This book puts the material back into clothing. In recent years socialscientists have become increasingly interested in theories of fashion but haverarely direc... » 

This book puts the material back into clothing. In recent years socialscientists have become increasingly interested in theories of fashion but haverarely directly addressed the material qualities of clothing. By contrasttraditional studies of dress have focused on textiles but often neglect thelarger cultural context within which dress becomes consumed as clothing. Thisbook fills a major gap by combining these two camps through an expresslymaterial culture approach to clothing. In sustained case studies Kchler andMiller argue that cloth and clothing are living vibrant parts of culture andthe body. From the recycling of cloth in Africa and India and the use ofpattern in the Pacific to the history of wash and wear and why women wearthe wrong clothes to restaurants in London this book shows the considerableadvantage gained by seamlessly combining material and social aspects of dressand textiles. «