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The Suit
Form, Function and Style
Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.
Check link for latest rating. ( 44 ratings, 9 reviews)
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
Ideal for readers interested in menswear history, cultural studies, and fashion's role in society. Perfect for those fascinated by how clothing reflects and challenges social conventions.
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See moreOffers new perspectives on this most mundane, and yet poetic and beautiful garment.
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
The Suit unpicks the story of this most familiar garment, from its emergence in western Europe at the end of the seventeenth century to today. Suit-wearing figures such as the Savile Row gentleman and the Wall Street businessman have long embodied ideas of tradition, masculinity, power, and respectability. However, the suit has also been used to disrupt concepts of gender and conformity.
Adopted and subverted by women, artists, musicians, and social revolutionaries through the decades—from dandies and Sapeurs to the Zoot Suit and Le Smoking—the suit is also a device for challenging the status quo.
For all those interested in the history of menswear, this beautifully illustrated book offers new perspectives on this most mundane, yet poetic, product of modern culture.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Praised by World of Interiors as a rich, deep and satisfying study, the book provides an intelligent alternative to superficial fashion guides. The Financial Times notes its spare, modernist elegance and Breward's evident pleasure in exploring the suit's pervasive influence. The work expertly links the suit's adoption to major societal shifts, tracing its cultural significance from military uniforms to modern democratic iconography.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781789144963
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 01 September 2021
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Reaktion Books
Illustration: 99 illustrations, 53 in colour
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 156.0mm
Height: 240.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 240
About the Author
Christopher Breward is Director, National Museums Scotland. He is the author of The Hidden Consumer (1999), Fashion (2003) and Fashioning London (2004).
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