Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion.VOLUME 2: Fads to Nylon

The Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion is the product of a new, multidisciplinary field of inquiry and an extraordinary international collaboration. The emerging field of fashion studies, sometimes known as the new fashion history, differs significantly from traditional dress history, which tended to focus on the stylistic analysis of elite fashions. By contrast, contemporary fashion studies asks new questions, approaches a much wider range of topics, and draws on the expertise of scholars across the disciplines. Whereas traditional fashion reference books tend to be limited to an alphabetical survey of individual designers, this encyclopedia seeks to provide critical insights into the history and contemporary experience of clothing and fashion. By identifying the world’s preeminent authorities, and by approaching the subject with a global focus and an interdisciplinary
perspective, the editorial board of The Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion aims to provide the interested reader with an authoritative introduction to the wide range of issues that define the field. These issues include Eurocentrism vs. multiculturalism; gender and sexual identity; the relationship between fashion and other cultural manifestations, such as music; theories of fashion; clothing and material culture; and the fashion system, encompassing the design, manufacture, marketing, and representation of fashion. The editors of the encyclopedia, whose expertise spans a wide range of disciplines, subject matter, and geographical areas, have enlisted over 325 authors in an international survey of clothing, fashion, and related subjects from prehistoric times to the present.