Books On Fashion Culture
Sociologyindex, Sociology Books 2012, Books On Fashion Culture, Consumer Culture, Popular Culture, Fashion Culture, Culture and Cultural Studies, Books On Cultural Studies
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Some
Wore Bobby Sox : The Emergence of Teenage Girls' Culture, 1920-1945 (Girls' History and
Culture)
Book by Kelly Schrum
Images of teenage girls in poodle skirts dominated American popular culture on the 1950's.
But as Kelly Schrum shows, teenage girls were swooning over pop idols and using their
allowances to buy the latest fashions well beforehand. After World War I, a teenage
identity arose in the US, as well as a consumer culture geared toward it. From fashion and
beauty to music and movies, high school girls both consumed and influenced what
manufacturers, marketers, and retailers offered to them. Examining both national trends
and individual lives, Schrum looks at the relationship between the power of consumer
culture and the ability of girls to selectively accept, reject, and appropriate consumer
goods. Lavishly illustrated with images from advertisements, catalogs, and high school
year books, Some Wore Bobby Sox is a unique and fascinating cultural history of teenage
girl culture in the middle of the century.
Nothing
in Itself: Complexions of Fashion (Theories of Contemporary Culture) Book
by Blau Herbert, Herbert Blau, Herbert Blau
Beyond the theatricality of fashion, or its commerce, are other seductive issues that come
with dress in its fascination-effect, including the validities, vanities, and deceits of
appearance. No more than appearance, "nothing in itself," that fashion has
substance, complex and elusive substance, is the thematic of this book, putting another
complexion on the subject, the look, and the look that incites the look, in high style,
street style, classical elegance or fetishistic chic, from farthingale and corset to power
suits and grunge.
Fashion
Cultures: Theories, Explorations, and Analysis
Book by Stella Bruzzi (Editor), Pamela Church Gibson (Editor)
From the catwalk to the shopping mall, from the big screen to the art museum, fashion
plays an increasingly central role in contemporary culture. Fashion Cultures investigates
why we are so fascinated by fashion and the associated spheres of photography, magazines
and television, and shopping.
Stella Bruzzi is Senior Lecturer in Media Arts at Royal Holloway College.
100 New Fashion Designers by Hywel Davies
The fashion industry has always celebrated innovative design and young talented fashion
designers can make a huge impact as they explore new ideas and push boundaries.
This book showcases the diverse and unique work of the best 100 new creatives in fashion
design from around the world. These designers are characterized by their single-minded
interpretation of clothing and their ambition to present alternative solutions in dressing
for their customers. The book focuses on designers still in the first decade of their
career either working alone on their own label or brand or teamed up into small companies
showcasing collections. As well as pinpointing the best new talent worldwide this visually
stunning survey provides a comprehensive showcase of cutting-edge imagery including
original design work drawings and photography.
The ultimate reference guide to the world's movers and shakers in fashion today this is a
book all fashionistas will want to own.
A
Matter of Taste : How Names, Fashions, and Culture Change Book
by Stanley Lieberson
Social scientists have long been interested in the question of how notions of taste and
fashion change over time. Do aesthetic judgments reflect external forces such as state
policies, class stratification, or commercial advertising, or are these judgments informed
by largely subjective factors that are difficult to pin down in scientific terms?
Lieberson (sociology, Harvard) has written a subtle and technically sophisticated analysis
of changes in taste by examining the cultural patterns influencing the first names given
to children in the past two centuries. As Lieberson notes, "compared with fashions in
clothing, cars, and sodas, the naming process can be studied without worrying about the
effect of organizations dedicated to influencing these tastes." While he acknowledges
the impact of external forces on name selection (the emergence of popular movie stars, for
example), he emphasizes the importance of "internal taste mechanisms" that shape
fashion "even when external conditions are fixed." This carefully reasoned study
should be of interest to sociologists, historians, and students of cultural studies.
Recommended for academic libraries.DKent Worcester, Marymount Manhattan Coll., New York
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Stanley Lieberson is Abbott Lawrence Lowell Professor of Sociology at Harvard University.
Culture
of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations
Book by Christopher Lasch
Fantastic reading !, April 23, 2005
Reviewer: Richard Skaff "Rick S" (Rancho Palos verdes, Ca United States)
Christopher lasch has touched a very sensistive social nerve in his book "The Culture
Of Narcissism." He gives the reader the awareness of living in a society that has
become increasingly self-absorbed, out of touch with its past and future, and totally
focused on the moment where everyone is seeking decadence and immediate
self-gratification. I strongly believe that the narcissism in our culture is the direct
result of the combination of consumerism and individualism that are both advocated for by
the corporate elite and the politicians. The end result is profits !!! Mr. Lasch's book is
a powerful and accurate portrayal of an ailing society heading toward disaster....
I would highly recommend this book for every American that is interested in comprehending
himself and his society. It will surely provide the reader with an educational experience
and an electrifying reading!
He created a concept , March 1, 2005
Reviewer: S. Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel)
In this book Lasch defines a cultural reality and reveals a concept the Western world is
living with, and to a degree suffering from today ' cultural narcissism'. Lasch saw that
the whole culture built around ' self - centeredness' is less than healthy. He saw that
the focusing of ' the me generation'on themselves led to a more fragile and broken
America. Those willing to put themselves first and nothing else second were the same
people who broke marriages easily, readily used friends and discarded them.
Individualism carried to extreme and self- indulgence upon which no limit is placed are
the heart of the culture of narcissim that we are in some sense still living with today.
More cultural elitism...., September 6, 2003
Reviewer: Hulka (Washington DC)
Dismissing this book because it is 'Freudian' is not an argument to dismiss it's thesis.
It's an entire other argument, and not really valid, except among the academic elite, who
along with the urban cosmopolitian elite are "part of the problem, not part of the
solution' to paraphrase that old 60's slogan.
Read this book. It really has insights into the origins of the continuing culture war that
divides the urban coastal elite from the mainstream of America. It does a lot to explain
the origins of the "Red" versus the "Blue" divide in the Election
2000.
Abusing Narcissism, January 11, 2001
Reviewer: Sam Vaknin "author of books about narcissistic abuse" (Skopje,
Macedonia)
'The Culture of Narcissism - American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations' was
published in the first year of the unhappy presidency of Jimmy Carter (1979). The latter
endorsed the book publicly (in his famous 'national malaise' speech). The main thesis of
the book is that the Americans have created a self-absorbed (though not self aware),
greedy and frivolous society which depended on consumerism, demographic studies, opinion
polls and Government to know and to define itself. What is the solution? Lasch proposed a
'return to basics': self-reliance, the family, nature, the community, and the Protestant
work ethic. To those who adhere, he promised an elimination of their feelings of
alienation and despair. There is no single Lasch. This chronicler of culture, did so
mainly by chronicling his inner turmoil, conflicting ideas and ideologies, emotional
upheavals, and intellectual vicissitudes. In this sense, of (courageous)
self-documentation, Mr. Lasch epitomized Narcissism, was the quintessential Narcissist,
the better positioned to criticize the phenomenon. Some 'scientific' disciplines (e.g.,
the history of culture and History in general) are closer to art than to the rigorous
(a.k.a. 'exact' or 'natural' or 'physical' sciences). Lasch borrowed heavily from other,
more established branches of knowledge without paying tribute to the original, strict
meaning of concepts and terms. Such was the use that he made of 'Narcissism'. Lasch's
greatest error was that he did not acknowledge that there is an abyss between narcissism
and self love, being interested in oneself and being obsessively preoccupied with oneself.
Lasch confuses the two. The price of progress is growing self-awareness and with it
growing pains and the pains of growing up. It is not a loss of meaning and hope - it is
just that pain has a tendency to push everything to the background. Those are constructive
pains, signs of adjustment and adaptation, of evolution. America has no inflated,
megalomaniac, grandiose ego. It never built an overseas empire, it is made of dozens of
ethnic immigrant groups, it strives to learn, to emulate. Americans do not lack empathy -
they are the foremost nation of volunteers and also professes the biggest number of (tax
deductible) donation makers. Americans are not exploitative - they are hard workers, fair
players, Adam Smith-ian egoists. They believe in Live and Let Live. They are
individualists and they believe that the individual is the source of all authority and the
universal yardstick and benchmark. This is a positive philosophy. Granted, it led to
inequalities in the distribution of income and wealth. But then other ideologies had much
worse outcomes. Luckily, they were defeated by the human spirit, the best manifestation of
which is still democratic capitalism. Sam Vaknin, author of 'Malignant Self Love -
Narcissism Revisited'.
Interesting, May 13, 2000
Reviewer: smahadin@hotmail.com (Jordan) - See all my reviews
It is true that Lasch relied a lot on psychoanalysis in his intellectual barrage against
the American culture, but his point of view is certianly worth considering. To start with,
the book makes an attempt to be comprehensive which is not crime except that many of the
issues he touched upon would require further elaboration within a much broader theoritical
framework. He borrows extensively from Freud, criticises Fromm and squeezes Horeny in,
thus sacrificing many other branches of social sciences to place psychoanalysis at the
forefront. It is not a great book and one should not be lured by the big words, but it
does have its interesting moments.
Despite its Freudian defects, this book is brilliant., July 2, 1999
Reviewer: A reader
Some critics called this book overheated, but I do not believe that Lasch's style was
faulty. His arguments ring true and are very persuasive. His insights into American
culture are impressive, and he demonstrated sound knowledge of all the social sciences.
The book is extremely well-written, never redundant, and always entertaining. This is a
definitive indictment of American society, and is still valid twenty years later.
Fashion,
Culture, and Identity
Book by Fred Davis
Davis (emeritus professor of sociology, Univ. of California-San Diego) discusses several
intriguing theories about fashion's social and psychological significance in modern
culture. What makes clothes fashion; how fashions evolve; how fashion choices express
social status, gender identity, sexuality, and conformity; and how fashion is (or is not)
accepted are all discussed, Davis having reviewed over 200 sources of writings by social
scientists and fashion students. Especially good is the chapter on the dynamics of certain
groups' intentional resistance to fashion. Davis does propose a few of his own ideas,
always backed up by the literature. The work would have been enlivened by increased
emphasis on Davis's actual interviews with designers, editors, and manufacturers, whose
opinions are only briefly summarized. This book is a good basis for further reading, but
lay readers will need handy access to an unabridged dictionary to cope with the scholarly
language. For academic and specialized collections.
- Therese D. Baker, Western Kentucky Univ. Libs., Bowling Green
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or
unavailable edition of this title.
What do our clothes say about who we are or who we think we are? How does the way we dress
communicate messages about our identity? Is the desire to be "in fashion"
universal, or is it unique to Western culture? How do fashions change? These are just a
few of the intriguing questions Fred Davis sets out to answer in this provocative look at
what we do with our clothes--and what they can do to us.
Much of what we assume to be individual preference, Davis shows, really reflects deeper
social and cultural forces. Ours is an ambivalent social world, characterized by tensions
over gender roles, social status, and the expression of sexuality. Predicting what people
will wear becomes a risky gamble when the link between private self and public persona can
be so unstable.
Social
Communication in Advertising: Persons, Products and Images of Well-Being
Book by William Leiss, Stephen Kline, Sut Jhally
Now available in a significantly updated second edition featuring two new chapters, Social
Communication in Advertising remains the most comprehensive historical study of
advertising and its function within contemporary society. It traces advertising's
influence within three key social domains: the new commodities industry; popular culture;
and the mass media which manages the constellation of images that unifies all three.
Consumers
and Luxury : Consumer Culture in Europe 1650-1850
Book by Maxine Berg (Editor), Helen Clifford (Editor)
From tulips to jewels, gastronomy to silver, coffee to colors, the late seventeenth
century and the eighteenth century saw an explosion of consumer and luxury objects and a
growing demand for their consumption by a widening section of the population. This highly
entertaining and interdisciplinary volume brings together an outstanding group of scholars
to chart the rise of consumer culture in Europe during this period. The volume includes
essays on France and Holland, but the focus is primarily on Britain.
Beauty
and Business: Commerce, Gender, and Culture in Modern America (Hagley
Perspectives on Business and Culture)
Book by Philip Scranton (Editor)
"Until recently, business historians have not yielded to beauty - at least as a
subject of scholarly inquiry. But beauty is big business." - Kathy Peiss, from the
Introduction
Beauty seems simple; we know it when we see it. But of course our ideas about what is
attractive are influenced by a broad range of social and economic factors, and in Beauty
and Business leading historians set out to provide this important cultural context. How
have retailers shaped popular consciousness about beauty? And how, in turn, have cultural
assumptions influenced the commodification of beauty? The contributors here look to
particular examples in order to address these questions, turning their attention to topics
ranging from the social role of the African American hair salon, the sexual dynamics of
bathing suits and shirtcollars, and the deeper meanings of corsets, to what the Avon lady
tells us about changing American values. As a whole, these essays force us to reckon with
the ways that beauty has been made, bought, and sold in modern America.
Buzz:
Harness the Power of Influence and Create Demand (April 18, 2003)
Book by Marian Salzman, Ira Matathia, Ann O'Reilly
"Marian Salzman has a knack for telling you what you'll be doing before you know it
yourself." (The Observer, 29 June 2003)
"...an enjoyable read, liberarally peppered with illuminating and insightful case
studies..." (Marketing, 3 July 2003)
“ …well covered…”(Gulf Business, July 2003)
“…brand owners must get their wares talked about. The question is: how? The
authors of Buzz... believe they have an answer…”(Financial Times, 24 July 2003)
In
the Culture Society: Art, Fashion and Popular Music
Book by Angela McRobbie
We may be living in a material world, but Angela McRobbie pinpoints a "new
materialism" in In the Culture Society. She provides a lively, incisive look at how
different artistic and cultural practices develop in contemporary consumer culture, by
examining the new populism of young artists such as Damien Hirst and Tracy Emin and the
proliferation of underground forms of dance music. McRobbie explores how musicians such as
Tricky, Talvin Singh, and Goldie have incorporated Black and Asian social history into a
distinctive sound. She also investigates the relationship between cultural production and
feminism through the new sexualities of teen girls' magazines.
Angela McRobbie is Professor of Communication at Goldsmiths College.