A Perfect Fit

Fülszöveg

A PROVOCATIVE AND ORIGINAL.
SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE ROLE OF CLOTHING IN THE MAKING OF MODERN AMERICANS
While fashions of the rich and famous have been endlessly chronicled, little attention has been paid to the mean-ing of clothes for everyone else. Yet between 1890 and the outbreak of World War II, as ready-to-wear came into its own, the clothes of ordinary Americans claimed the nation s attention and dominated public discussion. Newly allied with civic virtue, fashion played an increasingly important role in shaping the national character.
With her singular wit, wide-ranging sehol-arship, and keen eye for the nuances of daily life, acclaimed historian Jenna Weissman Joselit uncovers a time in American history when getting dressed was more about fitting in than standing out. Drawing on a wealth of sources, from advertisements, trade journals, and health manuals to sermons, science, and songs, she shows how the length of a woman's skirt, the shape of a man's hat, and the height... Tovább

Fülszöveg

A PROVOCATIVE AND ORIGINAL.
SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE ROLE OF CLOTHING IN THE MAKING OF MODERN AMERICANS
While fashions of the rich and famous have been endlessly chronicled, little attention has been paid to the mean-ing of clothes for everyone else. Yet between 1890 and the outbreak of World War II, as ready-to-wear came into its own, the clothes of ordinary Americans claimed the nation s attention and dominated public discussion. Newly allied with civic virtue, fashion played an increasingly important role in shaping the national character.
With her singular wit, wide-ranging sehol-arship, and keen eye for the nuances of daily life, acclaimed historian Jenna Weissman Joselit uncovers a time in American history when getting dressed was more about fitting in than standing out. Drawing on a wealth of sources, from advertisements, trade journals, and health manuals to sermons, science, and songs, she shows how the length of a woman's skirt, the shape of a man's hat, and the height of a pair of heels enabled Americans of every faith, color, and class to feel part of a unified modern nation.
The subject of countless editorials, clothes generated great controversy among social crit-ics and citizens alike. Moral arbiters warned that extravagant attire might undermine equal-ity, Americas special virtue, while health re-formers eondemned skirts that swept the sidewalk. Gentlemen and their haberdashers worried lest wearing a colored shirt render them less manly, while the newly arrived and newly emaneipated—immigrants and African-Americans—wondered just how much jewelry was appropriate to their new status as citizens.
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