Overview

Through a highly original and detailed analysis of the memoirs, interviews and other life writings of Poiret, Dior and Schiaparelli, this book explores changing notions of femininity in the early decades of the 20th century, when the democratization of fashion began. Examining idea of modernity, eternity and the ephemeral in the writings of these haute couturiers, the book reflects on fashion's ambivalent approach to women, which both celebrated and vilified them, presenting them as both ultra modern style leaders and irrational creatures stuck in the past. This fascinating text is key reading for scholars and students of fashion, gender studies, cultural studies and history.

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9780857853271

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Reviews

Although this slim but thickly-argued book provides basic information about three important French designers, their fashion houses and signature styles and is informed by the existing scholarship on the history of haute couture, Poiret, Dior and Schiaparelli: Fashion, Femininity and Modernity is not so much a work of fashion history as it is a new and promising combination of autobiographical analyses, feminist theory and philosophy. -- Mary Lynn Stewart, Simon Fraser University H-France Review

Although this slim but thickly-argued book provides basic information about three important French designers, their fashion houses and signature styles and is informed by the existing scholarship on the history of haute couture, Poiret, Dior and Schiaparelli: Fashion, Femininity and Modernity is not so much a work of fashion history as it is a new and promising combination of autobiographical analyses, feminist theory and philosophy. -- Mary Lynn Stewart, Simon Fraser University * H-France Review *

Author Information

Ilya Parkins is Assistant Professor of Gender and Women's Studies at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan, Canada.

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