Over 80 years ago, Heather Firbank packed away her extensive collection of fine clothes, bought from London's very best dressmakers and tailors. These treasures lay undiscovered for the next 30 years, until after her death, they were given to the V&A, laying the foundations for the Museum's world-famous collection. Firbank was an enthusiastic shopper and bought her clothes from the world's leading couture houses, including Lucile, Redfern and Mascotte, as well as private dressmakers and department stores. Her collection forms an invaluable record of fashionable Edwardian taste over a period of some 15 years. Beautifully illustrated with new photography of finely crafted evening gowns, tailored suits and glamorous hats, the book also features contemporary photographs and pages from Heather's own albums of fashion cuttings. It vividly maps out the London couture scene of Edwardian Britain, and charts changes in fashion through the tumultuous first decades of the twentieth century. Through the story of Heather's own life, both joyous and troubled, this book celebrates the central role of clothing in creating a single woman's identity.

Etta Lemon: The Woman Who Saved the Birds is the story of a pioneering conservationist who led the campaign against the slaughter of wild birds for extravagantly feathered hats and coaxed the world to care for birds.

Unpacking assumptions about corseting, Rebecca Gibson supplements narratives of corseted women from the 18th and 19th centuries with her seminal work on corset-related skeletal deformation. An undergarment that provided support and shape for centuries, the corset occupies a familiar but exotic space in modern consciousness, created by two sometimes contradictory narrative arcs: the texts that women wrote regarding their own corseting experiences and the recorded opinions of the medical community during the 19th century. Combining these texts with skeletal age data and rib and vertebrae measurements from remains at St. Bride’s parish London dating from 1700 to 1900, the author discusses corseting in terms of health and longevity, situates corseting as an everyday practice that crossed urban socio-economic boundaries, and attests to the practice as part of normal female life during the time period Gibson’s bioarchaeology of binding is is the first large-scalar, multi-site bioethnography of the corseted woman.

Although a hat may be designed for the purpose of practicality or aesthetics, it is part of a complex interplay of wider cultural meanings. Throughout history hats have played a significant role in expressing and revealing notions of class, gender, authority, fashion and etiquette. By examining the consumption and production of hats from the 18th century to the present day, this book explores their significance as markers of social and cultural change. Taking a thematic approach, Clair Hughes charts how headgear during the modern era has been shaped by status, gender and necessity. Using case studies such as the bowler hat, which has moved up and down classes and professions, Hughes reveals that although a hat might seem bound to its status and context, it is as susceptible to subversion and reinvention as the society which creates it. From the transition of pilots' helmets from practical headgear to fashion items, to the Slouch hat and the baseball cap, hats have responded to cultural or political movements, often becoming conscious displays of identity and social allegiance. Drawing from material and historical research as well as depictions in art, literature and film, Hughes provides a fascinating insight into hats as a visible performance of social values and culture.

In 1939, fashion became an economic and symbolic sphere of great importance in France. Invasive textile legislation, rationing and threats from German and American couturiers were pushing the design and trade of Parisian style to its limits. It is widely accepted that French fashion was severely curtailed as a result, isolated from former foreign clients and deposed of its crown as global queen of fashion. This pioneering book offers a different story. Arguing that Paris retained its hold on the international haute couture industry right throughout WWII, eminent dress historians and curators come together to show that, amid political, economic and cultural traumas, Paris fashion remained very much alive under the Nazi occupation – and on an international level. Bringing exciting perspectives to challenge a familiar story and introducing new overseas trade links out of occupied France, this book takes us from the salons of renowned couturiers such as Edward Molyneux and Robert Piguet, French Vogue and Le Jardin des Modes and luxury Lyon silk factories, to Rio de Janeiro, Denmark and Switzerland, and the great American department stores of New York. Also comparing extravagant Paris occupation styles to austerity fashions of the UK and USA, parallel industrial and design developments highlight the unresolvable tension between luxury fashion and the everyday realities of wartime life. Showing that Paris strove to maintain world dominance as leader of couture through fashion journalism, photography and exported fashion forecasting, Paris Fashion and World War Two makes a significant contribution to the cultural history of fashion.

Besides products and services multinational corporations also sell myths, values and immaterial goods. Such »meta-goods« (e.g. prestige, beauty, strength) are major selling points in the context of successful marketing and advertising. Fashion adverts draw on deeply rooted human values, ideals and desires such as values and symbols of social recognition, beautification and rejuvenation. Although the reference to such meta-goods is obvious to some consumers, their rootedness in philosophical theories of human nature is less apparent, even for the marketers and advertisers themselves. This book is of special interest for researchers and students in the fields of Cultural Studies, Media Studies, Marketing, Advertising, Fashion, Cultural Critique, Philosophy, Sociology, Anthropology and Psychology, and for anyone interested in the ways in which fashion operates.

A celebration of Ann Bonfoey Taylor's extraordinary wardrobe of couture and custom-designed sporting ensembles Ann Bonfoey Taylor (1910-2007) was a pioneering female flight instructor during World War II, was a member of the US Olympic Ski Squad in 1939, competed in tennis at Wimbledon and was accomplished at riding and shooting. Recognized among an international jet-setting social circle as a wonderful hostess at her magnificent homes in Colorado and Montana, Taylor also played a leading role as a style icon. She was captured in photographs by artists such as Edward Steichen, Louise Dahl-Wolfe and Toni Frissell, and was regularly featured in publications such as Vogue, Town and Country and Harper's Bazaar from the 1930s through the 1970s. In 2008, her extraordinary wardrobe of couture and custom-designed sporting ensembles was donated to Phoenix Art Museum. Selected by Art and Antiques as one of the top 100 art museum gifts of 2008, Taylor's impressive collection features works by some of the most masterful fashion designers of the 1950s and 60s, including Charles James, Balenciaga, Givenchy and Madame Grès. The collection is significant for both the quality of the designers and for its depth, as the numerous examples allow for a comprehensive look at each designer's artistic process. Fashion Independent: The Original Style of Ann Bonfoey Taylor features more than 60 full ensembles and accessories that provide a comprehensive look at the wardrobe of a dynamic and sophisticated woman.