Fashion can say a lot about the people that wear it and the places they occupy in time and space. As such, women starting to wear pants is a shorthand for progress in feminism – but, Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell argues, the evolution of skirts over the twentieth century too has plenty to say.
Like the author, I wear a lot of dresses and skirts, mostly because they are an easy way to look like you’ve made an effort, and also let you slouch and lounge around a lot better than pants too. As such, I’m a pretty receptive audience for the author’s arguments about the lasting relevance of skirts.
The author follows trends in skirts and dresses throughout the twentieth century, discussing how they evolve shaped by the demands of the women wearing them, but at the same time shaping the attitudes of those same women too. In this story she encompasses the many forces that are involved in trend-making, from the fashion industry, popular art and cinema, globalization, world wars, and more. Yet even as fashion is treated seriously, it’s also presented joyfully, going into rapturous detail over the beauty and artistry of the garments. I was constantly looking up described designs, and wishing illustrations were included in my ARC – they are there in the final published version.
However, I did feel that the author glossed over a pretty important factor in any discussion of fashion – the bodies that wear the clothes. Though discussed briefly in the final chapter of the book, for the most part Chrisman-Campbell doesn’t talk about how the idealized beauty types of the era shaped and were shaped by fashion – and the bodies that most designers created their dresses for, thin and white, were not necessarily what most bodies looked like. Similarly, the designers and trend-makers discussed are generally wealthy and created clothing for wealthy women. By omitting discussion of where your average woman shopped and how she felt about what she wore, we end up up with a discussion that feels centered around a small and privileged segment of society instead.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.