Fashion Criticism - by Francesca Granata (Paperback)

About the Book

This is the first anthology of fashion criticism, claiming a place for writing on fashion alongside other more well-established areas of criticism on popular culture.

Book Synopsis

This is the first anthology of fashion criticism, a growing field that has been too long overlooked. Fashion Criticism aims to redress the balance, claiming a place for writing on fashion alongside other more well-established areas of criticism.

Exploring the history of fashion criticism in the English language, this essential work takes readers from the writing published in avant-garde modernist magazines at the beginning of the twentieth century to the fashion criticism of Robin Givhan-the first fashion critic to win a Pulitzer Prize-and of Judith Thurman, a National Book Award winner. It covers the shift in newspapers from the so-called "women's pages" to the contemporary style sections, while unearthing the work of cultural critics and writers on fashion including Susan Sontag and Eve Babitz (Vogue), Bebe Moore Campbell (Ebony), Angela Carter (New Statesman) and Hilton Als (New Yorker).

Examining the gender dynamics of the field and its historical association with the feminine, Fashion Criticismdemonstrates how fashion has gained ground as a subject of critical analysis, capitalizing on the centrality of dress and clothing in an increasingly visual and digital world. The book argues that fashion criticism occupied a central role in negotiating shifting gender roles as well as shifting understandings of race.

Bringing together two centuries of previously uncollected articles and writings, from Oscar Wilde's editorials in The Woman's World to the ground-breaking fashion journalism of the 1980s and today's proliferation of fashion bloggers, it will be an essential resource for students of fashion studies, media and journalism.

Review Quotes

A welcome anthology of fashion criticism establishing that writing about fashion can be as influential as designing it. Ranging across late nineteenth century gazettes, twentieth century newspapers and twenty-first century posts, it's a key reference work for reading about how fashion measures up.
Alistair O'Neill, Central Saint Martins, London, UK

From Oscar Wilde's musing on corsets to Connie Wang's discussion of Wokeness, this dazzling compendium of critical fashion writing-with a sweep of over one hundred years-is as fun to read as it is intellectually provocative.
Lynn Yaeger, Vogue, US

Seven billion humans on the planet clothe or adorn themselves every day. Yet the subject of dress - it's language; its influence on the way we express our identities, desires, allegiances, aspirations and (in many cases, our servitude) - has rarely been considered worthy of serious inquiry. This essential anthology of essays on fashion corrects that oversight ... and it does so with exceptional verve and intelligence.
Judith Thurman, The New Yorker

About the Author

Francesca Granata is Associate Professor of Fashion Studies at Parsons School of Design. She is the author of Experimental Fashion: Performance Art, Carnival and the Grotesque Body, and editor of the non-profit journal Fashion Projects.