Writer Virginia Woolf dismissed clothes as “vain trifles” but acknowledged that “they wear us and not we them.” The way we dress reflects our times, our sense of self, and our aspirations, says author Debra N. Mancoff. With clothing, we tell the world who we are and who we want to be.
Mancoff, a scholar in residence at the Newberry Library in Chicago, reveals how clothing tells stories over time and across cultures. Just as vocabulary and syntax give language structure and fluency, the elements of dress, construction, and style make a statement. Items of apparel offer insight into an age, an era, and an individual’s place in society but only within the context of how they are worn. And that context is fashion.
Her latest book, Looking at Fashion (Getty Publications), is available for purchase.
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