As someone who went to grad school for far too long, it alway struck me that many academics on the body ignored fashion. It was deemed trivial. Rather, they would look at body modification or dis/ability or advertising etc but the actual subject of clothing was rarely breached. After years of studying the body, through the lens of Cultural Studies and Women’s Studies and Disability Studies, it is no wonder I ended up working in (escaping to) fashion. Life of the ‘everyday’ was far more rewarding to me. For those in fashion with a penchant for the academic (or vice versa), you should be reading the new book from Colin McDowell, The Anatomy of Fashion.
I have always said Fashion is about the body not self expression. This just might be the first book to reflect this ‘truism’. The Anatomy of Fashion guides us through how we dress, why we dress we do and how/why this has changed over time.
Colin McDowell is a fashion historian and a senior fashion writer for The Sunday Times.