Fashioning the Victorians: A Critical Sourcebook Professor Rebecca Mitchell (University of Birmingham, UK) 9781350023406

Offering a unique anthology of primary texts, this sourcebook opens a window on the writing that shaped and mirrored Victorian fashion, taking us from corsets to crinolines, dandies to decadent 'New Women'. A user-friendly collection that provides a solid grounding in the fashion history of the nineteenth century, it brings together for the first time sources that trace the evolution of dress and the social, cultural and political discourses that influenced it. Featuring seminal writings by authors and commentators such as Oscar Wilde, Thorstein Veblen and Sarah Stickney Ellis, plus satirical cartoons, illustrations and fashion plates from key sources such as Punch magazine, it combines primary texts and illustrations with accessible explanatory notes to offer a wide-ranging overview of the period for both students and researchers. Each section opens with an introduction that examines the major trends in Victorian clothing - and the material, economic, scientific and cultural forces driving those trends - situating the texts in the pressing social anxieties and pleasures of the time. Exploring both menswear and womenswear, and key topics such as corsetry, dress reform and mourning, Mitchell extends her analysis into interdisciplinary fields including gender studies and literature, and guides the reader with a timeline, glossary and further readings.

An essential sourcebook for fashion in the Victorian era, featuring primary source material and accessible introductions to the key social, political and cultural issues of the time that influenced the development of dress for both men and women

About the Author
Rebecca N. Mitchell is Senior Lecturer of Victorian Literature at the University of Birmingham, UK. She is the author of Victorian Lessons in Empathy and Difference (2011) and co-author of Oscar Wilde's Chatterton: Literary History, Romanticism, and the Art of Forgery (2015), among other works.

Reviews
Fashioning the Victorians is a first-rate contribution to the teaching of 19th century fashion, dress, and culture. Exploring how fashion was deeply integrated into the fabric of the time, this valuable and interdisciplinary book will be the basis of lively classroom discussion. -- Patricia Lennox, New York University, USA
A well-researched and properly illustrated text that weaves together contemporary sources for a fascinating look into the wardrobes of Victorian Britain. -- Sara Marcketti, Iowa State University, USA



Book Information
ISBN 9781350023406
Author Professor Rebecca Mitchell
Format Paperback
Page Count 264
Imprint Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Series Dress, Body, Culture
Weight(grams) 744g