Suit - Form, Function and Style

A beautifully tailored history of this fashion staple--at once a garment of tradition, power, and subversion.

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, but 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, and poetic, product of modern culture.

About the author

Christopher Breward is the director of National Museums Scotland. He is the author of The Hidden Consumer, Fashion, and Fashioning London.

Summary

Offers new perspectives on the suit, a most mundane, and yet poetic and beautiful garment.

Product details

• Authors: Christopher Breward, Breward Christopher
• Publisher: Reaktion Books
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.09.2021
• EAN: 9781789144963
• ISBN: 978-1-78914-496-3
• No. of pages: 240
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Interior design, design; ART / History / General, DESIGN / Fashion & Accessories, DESIGN / Textile & Costume, History of art / art & design styles, History of Art, History of fashion, Fashion and textile design