Edith Wharton and the Making of Fashion

by Joslin, Katherine

• ISBN13: 9781584657798
• ISBN10: 1584657790
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-11-10
• Publisher: Univ of New Hampshire

Summary

Edith Wharton and the Making of Fashion places the iconic New York figure and her writing in the context of fashion history and shows how dress lies at the very center of her thinking about art and culture. The study traces American patronage of the Paris couture houses from Worth and Doucet through Poiret and Chanel and places Wharton's characters in these establishments and garments to offer fresh readings of her well-known novels. Less known are Wharton's knowledge of and involvement in the craft of garment making in her tales of seamstresses, milliners, and textile workers, as well as in her creation of workshops in Paris during the First World War to employ Belgian and French seamstresses and promote the value of handmade garments in a world given to machine-driven uniformity of design and labor. Pointing the way toward further research and inquiry, Katherine Joslin has produced a truly interdisciplinary work that combines the best of literary criticism with an infectious love and appreciation of material culture.

Author Biography

KATHERINE JOSLIN is a professor of English at Western Michigan University. She is the author of Jane Addams, A Writer's Life and Edith Wharton Women Writer's Series.
Publication supported by the Coby Foundation, Ltd.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Abbreviations	p. xv
Introduction: Remnant and Meaning: "…, the sweep and amplitude of the great artist's stroke …"	p. 1
Dressing Up: "… my newest Doucet dress… it was pretty…"	p. 14
The Underside of Fashion: "… the utensils of their art…"	p. 51
Philanthropy and Progress: "… thin shoulders in shapeless gingham…"	p. 82
Desire in the Marketplace: "What you want is the home-made article."	p. 99
The Cut of a Gown: "Why not make one's own fashions?"	p. 117
Dressing for Middle Age: "-don't try to make me look like a flapper."	p. 139
Democracy and Dress: "… 'the American girl,' the world's highest achievement…"	p. 162
Conclusion The Costume Side: "-the small rest!-will, I think, be interested in the'costume' side …"	p. 177
Notes	p. 183
Bibliography	p. 195
Index	p. 201
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