Customer Reviews

The Language of Clothes

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I can't wait to go out and buy this book, which I read in hardcover from the library. It is very well researched and illustrated and discusses clothes and fashions from long ago up till today. And not just fashions and how they change, but what they MEAN. For example, did you know....in olden times, not just elegant clothing, but cloth itself was and admired and expensive commodity. The more cloth making up one's clothing meant that person was wealthy. Paintings of the period featured draperies in the background to indicate a person's wealth, and even today designer clothing uses more cloth and is cut fuller, carrying on the tradition. Anyone interested in not only fashion and clothing but symbols and history should read this book, it is just fascinating and delicious.

Well written, well argued history, not text book like at all, but like a long New Yorker article. A pleasure to read. It's not about silly petty fads but great social movements that underlie trends and revolutions. I think more photo illustrations would help.

Novelist Lurie here turns her attention to the history and social interpretation of clothing, linking politics, sexuality and social issues such as class to the evolution of clothing design and style. From Victorian to modern times, The Language of Clothes takes a sweeping look at the history of clothing's evolution and trends, making for an excellent guide.

This is an amusing essay on how Lurie interprets various clothing, outfits, and styles. The book is easy to read and is a way to pass the time pleasurably. Potential readers, however, should be aware that the "language" metaphor does not hold for long: in this book, clothes are like a language only inasmuch as they convey meaning. One could just as validly and convincingly write about, say, "the language of bookshelves" or "the language of bicycle riding styles." Those interested in a history of clothing would do well to look elsewhere, and those interested in analyses of clothing would do well to look elsewhere as well (e.g., The Fashion System). Potential readers are also warned that Lurie tends to make sweeping generalizations about persons not part of her social world (e.g., the poor or non-Anglo-Saxons) and some may find these generalizations (never backed by citations of evidence) offensive.

The best pick-up line is to tell a woman how her clothes communicate aspects of her personality. Women love to talk about what the colors, patterns, and styles of their clothes mean. "The Language of Clothes" is all you need to do this -- although I also recommend "Big Hair: A Journey into the Transformation of Self," by Grant McCracken, to discuss what women's hair means. "The Language of Clothes" consists of chapters about how clothes express youth or age, a time or era, certain places, social status, etc. The best chapters are about how clothes communicate gender and sexual messages. This book is also one of the best birthday presents to give to a woman. (I shouldn't be sexist -- the book also discusses men's clothes.) The book has *lots* of clothes, and lots of photos. It's long and carefully researched. It makes you think. Women happily spend hours paging through it.
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Review by Thomas David Kehoe...