastern fashion, including the labour practices behind textile production, is thus interwoven with biographical facts about Dickinson. -- Worn Fashion Journal

Worn Fashion Journal

Author Information

DANEEN WARDROP is a professor of English at Western Michigan University. She is the author of Word, Birth, and Culture in the Poetry of Poe, Whitman, and Dickinson and Emily Dickinson's Gothic: Goblin with a Gauge

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