From Library Journal
What is it about corsets that so fascinates costume historians and fetishists alike? For more than 500 years, women and occasionally men rigidly laced themselves up in whalebone or steel in order to be molded into some sort of physical ideal. Consider the work of contemporary designers such as Gaultier and Lacroix, and it becomes apparent that this strange obsession continues to this day. While there is no shortage of information on this fashion curiosity, Steele here emphasizes the aesthetic, social, and historical aspects. As chief curator of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and the author of nearly 12 books on costume history, she is well qualified to tackle the subject and to attempt to answer "why." The text is scholarly, yet lively and readable, and the numerous images drawn from a variety of sources such as trade cards, paintings, advertisements, book illustrations, and contemporary photos help illustrate her point. This book would be a good purchase even for libraries that already have material on this subject. Margarete Gross, Chicago P.L.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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Pressestimmen
"This is cultural scholarship and social history at its absolute best." Literary Review "The Corset is at once couture eye candy and intellectually enlightening." WOMEN'S REVIEW OF BOOKS "Obligatory reading for fashion historians." Times Literary Supplement
Kurzbeschreibung
A history of the garment from the Renaissance to the 20th century. Colour and b/w illus.
Synopsis
An essential element of fashionable dress from the Renaissance into the twentieth century, the corset has been viewed not only as an object of eroticism but also as an instrument of torture and subjugation. This lavishly illustrated book explores the cultural history of the corset. Named one of the Best of the Year 2001 by the Toronto Globe & Mail. Selected for inclusion in the Books to Remember list by the New York Public Library. Winner of the 2002 Milia Davenport Publication Award sponsored by the Costume Society of America.
Über den Autor
Valerie Steele is chief curator and acting director, The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York. Among her many publications are Fifty Years of Fashion (ISBN 0 300 08738 1, pb. [pound]15.00*), Fashion Italian Style (forthcoming, ISBN 0 300 10014 0, [pound]25.00*), and China Chic: East Meets West (with John S. Major) (ISBN 0 300 07930 3, [pound]35.00*), all published by Yale University Press. She is also editor of Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture.
