Overview

Fashioning Socialism is the first history of communist fashion in East Germany. Using clothing as a lens to read society, the author unveils wider tensions between the regime and the population and within the regime itself. In telling the surprising - and often bizarre - story of communist haute couture, fashion shows, seasonal clearance sales, the textile and garment industries, and everyday consumer practices, this book explores the paradoxical causes, forms, and consequences of East Germany's attempt to create a communist consumer culture during the Cold War. In attempting to compete with capitalism on the West's terms, East Germany unwittingly bred disgruntled consumers - consumers who ultimately tore down the Wall. Topics covered include gender and consumption, Americanization and Sovietization, women as consumer-citizens, and much more. A rare glimpse into consumerism under state socialism, this book offers unique insights into the Cold War, the dynamics and collapse of communism, and modern consumption.

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9781845202811

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Reviews

A fascinating and highly original study touching on two of the central goals of the East German socialist project: to improve the material living standard of working people, and to nurture a new and distinctive socialist culture . This is a major contribution to the study of everyday life under state socialism that shows in compelling detail how the economic and political structures of the East German command society both shaped and were shaped by the desires of ordinary people. Corey Ross, University of Birmingham and author of The East German Dictatorship: Problems and Perspectives in the Interpretation of the GDR Stitziel's great accomplishment in this well-researched book is to offer a multi-dimensional analysis that treats fashion as both a cultural phenomenon and a productive concern. He intertwines this cultural and political history with a fascinating discussion of what the textile-and-garment industry produced and which wares did (and did not) sell. A most impressive achievement. Donna Harsch, Carnegie Mellon University his excellent book explains how and why East German citizens came to judge their standard of living using the capitalist criteria of individual consumption while taking for granted subsidized social consumption. This is genuinely original work, exceptionally well written and fascinating. Jonathan Steinberg, University of Pennsylvania A highly original analysis of the making of a socialist consumer culture, and of how the attempt to forge a socialist personality and modernity with new consumer desires, values, and habits ultimately failed. Alon Confino, University of Virginia The last decade or so has witnessed a proliferation of competent and well-researched attempts to reevaluate the legacy of the GDR in a variety of fields. Judd Stitziel's new book is a worthy contribution to that body of work, combining thorough archival research with a social-historical approach to reveal the connections between social policy, economics, and popular tactics of everyday life in the GDR. German Studies Review (30/2, 2007)

Author Information

Judd Stitziel received his Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University and has taught at Cornell and Wesleyan Universities. He is currently an independent scholar based in Washington, DC.

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