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Libertine Fashion

Sexual Freedom, Rebellion, and Style
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Libertine Fashion explores the intricate connection between libertinismβ€”a social practice linked to transgression and social devianceβ€”and the world of fashion from early modernity to today. Authors Adam Geczy and Vicki Karaminas trace libertine fashion through historical figures and movements, from the decadent courts of Charles II and Louis XV to modern icons like Madonna and David Bowie. This multidisciplinary study examines how clothing embodies themes of the taboo, the erotic, and the forbidden, offering a comprehensive history spanning from the English Reformation proto feminists to punk, glam, and contemporary fashion creators like Jean-Paul Gaultier.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$6599
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is ideal for students and scholars in fashion, gender studies, cultural studies, and sexuality, as well as anyone interested in the interplay between identity, transgression, and dress throughout history.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Shortlisted for the Association of Dress Historians Book of the Year Award, 2021

Libertine practices have long been associated with transgression and social deviance. This innovative book is the first to focus fully on the relationship between libertinism as a social phenomenon and as a form of fashion. Taking the reader from early modernity to the present day, Adam Geczy and Vicki Karaminas reveal how the connection between clothing and the taboo, the erotic, and the forbidden is at the heart of Libertine Fashion.

Moving from the decadent courts of Charles II and Louis XV to the catwalks of the 21st century, Libertine Fashion examines literary and sartorial figures ranging from the Marquis de Sade and Lord Byron to Oscar Wilde, Josephine Baker, Colette, and Madonna. Focusing on libertinism as a sartorial practice and identity, this book traces the genealogy of the concept through the proto feminists of the English Reformation, the hedonistic decadents of the fin de siΓ¨cle, and the Flappers of the Roaring 20s. The historical arc traverses the 1970s era of punk and glam, the shapeshifting personae of David Bowie, and the β€œdisciplinary regimes” of Jean-Paul Gaultier.

Looking at libertine practices and appearances with fresh eyes, this bracing and original book affords many new insights into transgressive style, and of the relationship between sexuality and clothing. Accessible and thoroughly researched, Libertine Fashion uses a multidisciplinary approach that draws on historical literature, film, fashion, philosophy, and popular culture. Offering a historical and philosophical grounding in contemporary forms of identity and dress, it is essential reading for students and scholars of fashion, gender, sexuality, and cultural studies.

Series: Dress, Body, Culture

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  • Fashion-ology
    This new edition of a classic work offers a concise introduction to the sociology of fashion and demystifies the workings of the fashion system. From the origins of fashion studies and the difference between clothing and fashion, through to an examination of 21st century subcultures and the impact of the digital age on designers, Fashion-ology explores fashion as a global,...
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  • Fashion History
    Fashion History: A Global View proposes a new perspective on fashion history. Arguing that fashion has occurred in cultures beyond the West throughout history, this groundbreaking book explores the geographic places and historical spaces that have been largely neglected by contemporary fashion studies, bringing them together for the first time. Reversing the dominant narrative that privileges Western Europe in the...
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    An open access book, Antigender Fashion is a rich examination of gender fluidity in contemporary fashion design. Judith Beyer develops an emerging new theoretical framework for understanding how fashion can blur and challenge gender boundaries. How is gender fluidity in contemporary fashion different from 20th-century androgyny or millennial unisex styles? Like antifashion, which opposes and challenges fashion, Beyer argues that...
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  • Libertine Fashion
    Shortlisted for the Association of Dress Historians Book of the Year Award, 2021 Libertine practices have long been associated with transgression and social deviance. This innovative book is the first to focus fully on the relationship between libertinism as a social phenomenon and as a form of fashion. Taking the reader from early modernity to the present day, Adam Geczy...
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  • The Social Life of Kimono
    The kimono is an iconic garment with a history as rich and colourful as the textiles from which it is crafted. Deeply associated with Japanese culture both past and present, it has often been thought of as a highly gendered, rigidly traditional and unchanging national costume. This book challenges that perception, revealing the nuanced meanings and messages behind the kimono...
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  • Chinese Fashion
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    Chinese Fashion
    How has fashion mirrored the social and cultural changes that have taken place in modern China? To what extent has fashion contributed to those changes? In the 15 years since the first edition of Chinese Fashion was published, China has surpassed the US as the world’s biggest fashion market and may continue to expand. With rapid urbanisation and increasing spending...
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  • Pre-order
    Chinese Fashion
    How has fashion mirrored the social and cultural changes that have taken place in modern China? To what extent has fashion contributed to those changes? In the 15 years since the first edition of Chinese Fashion was published, China has surpassed the US as the world’s biggest fashion market and may continue to expand. With rapid urbanisation and increasing spending...
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    Fashion Adventures in Science Fiction Cinema
    From Blade Runner to The Hunger Games, this book explores costume and dress in science fiction cinema and their impact on fashion and popular culture far beyond the films themselves. TherΓ¨sa Winge considers not only the films’ stylistic choices but also their representations of technology and their socio-cultural, political, and philosophical ideologies in order to trace their significant influence on...
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  • Fashion Adventures in Science Fiction Cinema
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    From Blade Runner to The Hunger Games, this book explores costume and dress in science fiction cinema and their impact on fashion and popular culture far beyond the films themselves. TherΓ¨sa Winge considers not only the films’ stylistic choices but also their representations of technology and their socio-cultural, political, and philosophical ideologies in order to trace their significant influence on...
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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Libertine Fashion has been praised for its rich historical detail, scholarly insight, and playful prose. The Journal of Dress History describes it as a 'scholarly, sexy parade through fashion history,' while Cultural and Social History commends its broad scope and accessible writing. Zone Moda Journal highlights its value to researchers and students across fashion, cultural studies, gender, and sexuality. Chris Brewa lauds the book for its intelligent, witty case studies that enliven the history of sartorial libertinism, making it essential reading for a new generation interested in pleasure and dress.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781350054073

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 03 September 2020

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Bloomsbury Visual Arts

Illustration: 57 bw illus

Audience: Tertiary education

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 16.0mm

Width: 156.0mm

Height: 232.0mm

Weight: 540g

Pages: 256

About the Author

Adam Geczy is an artist and writer, and teaches at Sydney College of the Arts, the University of Sydney, Australia.

Vicki Karaminas is Professor of Fashion and Director of Doctoral Studies in the School of Design, College of Creative Arts, Massey University, New Zealand.

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